Matthew Mansfield Neely

Background

Matthew Mansfield Neely was born on November 9, 1874 in Grove, West Virginia, United States. He was the son of Alfred Neely, a doctor, and Mary Morris.

Education

Neely attended Salem College and entered West Virginia University, where he excelled in oratory, earning the Bachelor of Arts in 1901 and the Bachelor of Laws in 1902.

Career

After practicing law for five years in Fairmont, West Virginia, Neely won election as its mayor, on a prohibition platform (1908 - 1910). He next served (1911 - 1913) as clerk of the West Virginia House of Delegates. In 1913 he ran for the U. S. House of Representatives in a special election for the First District of West Virginia. His victory that year launched him on a career that saw him often a candidate, frequently a winner, and four times a loser. After winning reelection to Congress three times, Neely was turned out in the Republican landslide of 1920. Two years later he won his first election for the U. S. Senate, only to be beaten six years later. In 1930 he again captured a Senate seat, held it against a challenge in 1936, and then abandoned it in 1941 after winning the governorship of West Virginia.

A United Mine Workers supporter, Neely called for laws protecting the right of collective bargaining, providing benefits for the needy blind and aged, eliminating the sales tax on basic foods, and providing higher salaries for teachers. He failed to get a state labor relations act, but in April 1944 he sent the state police into Weirton to protect organizers for the United Steel Workers who had been harassed by local police. He proclaimed his determination to "make West Virginia University as good for the poor as Yale is for the rich. " Opponents accused him of injecting politics into university administration when he engineered the firing of its president.

Just as he had run for the governorship while a senator, so Neely ran for the Senate in 1942 before completing his term as governor. He lost but won election to the House of Representatives in 1944, only to lose for the last time in his House race two years later. Campaigning in Huntington, West Virginia, with Neely in 1948, President Truman told a crowd, "If you don't elect this fellow, you don't know which side your bread's buttered on, I'll tell you that. " Truman was returned to the presidency and Neely to the Senate.

Neely launched a vigorous fight in 1949 for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Labor Act and liberalization of immigration laws, which he assailed as "overtly discriminatory" against Catholics and Jews. He was a coauthor of the Displaced Persons Act of 1950. In August 1949 he became chairman of the Senate District of Columbia Committee, a position popularly known as the "unofficial mayor" of Washington, D. C. He immediately aligned himself with advocates of home rule for the city, slum clearance, its representation in Congress, and repeal of its sales tax.

He won reelection to the Senate in 1954.

Neely died in Washington, D. C.

Achievements

• The major accomplishments of Neely's administration included a new law requiring higher appropriations to the State Health Department for cancer treatment, an increase in welfare grants, reforms at state institutions, an increase in the teachers' retirement pension, stricter enforcement of the child labor law, and better mine inspections, which reduced the number of coal mine accidents.

Politics

In the Senate, Neely had established a reputation as a liberal New Dealer who was especially devoted to furthering the gains of organized labor. His move to the governorship seemed to be an effort to gain greater control of the state Democratic party (he was very organization- and patronage-minded) and to bring a New Deal-like program to West Virginia state administration.

Neely was an outspoken critic of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, denouncing him as "the worst President we've ever had" and "Alice in Wonderland taken in by the peddlers of special favors. "

Views

In 1955 he outraged many Americans by labeling President Eisenhower's church attendance as "hypocrisy" because Eisenhower had only begun attending services two weeks after his inauguration. To demands for a retraction, Neely retorted, "There is just as much chance of my apologizing as there is of the world coming to an end. "

He characterized citizens of the District of Columbia as "shipwrecked on a voiceless, voteless island in the midst of the greatest ocean of democracy in the world. "

Quotations: "I'd rather be caught stealing sheep than voting for the sales tax. "

Personality

Neely was known as a shrewd and practical battler for liberal causes.

An eccentric speaker with a rapid-fire delivery, Neely spiced Senate debate with scriptural quotations that suited his arguments.

The pugnacious Neely was no stranger to controversy. During a radio broadcast on which he defended President Roosevelt's race for a fourth term, he nearly came to blows with his antagonist.

Quotes from others about the person

• "Mr. Neely seldom forsook the role of the common man's David seeking out the Goliath of special interests. " (New York Times)

Connections

On October 21, 1903, he married Alberta Claire Ramage; they had three children.

Father:

Alfred Neely

doctor

Mother:

Mary Morris

Spouse:

Alberta Claire Ramage

References

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005