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{{Short description|American politician (1867-1934)}}
[[Image:WilliamVare.jpg|150px|right|thumb|William Vare]]
{{Infobox officeholder
{{cleanup|date=November 2007}}
|name = William Vare
'''William Scott Vare''' ([[December 24]], [[1867]]–[[August 7]], [[1934]]) was an [[United States|American]] construction contractor and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] politician from [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. He represented [[Pennsylvania]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S House]] and won a contested election to the [[United States Senate]].
|image = VARE, WILLIAM S. HONORABLE LCCN2016858323 (cropped).jpg
|office = [[United States Senator]]-elect<br>from [[Pennsylvania]]
|term_start = March 4, 1927
|term_end = December 6, 1929<br>'''''[[Unseated members of the United States Congress|Not seated]]'''''
|predecessor = [[George W. Pepper|George Pepper]]
|successor = [[Joseph R. Grundy|Joe Grundy]]
|state1 = [[Pennsylvania]]
|district1 = {{ushr|PA|1|1st}}
|term_start1 = March 4, 1923
|term_end1 = March 3, 1927
|predecessor1 = Himself
|successor1 = [[James M. Hazlett|James Hazlett]]
|term_start2 = May 24, 1912
|term_end2 = January 2, 1923
|predecessor2 = [[Henry H. Bingham|Henry Bingham]]
|successor2 = Himself
|state_senate3 = Pennsylvania
|district3 = [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 1|1st]]
|term_start3 = November 7, 1922
|term_end3 = November 30, 1923
|predecessor3 = Edwin Vare
|successor3 = [[Flora M. Vare]]
|birth_name = William Scott Vare
|birth_date = {{birth date|1867|12|24}}
|birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1934|8|7|1867|12|24}}
|death_place = [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], U.S.
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (Before 1934)<br>[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (1934)
}}
'''William Scott Vare''' (December 24, 1867{{spaced ndash}}August 7, 1934) was an American politician from [[Pennsylvania]] who served as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] for [[Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district]] from 1912 to 1927. He also served as a member of the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] from the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 1|1st Senatorial District]] from 1922 to 1923.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cox |first=Harold |title=Pennsylvania Senate - 1923-1924 |work=[[Wilkes University Election Statistics Project]] |publisher=Wilkes University |year=2004 |url=http://staffweb.wilkes.edu/harold.cox/legis/125S.pdf}}</ref> He won election to the [[United States Senate]] for Pennsylvania in 1926 but was never seated and was eventually removed in 1929 due to allegations of corruption and voter fraud.


He was a notorious [[political boss]] in the Philadelphia Republican [[Political machine|machine]] of the early 20th century.<ref name=hsp>{{cite web |title=Closed for Business |url=http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/bnktr/person/william-scott-vare |website=www.digitalhistory.hsp.org |access-date=2 January 2019}}</ref> Vare and his two brothers, Edwin and George, were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" and held political control over South Philadelphia ward leadership and patronage jobs for decades. The contracting business he owned along with his brothers was involved in the construction of well-known sites in Philadelphia such as [[John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia)|Municipal Stadium]], the [[Broad Street Subway|Broad Street subway]] and the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]].
===Youth===


==Early life==
Bill Vare was the youngest of three Vare brothers who were all contractors and politicians. [[George Vare|George]] ([[1859]]-[[1908]]), [[Ed Vare|Ed]] ([[1862]]-[[1922]]) and William were all born in the area of [[South Philadelphia]] known in local slang as "[[The Neck]]", or the area of South Philadelphia that calls the [[Wachovia Center]], [[Lincoln Financial Field]] and [[Citizens Bank Park]] home.
Vare was born in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] to Augustus and Abigail Vare. He was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were contractors and politicians. George (1859–1908), Edwin (1862–1922) and William were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" and controlled ward leadership and patronage jobs for decades.<ref name=hsp/>


