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Finis J. Garrett

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Article Genealogy
Parent: John Nance Garner Hop 3
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Finis J. Garrett
NameFinis J. Garrett
StateTennessee
District9th
Term startMarch 4, 1905
Term endMarch 3, 1929
PredecessorRice A. Pierce
SuccessorJere Cooper
Office1House Minority Leader
Term start1March 4, 1923
Term end1March 3, 1929
Predecessor1Claude Kitchin
Successor1John Nance Garner
Office2House Minority Whip
Term start2March 4, 1919
Term end2March 3, 1923
Predecessor2Position established
Successor2William Allan Oldfield
PartyDemocratic
Birth date26 August 1875
Birth placeWeakley County, Tennessee, U.S.
Death date25 June 1956
Death placeDresden, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma materBethel College
OccupationLawyer, Politician
SpouseMary Elizabeth Garrett

Finis J. Garrett was a prominent American politician and jurist from Tennessee who served for nearly a quarter-century in the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he rose to become House Minority Leader during the Presidency of Calvin Coolidge. After his congressional career, he was appointed as a judge on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Early life and education

Finis James Garrett was born on a farm in Weakley County, Tennessee, to parents John R. Garrett and Sarah Catherine Garrett. He attended local public schools before graduating from Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee. After college, he studied law, was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1897, and began his legal practice in the town of Dresden, the county seat of Weakley County.

Garrett quickly established a successful legal career in West Tennessee and became involved in local politics. He served as the Weakley County attorney from 1898 to 1902, gaining valuable experience in public service. His political ascent continued when he was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee Democratic Convention and later served as a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket of Alton B. Parker and Henry G. Davis during the 1904 United States presidential election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Garrett was first elected to the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee's 9th congressional district in 1904, succeeding Rice A. Pierce. He took his seat in the 59th United States Congress and was subsequently re-elected eleven times, serving from March 4, 1905, until March 3, 1929. During his tenure, he served on influential committees including the Ways and Means Committee. Following the 1918 elections, he was chosen as the first official House Minority Whip for the Democratic minority in the 66th United States Congress. After the death of Minority Leader Claude Kitchin, Garrett was elected House Minority Leader in 1923, a position he held throughout the Presidency of Calvin Coolidge and into the Presidency of Herbert Hoover. As leader, he notably opposed the World Court and certain aspects of the Dawes Plan.

Later career and death

After choosing not to seek re-election in 1928, Garrett resumed his law practice in Washington, D.C.. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed him to the World War Foreign Debt Commission. His judicial career began in 1937 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to a seat on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. He served as an active judge on that court until taking senior status in 1949. Garrett died on June 25, 1956, in Dresden and was interred in the city's Dresden Cemetery.

Category:1875 births Category:1956 deaths Category:American judges Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Category:People from Weakley County, Tennessee