23 Facts About Sheridan Downey

Sheridan Downey was an American lawyer and a Democratic US Senator from California from 1939 to 1950.

Sheridan Downey was born in Laramie, the seat of Albany County in southeastern Wyoming, the son of the former Evangeline Victoria Owen and Stephen Wheeler Downey.

Sheridan Downey was educated in public schools of Laramie, and attended the University of Wyoming.

Sheridan Downey practiced law in Laramie, and in 1908 he was elected district attorney of Albany County as a Republican.

In 1913, Sheridan Downey moved to Sacramento, California, and continued to practice law with his brother, Stephen Wheeler Sheridan Downey, Jr.

In October 1933, Sheridan Downey announced that he was running for governor of California.

Sheridan Downey, who had been subjected to less vitriol than Sinclair during the campaign, remained a viable political force in the state.

Sheridan Downey actually garnered 123,000 votes more than his running mate.

Sheridan Downey gained a statewide reputation as a champion of progressive politics.

In 1936, the two drifted apart, as Townsend supported Union Party presidential nominee William Lemke of North Dakota, and Sheridan Downey remained a Democrat committed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In 1938 Sheridan Downey was elected to the United States Senate where he served until his resignation in November 1950.

Sheridan Downey ran as a supporter of the proposed "Ham and Eggs" government pension program and defeated incumbent Senator William Gibbs McAdoo in the Democratic primary by more than 135,000 votes.

On October 24,1938, Sheridan Downey appeared on the cover of Time magazine.

Sheridan Downey supported the efforts of oil companies and agribusiness to procure state, rather than federal, control of California's oil resources.

Sheridan Downey worked to exempt the California Central Valley from the Reclamation Act of 1902 to assist corporate farms.

Sheridan Downey took an early stand supporting a military draft but opposed the Roosevelt administration's plans to requisition industries in time of war.

Sheridan Downey acknowledged that Central Valley farmers were technically in violation of the Reclamation Act of 1902, but defended these violations of Federal law as necessary because, in the context of California agriculture the Federal limitation was impractical.

In 1950 Sheridan Downey dropped out of the race, citing ill health, and threw his support in the Democratic primary behind Manchester Boddy, the conservative and wealthy publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Sheridan Downey even indicated that if Douglas won the primary, which she did, he would support Republican US Representative Richard Nixon in the general election.

Sheridan Downey resigned from his Senate seat on November 30,1950, enabling the governor to appoint Nixon, which gave him a seniority advantage over other new senators elected in 1950.

Sheridan Downey served as a lobbyist representing the city of Long Beach and the large petroleum concerns leasing its extensive waterfront.

Sheridan Downey's papers are archived at the Bancroft Library in Berkeley.

Sheridan Downey's conservative turn after his reelection in 1944, when he increasingly represented the interests of big business, large agribusiness concerns, and the oil industry, has obscured his historical reputation as a one-time liberal and progressive force in California politics.