He grew up on a pig and produce farm in Philadelphia at the current location of Fourth Street and Snyder Avenue.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dubin |first1=Murray |title=South Philadelphia: Mummers, Memories and the Melrose Diner |date=1996 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=1-56639-429-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/southphiladelphi0000dubi/page/85 85] |url=https://archive.org/details/southphiladelphi0000dubi |url-access=registration |quote=vare brothers philadelphia. |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>
Bill, although not the product of a [[dysfunctional family]], nevertheless had a rough childhood. At age six, he witnessed the death of his father, his mother died while in labor and with the exceptions of his two older brothers mentioned above he witnessed the deaths of all his brothers and sisters. This seems to have instilled in him a dark side, a bright side and a real drive to succeed. The renowned merchant of Philadelphia, [[John Wanamaker]], took young Bill under his wing, by paying for his tuition at Philadelphia's famous Central Highschool, and a little later he worked at [[Wanamaker's]].


[[John Wanamaker]], the department store magnate, took young Bill under his wing and paid for his tuition at [[Central High School (Philadelphia)|Central High School]] in Philadelphia. Later, he worked as a storeboy at [[Wanamaker's]].{{sfn|Beers|1980|p=62}}
===Early career===


At age 15, Vare entered the mercantile business and became a general contractor in 1893.<ref name=bio/>
His political career began in [[1884]] when he observed the [[Mummers Parade|Mummers]] on [[New Years Day]] and realized that this system of drill marches could be employed in political campaigns. In 1890 he started contracting with his two older brothers. By 1909, this contracting firm, known simply as "Vare Brothers," had contracts with the City of Philadelphia whose aggregate worth was over [[United States dollar|$]]100,000,000, and included interests as far ranging as produce distribution, garbage collection and real estate development. Vare Brothers later specialized in electrical contracting, and was largely responsible for major electricity infrastructure projects, including converting the Pennsylvania Railroad from coal to electricity.


==Career==
Bill was elected to City Council in 1898. Four years later, he was elected as [[Recorder of Deeds]]. In 1911, he decided to try a run for mayor as a moderate Republican. The primary was won by [[George H. Earle Jr.]], but it split the Republican organization in Philadelphia three different ways, and it was these splits that accounted for Independent [[Rudolph Blankenburg]]'s election in 1911.
His political career began in 1884 when he observed the [[Mummers Parade|Mummers parade]] on [[New Year's Day]] and realized that such marches could be employed in political campaigns. The Vare brothers started a family business hauling ash and garbage in South Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Amsterdam |first1=Daniel |title=Roaring Metropolis: Businessmen's Campaign for a Civic Welfare State |date=2016 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |page=29 |isbn=9780812292732 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmS6CwAAQBAJ&q=vare+brothers+philadelphia&pg=PA226 |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref> In 1890 he started construction contracting with his two older brothers. Vare Brothers contracting worked on excavating, paving and municipal contracts for the city of Philadelphia that totaled $7 million between 1909 and 1912. Their projects included building trolley tracks, sewers, the [[John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia)|Municipal Stadium]], the [[Broad Street Subway|Broad Street subway]] and excavating the site of the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]].{{sfn|Beers|1980|pp=62-63}}

Vare was elected to [[Philadelphia City Council]] in 1898 and served until 1901. He served as [[Recorder of Deeds]] for Philadelphia from 1902 to 1912.<ref name=bio/> In 1911, he ran for mayor as a moderate Republican. The primary was won by [[George Howard Earle Jr.|George Earle, Jr.]], but it split the Republican organization in Philadelphia three different ways, and it was these splits that accounted for Independent [[Rudolph Blankenburg]]'s election in 1911.

In 1912, Vare was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate and at the same time was elected to the U.S. Congress for the Pennsylvania 1st congressional district seat left vacant by the death of [[Henry H. Bingham]].<ref name=bio/>

In November 1922, he was elected to the [[Pennsylvania State Senate|Pennsylvania Senate]] in a special election to fill the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 1|first district]] seat left vacant by his brother Edwin's death.<ref>{{cite web | last = Cox | first = Harold | title = Pennsylvania Senate - 1921-1922| work = [[Wilkes University Election Statistics Project]]| publisher = Wilkes University | year =2004 | url =http://staffweb.wilkes.edu/harold.cox/legis/124S.pdf}}</ref> Vare resigned the seat a year later. His sister-in-law [[Flora M. Vare|Flora]], won the ensuing special election, becoming the first woman to serve in the chamber.<ref>{{cite web | last = Cox | first = Harold | title = Pennsylvania Senate - 1925-1926| work = [[Wilkes University Election Statistics Project]]| publisher = Wilkes University | year =2004 | url =http://staffweb.wilkes.edu/harold.cox/legis/126S.pdf}}</ref>


