Peter G. Gerry | |
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United States Senator from Rhode Island |
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In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1947 |
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Preceded by | Felix Hebert |
Succeeded by | James Howard McGrath |
In office March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1929 |
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Preceded by | Henry Frederick Lippitt |
Succeeded by | Felix Hebert |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915 |
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Preceded by | George Herbert Utter |
Succeeded by | Walter Russell Stiness |
Personal details | |
Born |
Manhattan, New York City, New York |
September 18, 1879
Died | October 31, 1957 Providence, Rhode Island |
(aged 78)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) |
Mathilde Townsend (m. 1910; div. 1925) Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (m. 1925; his death 1957) |
Parents |
Elbridge Thomas Gerry Louisa Matilda Livingston |
Education | Harvard University (1901) |
Profession | Attorney |
Peter Goelet Gerry (September 18, 1879 – October 31, 1957) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and later, as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. He holds the distinction of being the only U.S. Senator to lose re-election and later reclaim such Senate seat from the person who had defeated him.
Gerry was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Elbridge Thomas Gerry (1837–1927) and Louisa Matilda Livingston Gerry (1836–1920), and the great grandson of Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), the fifth Vice President of the United States (who had given his name to the term gerrymandering).
In the summer of 1899, Gerry and his brother Robert were tutored by William Lyon Mackenzie King, who later became the Prime Minister of Canada In 1901, Gerry graduated from Harvard University. He studied law and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1906.
Gerry was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Rhode Island's 2nd District as a Democrat from 1913 to 1915. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1914 but he was elected to the United States Senate in 1916 and served from 1917 to 1929. He was the first United States senator from Rhode Island elected by popular vote rather than by the state senate. He was also the first Rhode Island Democrat United States senator to serve since 1859.