Cox, James Middleton

Cox, James Middleton, 1870–1957, American political leader and journalist, b. Butler co., Ohio. After serving on the editorial staff of the Cincinnati Enquirer, he bought the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (1898) and subsequently acquired several other papers in different states. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1909–13). As governor of Ohio (1913–15, 1917–21) he became prominent as a supporter of President Wilson. Nominated in 1920 as presidential candidate by the Democratic party with Franklin Delano Roosevelt as his running mate, Cox, a staunch supporter of the League of Nations, was soundly defeated by Warren G. Harding.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Journey through My Years (1946).

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Cox, James Middleton (1870–1957) editor, publisher, U.S. representative, governor; born in Jacksonburg, Ohio. A successful reporter, he bought the struggling Dayton Evening News in 1898—first building block in the eventual Cox Enterprises newspaper conglomerate. A liberal Democratic congressman (1909–12), then three-term governor of Ohio, he was a friend of labor and foe of Prohibition. Nominated for president in 1920, he lost the election to Warren Harding.