U.S . Representative
Which position did James M. Beck hold from Nov 1927 to Sep 1934?
James M . Beck James Montgomery Beck ( July 9 , 1861 – April 12 , 1936 ) was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . He was a member of the Republican Party , who served as U.S . Solicitor General and U.S . Representative from Pennsylvania . Early life and family . Beck was born July 9 , 1861 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the son of Margaretta C . ( née Darling ) and James Nathan Beck . He graduated from Moravian College in Bethlehem , Pennsylvania in 1880 . He was employed as clerk for a railway company in 1880 and studied law at night , was admitted to the bar in 1884 and commenced practice in Philadelphia . He was admitted to the bar of New York City in 1903 , and to the bar of England in 1922 . Professional career . Beck served as assistant United States attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892 and as United States attorney in Philadelphia from 1896 to 1900 . In 1898 , he ran for District Attorney of Philadelphia , but lost to P . Frederick Rothermel . He was appointed by President William McKinley as assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1900 and served until his resignation in 1903 . He returned to the full-time practice of law , joining the firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York City . In 1917 , he left that firm to become senior partner in Beck , Crawford & Harris , and retired from active practice in 1927 to run for Congress from Philadelphia . At the outbreak of World War I , he took a strong stand against Germany and wrote much and delivered many addresses to show Germanys responsibility . He was elected a bencher of Grays Inn in 1914 , being the first foreigner in 600 years to receive that distinction . He also received decorations from France and Belgium and authored several books and articles on the First World War and on the Constitution of the United States . Among his works were The Evidence in the Case ( 1914 ) and War and Humanity ( 1916 ) . Solicitor General . He was appointed by President Warren G . Harding as Solicitor General of the United States in 1921 and served until his voluntary resignation in 1925 , when he again resumed the practice of law . During his term as solicitor general , he had charge of more than 800 cases before the U.S . Supreme Court . He personally and successfully argued more than 100 of those cases . The remainder were detailed to staff . His conservative views were reflected in his 1924 book The Constitution of the United States . It was a best-seller , going through seven printings within ten months . A special edition of 10,000 copies , with a foreword by President-elect Coolidge , went to schools and libraries across the country . U.S . Representative . After resigning as solicitor general , Beck became involved in the legal fight of William S . Vare , who had been elected to the U.S . Senate but was denied a seat because of irregularities in the election . In response , Beck wrote The Vanishing Rights of States in which he argued that the U.S . Constitution did not allow the Senate the ability to exclude a member chosen through an election . The debate that followed the books publishing raised Becks public profile and made him a prominent option to fill the House seat vacated by the resignation of James M . Hazlett . Beck was elected as a Republican to the Seventieth Congress , was reelected to the Seventy-first , Seventy-second , and Seventy-third Congresses and served from November 8 , 1927 until his resignation on September 30 , 1934 . He was active in the movement to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment , which he said had no place in the constitution . He also fended off legal questions about his official residence and thus eligibility to represent Philadelphia . Later legal battles . Beck resigned his seat in the House of Representatives because of strong objections to President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal . In a statement released at the time of his resignation , he stated that Congress had become merely a rubber stamp for the Executive . He joined the lawsuit against the New Deal-created Tennessee Valley Authority and argued the case in the Supreme Court in December 1935 , declaring the organization unconstitutional and Socialistic . In the final weeks before his death , he served as counsel in the case of an oil stock dealer accused of violating the Securities Act of 1933 . Death and legacy . Beck died April 12 , 1936 in Washington , D.C. , and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery . He was survived by his son , James M . Beck Jr. , daughter Beatrice Beck Tuck and his wife , Lilla Mitchell Beck , who died August 1 , 1956 . References . - James M . Beck , 74 , New Deal foe , dies , The New York Times . April 13 , 1936 . p . 1 External links . - James M . Beck Papers at the Seeley G . Mudd Manuscript Library , Princeton University