Wheeler, Burton Kendall

Wheeler, Burton Kendall, 1882–1975, U.S. senator (1923–47), b. Hudson, Mass. He practiced law in Butte, Mont. Wheeler was (1911–13) a member of the state legislature and was appointed (1913) federal attorney by President Woodrow Wilson. He was elected (1922) to the Senate from Montana on the Democratic ticket, but in 1924 was the vice presidential candidate of the Progressive party on the ticket with Robert La Follette. He soon returned to the Democratic party and backed much of the New Deal legislation. With the outbreak of World War II he became a leading exponent of isolationism and by 1940 had broken with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1946, Wheeler was defeated in the Democratic primaries.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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