Wheeler, Wayne Bidwell

Wheeler, Wayne Bidwell, 1869–1927, American prohibitionist and lawyer, b. Brookfield, Ohio. After his graduation (1898) from Western Reserve law school, he became increasingly important in the Ohio Anti-Saloon League. Under his direction the league opposed and helped to defeat the incumbent and antiprohibition governor of Ohio, Myron T. Herrick, in 1906. As attorney for the National Anti-Saloon League, Wheeler was prominent in the fight for prohibition legislation, notably the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act.

Bibliography

See biography by J. Steuart (1928, repr. 1970).

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Wheeler, Wayne Bidwell (1869–1927) lawyer, activist; born in Trumbull County, Ohio. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1895 and became a lawyer as a means of working for prohibition through the Anti-Saloon League. Deeply involved all his life in league activities in Ohio and the nation, he became a powerful lobbyist for prohibition. By 1920, when national prohibition went into effect, he and his allies already had campaigned successfully for restrictive liquor legislation in 33 states.