Background

Isidor Rayner was born on April 11, 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, William Solomon Rayner, was a Bavarian Jew and a school teacher with liberal ideas who had left his home in Oberelsbach and emigrated to the United States about 1840. He changed his name from Roehner to Rayner and established himself at Fell's Point, Baltimore, as a dry-goods dealer. He was soon able to send to Bavaria for his boyhood sweetheart and first cousin, Amalie Jacobson, and they were married in Baltimore. Their children were reared in an environment in which traditional culture was reinforced by a rapidly acquired fortune.

Education

Isidor was first sent to Frederick Knapp's private school in Baltimore, later to the University of Maryland, and in 1865 to the University of Virginia. After three years of academic work and one of law, he returned to Baltimore where he continued his law studies in the office of Brown & Brune.

Career

In 1871 he passed the bar examination. During the seven years preceding his first public office as delegate to the Maryland Assembly in 1878, Rayner built up a large trial practice which he maintained, in spite of the heavy demands of political office, until he went to the United States Senate in 1905.

In 1885 he was elected to the state Senate, but he resigned to become the democratic candidate for Congress where he served three terms (1887-89; 1891 - 95). In Congress he was an active advocate of the repeal of the Sherman silver-purchase bill. When in 1895, without explanation, he withdrew his name as candidate for governor of Maryland, he was criticized for lack of political courage--a stigma he never lived down.

He practised law for the next few years, then in 1899 he was elected attorney-general of Maryland. During this incumbency he offered his services without fee to Admiral Schley who had requested an inquiry of his conduct at the naval battle off Santiago during the Spanish-American War. Rayner's dramatic handling of the Schley defense before the Naval Court of Inquiry made him a national figure and prepared the way for his election to the United States Senate in 1905. His seven years in the Senate were his most active. He arrayed himself as a defender of the Constitution against Roosevelt, whom he accused of arrogating the right to make treaties under the guise of executive agreements without the consent of the Senate, of centralizing power in the federal government in derogation of state rights, and of interfering with the functioning of the judiciary at the expense of constitutional government.

He fought Senators Aldrich and Allison; he fought imperialism, and he fought tariff for protection instead of revenue. He was informed on domestic and international issues and although a member of the minority party, exerted an influence on the foreign policy of the government. He was twice asked to run for vice-president but he preferred the floor to the chair.

After a month's illness, he died in Washington and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Achievements

• Isidor Rayner has been listed as a noteworthy senator by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Titanic Disaster: Report of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Pursuant to S. Res. 283, Directing the Committee on Commerce to ... to the Wreck of the White Star Liner Titanic,

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • Speeches and Addresses (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Speeches and Addresses About the Publisher ...)

  • Essays of Isidor Rayner

    (This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

  • "titanic" Disaster: Report Of The Committee On Commerce, United States Senate, Pursuant To S. Res. 283, Directing The Committee On Commerce To ... The Wreck Of The White Star Liner "titanic,"

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Personality

Rayner by temperament was nervous and excitable. He was brilliant but not profound, and as a writer he had none of the effectiveness which distinguished him as a speaker.

Connections

On December 5 was married to Frances Jane Bevan, the daughter of William Francis Bevan of Baltimore.

Father:

William Solomon Rayner

Spouse:

Frances Jane Bevan

References

• Isidor Rayner (late a senator from Maryland): Memorial addresses delivered in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States. Sixty-second congress, third session
• Isidor Rayner (Late a Senator from Maryland): Memorial Addresses Delivered in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States, Sixty-Second Congress, Third Session
• Isidor Rayner (Late a Senator From Maryland): Memorial Addresses Delivered in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Sixty-Second Congress Third Session (Classic Reprint)