Vic Donahey: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|U.S. Politician from Ohio}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|birth_name =Alvin Victor Donahey

|image =A.V. Donahey.jpg

|caption = Official portrait, {{circa|1938}}

|order =[[United States Senator]]<br>from [[Ohio]]

|term_start =January 3, 1935

|term_end =January 3, 1941

|predecessor =[[Simeon D. Fess]]

|successor =[[Harold H. Burton]]

|order2 =50th

|office2 =Governor of Ohio

|term_start2 =January 8, 1923

|term_end2 =January 14, 1929

|lieutenant2 =[[Earl D. Bloom]]<br />[[Charles H. Lewis]]<br />Earl D. Bloom<br />[[William G. Pickrel]]<br />[[George C. Braden]]

|predecessor2 =[[Harry L. Davis]]

|successor2 =[[Myers Y. Cooper]]

|relations =[[Gertrude Walton Donahey]] (daughter-in-law)<br/>[[William Donahey]] (brother)

|children = 12 (including [[John W. Donahey]])

'''Alvin Victor "Honest Vic" Donahey''' (July 7, 1873{{spaced ndash}}April 8, 1946) was an American [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] politician from [[Ohio]]. Donahey was the 50th [[governor of Ohio]] and a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Ohio.

After leaving office, Donahey resumed his business interests, including serving as president of the Donahey Clay Products Company, which made tiles for use in home construction. He died in [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]] in 1946, and was buried at East Avenue Cemetery in New Philadelphia.

Donahey was born in [[Perry Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio|Cadwallader, Ohio]], the son of John C. Donahey and Catherine (Chaney) Donahey. He attended the public schools of [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio|Tuscarawas County]], and left high school in his junior year to receive training as a printer; he worked at the ''[[New Philadelphia, Ohio|New Philadelphia]] Times'' from 1893to1905, and advanced from journeyman to foreman to associate editor before becoming owner of his own printing company.

Donahey was elected clerkofthe Goshen Township Board of Trusteesin1898, and served until 1903. He served as Tuscarawas County Auditor from 1905 to 1909 while at the same time serving on [[New Philadelphia, Ohio]]'s Board of Education.<ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Alvin_V._Donahey Alvin V Donahey at Ohio History Central]</ref> After serving as a delegate to the 1912 Constitutional Convention, Donahey served as state auditor from 1912 to 1921.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Jennifer |date=2002 |title=Ohio Encyclopedia |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndxn4Qlt4EC&pg=PA113 |location=St. Clair Shores, MI |publisher=Somerset Publishers |page=113 |isbn=978-0-403-09564-3}}</ref> He did not seek re-election in 1920, but unsuccessfully sought the governorship.<ref name="NGA">{{cite web |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/alvin-victor-donahey/ |title=Biography, Gov. Alvin Victor Donahey |website=NGA.org |publisher=National Governors Association |location=Washington, DC |access-date=November 27, 2021}}</ref>

==Governor==

In 1922, Donahey won the governor's race.<ref name="NGA"/> He served three terms, 1923 to 1929, and was not a candidate for re-election in 1928.<ref name="NGA"/> Donahey earned the nickname "Veto Vic" while governor because he vetoed seventy-six bills during his first term in office.<ref name="NGA"/> Of particular concern to Donahey were bills for increasing state revenue; he vetoed every bill that would have raised taxes.<ref name="NGA"/> Donahey also vetoed a [[Ku Klux Klan]]-backed bill that would have mandated daily [[Bible]] reading in public schools.<ref name="NGA"/> In addition, he vetoed a bill promoted by the [[Anti-Saloon League]] that would have required individuals convicted of crimes, primarily those convicted of possessing or consuming alcohol, to perform manual labor if they had been assessed fines which had gone unpaid.<ref name="NGA"/> Instead, Donahey pardoned more than two thousand convicts who were serving time in jails and workhouses, arguing that enforcement of the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition amendment]] disproportionately affected the poor.<ref name="NGA"/>

From 1926 to 1928 Donahey was mentioned as a possible candidate for president or vice president in the [[1928 United States presidential election|1928 election]].<ref>New York Times, [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16F9355B12738DDDAF0894DC405B878EF1D3 Ask Governor Donahey to Be Candidate For Vice President on Ticket With Smith], April 6, 1927</ref><ref>Robert T. Small, Miami Daily News, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19260711&id=lDwuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=adcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4456,4811788 "Vic" Donahey Booming Self for President], July 11, 1926</ref><ref>New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/19/archives/for-smith-and-donahey-ohio-democrats-boom-their-governor-for-second.html For Smith and Donahey; Ohio Democrats Boom Their Governor, for Second Place], June 19, 1928</ref> He received five delegate votes for the presidential nomination which went to [[Alfred E. Smith]], but was not a candidate for the vice presidential nomination, which went to [[Joseph T. Robinson]].<ref>New York Times, The Single Ballot Which Made Gov. Smith Democratic Party's Candidate for President, June 19, 1928</ref><ref>Spokane Daily Chronicle, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=585XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o_QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6014,6816241&dq=joseph+robinson+vice+president&hl=en Democratic Convention Adjourns After Nominating New York Governor and Arkansas Senator for President and Vice President], June 29, 1928</ref>