===United States House of Representatives===
===United States House of Representatives===
In [[United States House election, 1912|1912]], Vare was elected to the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives.<ref name=hsp/> While in the House, his voting record took a much more pronounced turn to the left. He supported the abolition of child labor, the federal income tax, the rights of unions to bargain collectively, and voting rights for women and the ending of segregation on passenger rail cars. In 1921 Vare's rival, Senator [[Boies Penrose]], died. The following year his older brother Ed also died. This left Bill Vare as the undisputed political leader of Philadelphia, with broad influence over the burgeoning industrial and economic region of the middle Atlantic seaboard.


Vare's voting record in the [[United States House of Representatives]] was classically Pennsylvania Republican, or more liberal on social issues and then more conservative on issues of pure business. Vare repeatedly pursued the repeal of [[Prohibition]] because of the cruel police state it imposed, and was actually able to show, statistically, that alcohol-related crimes increased threefold in Philadelphia during the first years of [[Prohibition]].
In [[United States House election, 1912|1912]], Vare was elected to the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives upon the death of [[Henry H. Bingham]]. At this juncture, Vare's voting record took a much more pronounced turn to the left. He supported the abolition of child labor, the federal income tax, the rights of unions to bargain collectively, and voting rights for women and the ending of segregation on passenger rail cars. In 1921 Vare's rival, Senator [[Boies Penrose]], died. The following year his older brother Ed also died. This left Bill Vare as the undisputed leader of Philadelphia, with broad influence over the burgeoning industrial and economic worlds of Philadelphia.


Vare's enemies called him "[[Political boss|Boss]] Vare".<ref name="oulahan19280613">{{Cite news |last=Oulahan |first=Richard V. |date=1928-06-13 |title=Hoover Certain on First Ballot as Convention Opens; His Rivals May Unite on Curtis in Final Fight on Him; Wets in Force Urge Dry Law Repeal Plank in Platform |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/280613convention-gop-ra.html |access-date=2024-01-10 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The Republican organization in Philadelphia received many offers to do business from the likes of [[Waxey Gordon]] and [[Lucky Luciano|"Lucky" Luciano]]. But this was no ordinary arrangement, as Vare forced both Gordon and Luciano to agree that Vare would hold a veto power over any racket operating in Philadelphia. In a further bid to gird the fiscal foundation of the Party, Vare decided to extract "loyalty oaths" from the entire Philadelphia Republican organization.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} Vare was also able to exert tremendous influence over Philadelphia's legal business. This was a strong form of politics, because Vare had much influence with the [[trade union|unions]].
Vare's voting record in the [[United States House of Representatives]] was classically Pennsylvania Republican, or more liberal on social issues and then more conservative on issues of pure business. Vare repeatedly pursued the repeal of [[Prohibition]] because of the cruel police state it imposed, and was actually able to show, statistically, that alcohol-related crimes increased threefold in Philadelphia during the first years of [[Prohibition]]. It was a testament to his moral character that he argued this way, as it has been inferred that the Philadelphia Republican Party machine relied on alcohol-related revenues to fund it's core activities, and Vare thus stood to lose much of his financial backing by pursuing Prohibition's repeal.


Vare used his political power to relocate the [[Sesquicentennial Exposition]] from [[Center City, Philadelphia]] to [[South Philadelphia]] and provide his constituents with millions of dollars worth of jobs and infrastructure investment.<ref name=Keels/>
The Republican organization in Philadelphia received many offers to do business from the likes of [[Waxey Gordon]] and [[Lucky Luciano|"Lucky" Luciano]]. But this was no ordinary arrangement, as Vare forced both Gordon and Luciano to agree that Vare would hold a veto power over any racket operating in Philadelphia. Not satisfied with this, Vare decided to extract "loyalty oaths" from the entire Philadelphia Republican organization. Vare was also able to exert tremendous influence over Philadelphia's legal business. This was a strong form of politics, because Vare had lots of influence with the [[trade union|unions]].


