MEASURES APPROX. 1.25" Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882–January 6, 1975) was an American politician. He was a member of the United States Democratic Party. Wheeler was born in Hudson, Massachusetts. He grew up in Massachusetts, attending the public schools and working as a stenographer in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1905 and moved to Butte, Montana. There he began practicing law. He became a Montana state legislator and a United States district attorney. In 1920 he was chosen to be the Democratic candidate for governor of Montana, but was defeated by Republican Joseph M. Dixon. Wheeler won election to the United States Senate from Montana in 1922 and served four terms, being reelected in 1928, 1934 and 1940. He became one of America's most controversial senators. At first he had very liberal views. He broke with the Democratic Party in 1924 to run for vice-president of the United States on the Progressive Party ticket led by Republican Robert La Follette, Sr. He returned to the Democratic Party after the election, which was not successful for the Progressives. Wheeler supported President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election, and many of his New Deal policies, but began to come into conflict with him over his opposition to Roosevelt's court-packing schemes. As tensions mounted in Europe, Wheeler became known for his isolationist beliefs. After the beginning of World War II in Europe, he continued to oppose any aid to Britain or any other countries involved in the war. He became a supporter of the America First movement. Wheeler has often been accused of anti-Semitism, and this may have been one motivation for his opposition to American movements against the Axis powers, but he also believed that America would have nothing to gain from being entangled in international crises. Wheeler did not, however, vote against America's participation in World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Wheeler lost the Democratic primary in 1946 and was unable to run for another term in the Senate. When his term ended in 1947 he did not run for any more political offices, but resumed practicing law. He died in Washington, D.C..

Item # CWB2154

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