1916 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

none March 2026 September 2023 1916 United States Senate election in Massachusetts Massachusetts 1908 presidential no 1911 United States Senate election in Massachusetts 1911 1922 United States Senate election in Massachusetts 1922 November 7, 1916 x160px Henry Cabot Lodge c1916.jpg Henry Cabot Lodge Republican Party (United States) 267,177 51.68% J.F. Fitzgerald LCCN2014714230 (3x4a).jpg John F. Fitzgerald Democratic Party (United States) 234,238 45.31% 300px County results 300px| Municipality results 1 250px Lodge: #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90% #A80000 >90%Fitzgerald: #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Republican Party (United States) Henry Cabot Lodge Republican Party (United States) The 1916 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 7, 1916. Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge defeated Democratic Mayor of Boston John F. Fitzgerald to win election to a fifth term. This was the first United States Senate election in Massachusetts decided by popular vote, as required by the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Republican primary Candidates Henry Cabot Lodge, incumbent Senator since 1893 Results 1916 U.S. Senate Republican primaryOffice of the Secretary of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Number of assessed polls, registered voters and persons who voted in each voting precinct in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the state, city and town elections 1916 125 https://archive.org/details/numberofassessed1916mass Republican Party (United States) Henry Cabot Lodge (incumbent) 104,118 100.00% 2 0.00% 104,120 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates John F. Fitzgerald, former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative (grandfather of future President John F. Kennedy) Background In 1914 Mayor of Boston John F. Fitzgerald was strongly popular in the city, leading him to consider a challenge against the powerful Senator Lodge.Kearns Goodwin 1987 243 When he wavered on whether to run for another term in office, however, James Michael Curley entered the race and usurped him in the January 1914 election. Fitzgerald briefly ran for re-election to another term in office, before withdrawing in December 1913. Though he cited illness, he was in fact being blackmailed by Curley and attorney Daniel H. Coakley, who had learned of his indiscretions with a cigarette girl, Elizabeth "Toodles" Ryan.Kearns Goodwin 1987 243–47 Campaign The Democratic state convention was held in Springfield on October 7.DEMOCRATS TO MEET OCTOBER 7 13 Aug 1916 https://www.newspapers.com/image/430903648/ subscription 11 Oct 2022 The Boston Globe 9 Fitzgerald addressed the convention, praising President Wilson and criticizing Lodge, his Senate colleague John W. Weeks, and former President Theodore Roosevelt for opposing the President's re-election during war-time.WILSON'S FAME ETERNAL, MR. FITZGERALD SAYS 7 Oct 1916 The Boston Globe 14 https://www.newspapers.com/image/430950409/ subscription 11 Oct 2022 Results 1916 U.S. Senate Democratic primaryOffice of the Secretary of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Number of assessed polls, registered voters and persons who voted in each voting precinct in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the state, city and town elections 1916 252 https://archive.org/details/numberofassessed1916mass Democratic Party (United States) John F. Fitzgerald 64,551 100.00% 2 0.00% 64,553 100.00% General election Candidates John F. Fitzgerald, former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative (Democratic) Henry Cabot Lodge, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1893 (Republican) William N. McDonald (Socialist) Campaign The first shot of the general election came in September, before the primary elections. At a Lodge campaign rally in Beverly, the Senator made no mention of Fitzgerald, but campaign backer Arthur Black criticized the former mayor's candidacy as a vanity run. Lodge focused his campaign on criticism of President Wilson and support for Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes.CALLS FOR DEFEAT OF FITZGERALD https://www.newspapers.com/image/74642470/ 24 Sep 1916 subscription 11 Oct 2022 The Boston Post 3 Fitzgerald attacked Lodge for his opposition to the direct election of Senators and the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. He declared that "[Lodge's] career shows a singular lack of touch with the people... it is for private interests that he has stood during his career."Whalen 2000 5 Lodge also faced criticism over his charge of weakness against President Wilson's response to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Lodge was forced to withdraw his charge.Whalen 2000 5 Results 1916 United States Senate election in MassachusettsA manual for the use of the General Court 1917 1917 408 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106518803&seq=436 Republican Party (United States) Henry Cabot Lodge (incumbent) 267,177 51.68% Democratic Party (United States) John F. Fitzgerald 234,238 45.31% Socialist Party of America William N. McDonald 15,558 3.01% Write-in All others 26 0.00% 516,999 100.00% Aftermath In 1952, Fitzgerald's grandson John F. Kennedy defeated Lodge's grandson Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. to win election to this same Senate seat. Fitzgerald's daughter Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy would say that her son John had "evened the score" with the Lodges and avenged her father's defeat. A final contest between the two families came in 1962, when John Kennedy's youngest brother (and another of Fitzgerald's grandsons) Ted Kennedy defeated younger Lodge's son George C. Lodge for the same seat.Whalen 2000 6 References Bibliography Kennedy versus Lodge: The 1952 Massachusetts Senate race Whalen Thomas J. Northeastern University Press 2000 Boston, Mass. The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys Kearns Goodwin Doris https://archive.org/details/fitzgeraldskenne0000good registration 1987 1916 Massachusetts Category:1916 Massachusetts elections