===Senate Scandals and End of career===
===Senate scandal and end of career===
[[United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1926|in 1926, Vare ran for the United States Senate]].<ref name=bio/> He defeated Governor [[Gifford Pinchot]] in the primary and Democrat [[William B. Wilson]] in the general election. Both the primaries and general election were mired in scandal.{{sfn|Beers|1980|p=65}} After Vare apparently won the election, Governor Pinchot refused to certify the election. In January 1927, Pinchot testified before the Senate, producing several thousand illegal paper ballots. Wilson alleged that voter fraud in the election included padded registration lists, phantom voters, and voter intimidation.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Senate: The Election Case of William B. Wilson vs. William S. Vare of Pennsylvania (1929) |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/109Wilson_Vare.htm |website=www.senate.gov |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref> Vare remained powerful; his unexpectedly supporting [[Herbert Hoover]] as the nominee at the [[1928 Republican National Convention]] forced other party leaders to also do so, helping end hopes to [[political draft|draft]] President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to run again. The Pennsylvania delegation at the convention unanimously supported a resolution demanding that Vare be allowed to enter the Senate.{{r|oulahan19280613}} In August 1928, Vare was partially paralyzed by a stroke brought on by the stress of the Senate investigation.<ref name=Keels>{{cite web |last1=Keels |first1=Thomas H. |title=Contractor Bosses (1880s to 1930s) |url=https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/contractor-bosses-1880s-to-1930s/ |website=www.philadelphiaencylopedia.org |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>


In December 1929, the Senate voted 58–22 to deny the Senate seat to Vare. While the Senate agreed that he had won the seat, the reason given for denying him the seat was that he had spent excessively to win the nomination.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weigley |first1=Russell Frank |title=Philadelphia: A 300 Year History |date=1982 |publisher=WW Norton & Company |location=New York - London |isbn=0-393-01610-2 |page=584 |url=https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig/page/584 |url-access=registration |access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref> Governor [[John Stuchell Fisher|John S. Fisher]] (successor to Pinchot) appointed [[Joseph R. Grundy]] to the vacant Senate seat.<ref name=hsp/> However, Vare regarded the Senate's action as endorsement of Pinchot's charges. As a result, when Pinchot again ran for governor in 1930, Vare ran [[Francis Shunk Brown]] in the primary against him. Pinchot won, and Vare then supported Democratic nominee John Hemphill in the general election, which Pinchot also won. Vare also backed US Secretary of Labor [[James J. Davis]], a Republican, in the special election for the remaining two years of Vare's Senate term, which Davis won. In spite of this, after the election there was a "palace coup" at the Republican City Committee: Vare was ousted and replaced by Davis.{{sfn|McLarnon|2003|p=101}}
In [[United States Senate election, 1926|1926]] Vare announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. Both the primaries and general election were scandals. After Vare apparently won the election, Governor [[Gifford Pinchot]], who had been drubbed by Vare in the primary, refused to certify the election. In January 1927, Pinchot testified before the Senate, producing several thousand illegal paper ballots. Nevertheless, the Senate informed Vare that they would contact him. In the interim Vare began smoking, drinking and eating to excess. This led in August of 1928 to a [[stroke]] that nearly killed him.


Four years later, Vare attempted a comeback as a Democrat. However, the symptoms of the 1928 stroke had become worse in the ensuing six years, and he died on the sixth anniversary of the stroke. He is interred in [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=bio/>
In December 1929, Vare was summoned before the Senate where he was informed that while he won the election, they could not agree to him being seated. However, Vare took it to mean that he was being denied the seat because of Pinchot's charges. As a result, in the [[Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1930|1930]] gubernatorial primary, Vare supported the Democratic nominee [[John Hemphill]], who lost to Pinchot. At this point a palace coup emerged at the Republican City Committee, where he was ousted and replaced by Secretary of Labor [[James J. Davis]].


