Baker, Newton D.

From collection Member List

Baker, Newton D.
Newton D. Baker (Johns Hopkins 1892, Washington & Lee 1894)

First Archon Treasurer of Phi Gamma Delta - 1898-1899
Archon President - 1905-1910

Mayor of Cleveland - 1912-1915
US Secretary of War during WWI - 1916-1921

Credited with the definition of Fraternity:

"A Fraternity is an association of men, selected in their college days by democratic processes, because of their adherence to common ideals and aspirations. Out of their association arises a personal relation which makes them unselfishly seek to advance one another in the arts of life and to add, to the formal instruction of the college curriculum, the culture and character which men acquire by contact with great personalities, or when admitted to partnership in great traditions. A Fraternity, too, is of such character that after men have left college they delight to renew their own youth by continued association with it and to bring their richest experiences back to the younger generation in part payment of the debt which they feel themselves owe to the fraternity for what it gave them in their formative years."

Additional Information

Archon President from 1905-1910 - Newton D. Baker (Johns Hopkins 1892, Washington and Lee 1894)

Archon President from 1905-1910 - Newton D. Baker (Johns Hopkins 1892, Washington and Lee 1894).

Elected President July 28, 1905
Served as Treasurer 1898-1899
Member First Board of Trustees
Baker Social Service Cup names after him
First Vice President of the New York Club
Charter member of Beta Mu at Johns Hopkins

Private Secretary to Postmaster General in 1896
Mayor of Cleveland from 1912-1916
Secretary of War in World War I, from 1916-1921
Served as member of International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Court
Received LL.D from Princeton and Michigan

More about Newton D. Baker

Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist, politician, and government official. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915. As U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921, Baker presided over the United States Army during World War I.

Born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Baker established a legal practice in Cleveland after graduating from Washington and Lee University School of Law. He became a progressive Democratic ally of Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Baker served as city solicitor of Cleveland from 1901 to 1909 before taking office as mayor in 1912. As mayor, he sought public transit reform, hospital improvement, and city beautification. Baker supported Woodrow Wilson at the 1912 Democratic National Convention, helping Wilson win the votes of the Ohio delegation. After leaving office, Baker accepted appointment as Secretary of War under President Wilson. He was one of several prominent Georgists appointed to positions in the Wilson Cabinet.

Baker presided over the U.S. military's participation in World War I. He selected General John J. Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Forces, which he insisted act as an independent unit. He left office in 1921 and returned to BakerHostetler, the legal practice he co-founded. He served as an attorney in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., a landmark case that established the constitutionality of zoning laws. He was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and continued to advocate American participation in the League during the 1920s. Beginning in 1928, he served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He was a candidate for the presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, but the convention chose Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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Baker Cup is named after him.




 

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