25 Facts About Boies Penrose

Boies Penrose was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Boies Penrose was the longest-serving Pennsylvania US senator until Arlen Specter surpassed his record in 2005.

Boies Penrose was a descendant of the prominent Biddle family of Philadelphia.

Boies Penrose attended Harvard University, where he became a member of Beta Theta Pi.

Boies Penrose was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1884, and was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate for the 6th district in 1886.

Boies Penrose served as president pro tempore from 1889 to 1891.

Boies Penrose served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1884 to 1886 and as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 6th district from 1887 to 1897.

Boies Penrose was President Pro Tempore from 1889 to 1891.

Boies Penrose was elected Chairman of the State Republican Party in 1903, succeeding fellow Senator Matthew Quay.

Boies Penrose quickly became a power broker in the state, enabling figures like Richard Baldwin to advance through loyalty to his organization.

In 1912, Boies Penrose was forced out of power by the progressive faction of the party led by William Flinn, in 1912.

Boies Penrose did not stand for re-election to his national committee post.

However, following Flinn's departure from the party to support Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party, Boies Penrose was able to garner enough support to return to his post as national committeeman and would remain in the position until his death.

Boies Penrose left his office as a State Senator that year to take the new position.

Boies Penrose was a dominant member of the Senate Finance Committee and supported high protective tariffs.

Boies Penrose had served on the United States Senate Committee on Banking, United States Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, United States Senate Committee on Education and Labor, and United States Senate Committee on Immigration.

Boies Penrose consistently supported "pro-business" policies, and opposed labor reform and women's rights.

Boies Penrose was a major supporter of Warren Harding, and helped the Ohio Senator win the 1920 Republican nomination.

In 1914, Boies Penrose faced his first direct election.

Boies Penrose publicly campaigned for the first time in his life and defeated Democrat A Mitchell Palmer and Progressive Gifford Pinchot.

In November 1915, Boies Penrose accompanied the Liberty Bell on its nationwide tour returning to Pennsylvania from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco; Boies Penrose accompanied the bell to New Orleans and then to Philadelphia.

Boies Penrose was an avid outdoorsman and took pleasure in mountain exploration and big-game hunting.

Boies Penrose climbed and named at least two mountains: one in Montana and another in the Dickson Range in the Bridge River Country of British Columbia.

Boies Penrose died in his Wardman Park penthouse suite in Washington, DC in the last hour of 1921, after suffering a pulmonary thrombosis.

Boies Penrose was buried in the family grave section in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.