==Bibliography==
Four years later, Vare was attempting a comeback as a Democrat. However, the symptoms of the [[1928]] stroke had become worse in the ensuing six years, and he died on the sixth anniversary of the stroke. He is buried in [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]], Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
*William S. Vare, [http://explorepahistory.com/odocument.php?docId=1-4-2A1 ''My Forty Years in Politics''], Philadelphia, Roland Swain Co, 1933

==Personal life==
Vare was married to Ida Morris.<ref name=bio>{{cite web |title=William Scott Vare |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=2591&body=S |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |access-date=1 January 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of federal political scandals in the United States]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}


==References==
==References==
* {{cite book
* Paul B. Beers, ''Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation'' 1980
| last = Beers
* Peter McCaffery's ''When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia'', Penn State University Press 1993.
| first = Paul B.
* Andrew T. Vare ''Stories about Uncle Bill" as told by Lucille Townsend Vare, Bryn Mawr 1983
| year = 1980
| title = Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Terrible Accommodation
| publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press
| isbn = 0-271-00238-7
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6SpJJmkNDFEC&pg=PA61
}}
* {{cite book
| last = McCaffrey
| first = Peter
| year = 1993
| title = When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia
| publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press
| isbn = 0-271-00923-3
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=D7XC3hxymDEC&q=william+scott+vare
}}
* {{cite book
| last = McLarnon
| first = John Morrison
| year = 2003
| title = Ruling Suburbia: John J. McClure and the Republican Machine in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
| publisher = University of Delaware Press
| isbn = 0-87413-814-0
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uVQFw6j-sRQC
}}
* Andrew T. Vare ''Stories about Uncle Bill'' as told by Lucille Townsend Vare, Bryn Mawr 1983


==External links==
==External links==
{{commons category|William Vare}}
*{{CongBio|V000071}}
* {{CongBio|V000071}}
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/vanwagenen-vaudain.html politicalgraveyard.com]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/vanwagenen-vaudain.html politicalgraveyard.com]
*[http://www.webcemeteries.com/westlaurelhill/LHO.Asp Biography-West Laurel Hill Cemetery web site]
* [http://www.webcemeteries.com/westlaurelhill/LHO.Asp Biography-West Laurel Hill Cemetery web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515142037/http://www.webcemeteries.com/westlaurelhill/LHO.Asp |date=2013-05-15 }}


{{start box}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{USRepSuccessionBox
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry H. Bingham|Henry Bingham]]}}
| state=Pennsylvania
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Pennsylvania|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district]]|years=1912–1923}}
| district=1
{{s-aft|after=Himself}}
| before=[[Henry H. Bingham]]
|-
| after=[[James M. Hazlett]]
{{s-bef|before=Himself}}
| years=1912 - 1927
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Pennsylvania|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district]]|years=1923–1927}}
}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James M. Hazlett|James Hazlett]]}}
{{succession box |
|-
title=[[List of United States Senators from Pennsylvania|U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania]] |
{{s-ppo}}
before=[[George W. Pepper]] |
{{s-bef|before=[[George W. Pepper|George Pepper]]}}
after=[[Joseph R. Grundy]] |
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Pennsylvania]]<br>([[Classes of United States senators|Class 3]])|years=[[1926 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania|1926]]}}
years=[[1927]]&ndash;[[1929]]
{{s-aft|after=[[James J. Davis|James Davis]]}}
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|-
{{end box}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George W. Pepper|George Pepper]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States senators from Pennsylvania|U.S. Senator-elect (Class 3) from Pennsylvania]]<br>'''''{{small|[[Unseated members of the United States Congress|Not seated]]}}'''''|years=1927–1929|alongside=[[David A. Reed]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Joseph R. Grundy|Joe Grundy]]}}
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{{Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania}}
{{USSenPA}}
{{USSenPA}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Vare, William S.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vare, William S.}}
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American political bosses from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:United States Senators from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State Senators]]
[[Category:Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the United States Senate declared not entitled to their seat]]
[[Category:People from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Congressional scandals]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania state senators]]
[[Category:Philadelphia City Council members]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Democrats]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:20th-century Pennsylvania politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]

