Background
Davis, John William was born on April 13, 1873 in Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States. Son of John Jay and Anna (Kennedy) Davis.
Davis, John William was born on April 13, 1873 in Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States. Son of John Jay and Anna (Kennedy) Davis.
Bachelor of Arts, Washington and Lee University, Virginia, 1892, LL. B., 1895, Doctor of Laws, 1915. Doctor of Laws, University of West Virginia, 1919, University of Birmingham, England, 1919, University of Glasgow, 1920, Union U., New York, 1921, Yale, 1921, Dartmouth, 1923, Brown U., 1923, Princeton, 1924, Oberlin, 1947, New York University, 1951, Doctor of Civil Law, University of Oxford (England), 1950, Columbia, 1953, Hofstra College, 1953.
1 daughter, Julia McDonald. Married second, Ellen G. Bassel, January 2, 1912 (died July 13, 1943). Admitted to bar, 1895.
Assistant professor law, Washington and Lee University, 1896-1897. In practice, Clarksburg, 1897-1913. Member Davis Polk, Wardwell Gardiner & Reed, New York City, since 1921, now David Polk, Wardwell Sunderland & Kiendl.
Member West Virginia House of Delegates, 1899. Democratic candidate for presidential elector at large, 1900. Delegate Democratic National Conventions, 1904-1932.
Elected to 62d and 63d Congresses (1911-1915), 1st West Virginia District. Resigned from Congress to become solicitor general of the United States, August 30, 1913. Solicitor general to 1918.
Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Great Britain, 1918-1921. Counselor American Red Cross, 1913-1918.
Member Davis Polk, Wardwell Gardiner & Reed, New York City, since 1921, now David Polk, Wardwell Sunderland & Kiendl. Member West Virginia House of Delegates, 1899. Member American delegation for conference with Germans on treatment and exchange of prisoners of war, Berne, Switzerland, September 1918.
Democratic candidate for President, 1924. Honorary bencher of the Middle Temple (England). President American Bar Association, 1922.
Member Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Beta Kappa, G.B.E. (British). Mason (33°).; Clubs: Metropolitan, National Press, Lawyers (Washington, District of Columbia), Century, University, Recess, Down Town, Piping Rock Creek, Links.
Married Julia T. McDonald, June 20, 1899 (died August 17, 1900).; married second, Ellen G. Bassel, January 2, 1912 (died July 13, 1943).