After leaving the governorship, Donahey returned to his business interests.<ref name="NGA"/> In 1928, Donahey and six partners founded the Motorists’ Mutual Insurance Company of Columbus, of which Donahey became president.<ref name="NGA"/>

==United States Senator==

He won election to the [[United States Senate]] in 1934, unseating Republican [[Simeon Fess]] by a wide margin (1,276,208 to 839,068) and served one term in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] from 1935 until 1941. [[1940 United States presidential election|In 1940]] Democrats in Ohio asked him to consider running for president as a favorite son in an effort to aid [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s bid for a third term, but he declined. (The plan would have had Ohio's delegates to the Democratic National Convention pledged to Donahey until Roosevelt became a candidate, at which point Donahey would release the delegates to Roosevelt.)<ref>Associated Press, Kentucky New Era, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_VYwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nzsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2671,5167102&dq=donahey+roosevelt+president&hl=en Senator Donahey Refuses to Seek Votes for President], February 19, 1940</ref>

Donahey was president of the Donahey Clay Products Company. He was also a director of the Ohio National Bank of [[Columbus, Ohio]].

==Death and burial==

Donahey died at Grant Hospital in Columbus on April 8, 1946.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 9, 1946 |title=A. V. Donahey Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/04/09/archives/a-v-donahey-dies-ohio-exgovernor-states-executive-3-times-former-us.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York, NY |page=24}}</ref> He is buried in East Avenue Cemetery in New Philadelphia, Ohio.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spencer |first=Thomas E. |date=1998 |title=Where They're Buried |url=https://archive.org/details/wheretheyreburie00spen |url-access=registration |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=Clearfield Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/wheretheyreburie00spen/page/428 428] |isbn=978-0-8063-4823-0}}</ref>

Donahey was married to Mary (Harvey) Donahey (1879–1953).<ref name="county">{{cite book |date=1958 |title=County News |volume=10-11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNwJmSywkUQC&q=%22was+born+August+26+,+1905+in+new+philadelphia%22 |location=Columbus, OH |publisher=County Commissioners Association of Ohio |page=7 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Byberry">{{cite book |last=Byberry Walton Reunion Executive Committee |date=1989 |title=Byberry Waltons |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVYbAQAAMAAJ&q=%22John+William+Donahey+,+died+Feb.+3+,+1967+,+buried+in+East+Avenue+Cemetery+,+New+Philadelphia+,+son+of+Alvin+Victor+Donahey+%26+Mary+Harvey+.%22 |location=Decorah, IA |publisher=Anundsen Publishing |page=365 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> His son, [[John W. Donahey]], served a term as [[Lieutenant Governor of Ohio]].<ref name="county"/><ref name="Byberry"/> His daughter-in-law, [[Gertrude Walton Donahey]] served as [[Ohio State Treasurer]].<ref name="county"/><ref name="Byberry"/> His brother [[William Donahey]] was a ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' columnist and creator of the [[Teenie Weenies]] comic strip.<ref name="haverstock">{{cite book |editor-last=Haverstock |editor-first=Mary Sayre |date=2000 |title=Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdICm_W8xKwC&pg=PA234 |location=Kent, OH |publisher=Kent State University Press |page=234 |isbn=978-0-8733-8616-6 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Another brother, James Harrison "Hal" Donahey, was the cartoonist for the ''[[Cleveland Plain Dealer]]'' and designed the household tiles made by the Donahey Clay Products Company.<ref name="haverstock"/>

The Donahey Agriculture & Horticulture Building at the Ohio Expo Center and [[Ohio State Fair|State Fair]] in Columbus are named in honor of Donahey.<ref name="Taggart">{{cite web |url=https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/25239/ |title=Donahey Ag and Hort Building |last=Taggart |first=Nick |date=July 24, 2014 |website=Columbus in Historic Photographs |publisher=Columbus Metropolitan Library |location=Columbus, OH |access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> Constructed in 1926, it was named for Donahey in 1977 after a previous building named for him, a horse barn, burned down in 1972.<ref name="Taggart"/>

*{{cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2672188|title=The Beak and Claws of America|year=1931|publisher=R. C. Williams|location=Columbus, Ohio|oclc=2672188 }}

{{Commons category|A. Victor Donahey}}

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{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] [[Ohio gubernatorial elections|nominee]] for [[Governor of Ohio]]|years=[[1920 Ohio gubernatorial election|1920]], [[1922 Ohio gubernatorial election|1922]], [[1924 Ohio gubernatorial election|1924]], [[1926 Ohio gubernatorial election|1926]]}}

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| title = Articles and topics

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[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Ohio]]

[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Ohio]]

[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]