Latest revision as of 04:19, 17 December 2024

William Vare
United States Senator-elect
from Pennsylvania
In office
March 4, 1927 – December 6, 1929
Not seated
Preceded byGeorge Pepper
Succeeded byJoe Grundy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1927
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byJames Hazlett
In office
May 24, 1912 – January 2, 1923
Preceded byHenry Bingham
Succeeded byHimself
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 1st district
In office
November 7, 1922 – November 30, 1923
Preceded byEdwin Vare
Succeeded byFlora M. Vare
Personal details
Born
William Scott Vare

(1867-12-24)December 24, 1867
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 1934(1934-08-07) (aged 66)
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (Before 1934)
Democratic (1934)

William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867 – August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1912 to 1927. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from the 1st Senatorial District from 1922 to 1923.[1] He won election to the United States Senate for Pennsylvania in 1926 but was never seated and was eventually removed in 1929 due to allegations of corruption and voter fraud.

He was a notorious political boss in the Philadelphia Republican machine of the early 20th century.[2] Vare and his two brothers, Edwin and George, were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" and held political control over South Philadelphia ward leadership and patronage jobs for decades. The contracting business he owned along with his brothers was involved in the construction of well-known sites in Philadelphia such as Municipal Stadium, the Broad Street subway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Early life

[edit]

Vare was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Augustus and Abigail Vare. He was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were contractors and politicians. George (1859–1908), Edwin (1862–1922) and William were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" and controlled ward leadership and patronage jobs for decades.[2]

He grew up on a pig and produce farm in Philadelphia at the current location of Fourth Street and Snyder Avenue.[3]

John Wanamaker, the department store magnate, took young Bill under his wing and paid for his tuition at Central High School in Philadelphia. Later, he worked as a storeboy at Wanamaker's.[4]

At age 15, Vare entered the mercantile business and became a general contractor in 1893.[5]

Career

[edit]

His political career began in 1884 when he observed the Mummers parade on New Year's Day and realized that such marches could be employed in political campaigns. The Vare brothers started a family business hauling ash and garbage in South Philadelphia.[6] In 1890 he started construction contracting with his two older brothers. Vare Brothers contracting worked on excavating, paving and municipal contracts for the city of Philadelphia that totaled $7 million between 1909 and 1912. Their projects included building trolley tracks, sewers, the Municipal Stadium, the Broad Street subway and excavating the site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[7]

Vare was elected to Philadelphia City Council in 1898 and served until 1901. He served as Recorder of Deeds for Philadelphia from 1902 to 1912.[5] In 1911, he ran for mayor as a moderate Republican. The primary was won by George Earle, Jr., but it split the Republican organization in Philadelphia three different ways, and it was these splits that accounted for Independent Rudolph Blankenburg's election in 1911.

In 1912, Vare was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate and at the same time was elected to the U.S. Congress for the Pennsylvania 1st congressional district seat left vacant by the death of Henry H. Bingham.[5]

In November 1922, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in a special election to fill the first district seat left vacant by his brother Edwin's death.[8] Vare resigned the seat a year later. His sister-in-law Flora, won the ensuing special election, becoming the first woman to serve in the chamber.[9]

United States House of Representatives

[edit]

In 1912, Vare was elected to the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives.[2] While in the House, his voting record took a much more pronounced turn to the left. He supported the abolition of child labor, the federal income tax, the rights of unions to bargain collectively, and voting rights for women and the ending of segregation on passenger rail cars. In 1921 Vare's rival, Senator Boies Penrose, died. The following year his older brother Ed also died. This left Bill Vare as the undisputed political leader of Philadelphia, with broad influence over the burgeoning industrial and economic region of the middle Atlantic seaboard.

Vare's voting record in the United States House of Representatives was classically Pennsylvania Republican, or more liberal on social issues and then more conservative on issues of pure business. Vare repeatedly pursued the repeal of Prohibition because of the cruel police state it imposed, and was actually able to show, statistically, that alcohol-related crimes increased threefold in Philadelphia during the first years of Prohibition.

Vare's enemies called him "Boss Vare".[10] The Republican organization in Philadelphia received many offers to do business from the likes of Waxey Gordon and "Lucky" Luciano. But this was no ordinary arrangement, as Vare forced both Gordon and Luciano to agree that Vare would hold a veto power over any racket operating in Philadelphia. In a further bid to gird the fiscal foundation of the Party, Vare decided to extract "loyalty oaths" from the entire Philadelphia Republican organization.[citation needed] Vare was also able to exert tremendous influence over Philadelphia's legal business. This was a strong form of politics, because Vare had much influence with the unions.

