James Middleton COX, Congress, OH (1870-1957)

COX James Middleton , a Representative from Ohio; born on a farm near Jacksonburg, Butler County, Ohio, March 31, 1870; attended Butler County schools and Amanda (Ohio) High School; after two years of high school passed teacher's examination and at the age of 16 years began teaching school; commenced newspaper career as reporter on Middletown (Ohio) Signal and in 1892 went to work on the Cincinnati Enquirer; secretary to Congressman Paul Sorg 1894-1897; became owner and publisher of the Dayton Daily News in 1898, of the Springfield Daily News in 1903, of the Miami (Florida) News in 1923, of the Atlanta (Georgia) Journal in 1939, of the Dayton Journal and Herald in 1949, and of the Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution in 1950; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses and served from March 4, 1909, until January 12, 1913, when he resigned, having been elected Governor; Governor of Ohio 1913-1915; unsuccessful candidate for reelection as Governor in 1914; again Governor of Ohio 1917-1921; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election as President of the United States in 1920; vice chairman of the United States delegation to the World Economic Conference at London in 1933 and president of its monetary commission; declined appointment to the United States Senate by Gov. Frank Lausche in 1946; retired from political life but continued his activities as newspaper publisher and owner of several radio and television stations; died in Dayton, Ohio, July 15, 1957; interment in Woodland Cemetery.

Bibliography

Cebula, James E. James M. Cox: Journalist and Politician. New York: Garland, 1985; Grant, Philip A. "Congressional Campaigns of James M. Cox, 1908 and 1910." Ohio History 81 (Winter 1972): 4-14.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present