John William Davis

Davis, John William

(1873–1955) lawyer, public official; born in Clarksburg, W.Va. He practiced law with his father before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives (Dem., W.Va.; 1911–13). In 1913 he joined the Wilson administration as solicitor general and became ambassador to Great Britain in 1918. Davis returned to private practice, served as president of the American Bar Association (1922–24), and in 1924 was the surprise Democratic presidential nominee, winning on the record 103rd ballot of a deadlocked convention. Coolidge beat him by a landslide in the general election. Davis later became a strong supporter of the United Nations. In his last major case, he defended atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was accused of being a security risk.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.