Vare used his political power to relocate the Sesquicentennial Exposition from Center City, Philadelphia to South Philadelphia and provide his constituents with millions of dollars worth of jobs and infrastructure investment.[11]

Senate scandal and end of career

[edit]

in 1926, Vare ran for the United States Senate.[5] He defeated Governor Gifford Pinchot in the primary and Democrat William B. Wilson in the general election. Both the primaries and general election were mired in scandal.[12] After Vare apparently won the election, Governor Pinchot refused to certify the election. In January 1927, Pinchot testified before the Senate, producing several thousand illegal paper ballots. Wilson alleged that voter fraud in the election included padded registration lists, phantom voters, and voter intimidation.[13] Vare remained powerful; his unexpectedly supporting Herbert Hoover as the nominee at the 1928 Republican National Convention forced other party leaders to also do so, helping end hopes to draft President Calvin Coolidge to run again. The Pennsylvania delegation at the convention unanimously supported a resolution demanding that Vare be allowed to enter the Senate.[10] In August 1928, Vare was partially paralyzed by a stroke brought on by the stress of the Senate investigation.[11]

In December 1929, the Senate voted 58–22 to deny the Senate seat to Vare. While the Senate agreed that he had won the seat, the reason given for denying him the seat was that he had spent excessively to win the nomination.[14] Governor John S. Fisher (successor to Pinchot) appointed Joseph R. Grundy to the vacant Senate seat.[2] However, Vare regarded the Senate's action as endorsement of Pinchot's charges. As a result, when Pinchot again ran for governor in 1930, Vare ran Francis Shunk Brown in the primary against him. Pinchot won, and Vare then supported Democratic nominee John Hemphill in the general election, which Pinchot also won. Vare also backed US Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, a Republican, in the special election for the remaining two years of Vare's Senate term, which Davis won. In spite of this, after the election there was a "palace coup" at the Republican City Committee: Vare was ousted and replaced by Davis.[15]

Four years later, Vare attempted a comeback as a Democrat. However, the symptoms of the 1928 stroke had become worse in the ensuing six years, and he died on the sixth anniversary of the stroke. He is interred in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.[5]

Bibliography

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Personal life

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Vare was married to Ida Morris.[5]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1923-1924" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. ^ a b c d "Closed for Business". www.digitalhistory.hsp.org. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ Dubin, Murray (1996). South Philadelphia: Mummers, Memories and the Melrose Diner. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 85. ISBN 1-56639-429-5. Retrieved 3 January 2019. vare brothers philadelphia.
  4. ^ Beers 1980, p. 62.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "William Scott Vare". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  6. ^ Amsterdam, Daniel (2016). Roaring Metropolis: Businessmen's Campaign for a Civic Welfare State. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780812292732. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  7. ^ Beers 1980, pp. 62–63.
  8. ^ Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1921-1922" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  9. ^ Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1925-1926" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  10. ^ a b Oulahan, Richard V. (1928-06-13). "Hoover Certain on First Ballot as Convention Opens; His Rivals May Unite on Curtis in Final Fight on Him; Wets in Force Urge Dry Law Repeal Plank in Platform". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  11. ^ a b Keels, Thomas H. "Contractor Bosses (1880s to 1930s)". www.philadelphiaencylopedia.org. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  12. ^ Beers 1980, p. 65.
  13. ^ "U.S. Senate: The Election Case of William B. Wilson vs. William S. Vare of Pennsylvania (1929)". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  14. ^ Weigley, Russell Frank (1982). Philadelphia: A 300 Year History. New York - London: WW Norton & Company. p. 584. ISBN 0-393-01610-2. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  15. ^ McLarnon 2003, p. 101.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Vare.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district
1912–1923 		Succeeded by
Himself
Preceded by
Himself
 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district
1923–1927 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
(Class 3)
1926 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator-elect (Class 3) from Pennsylvania
Not seated
1927–1929
Served alongside: David A. Reed 		Succeeded by
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