Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace
PoliticalGraveyard.com
Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace
Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace:
Libel and Slander
As criminal
offense or scandal
See the trouble and disgrace main page, as well as the FAQ and the Political Graveyard privacy policy, for important explanations and disclaimers.
in chronological order
Michael Walsh (1810-1859) —
of New York, New York
County, N.Y.
Born in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland,
May 4,
1810.
Democrat. Member of New York
state assembly, 1839, 1847-48, 1852; convicted
about 1845 for publication of a libel; U.S.
Representative from New York 4th District, 1853-55.
Died in New York, New York
County, N.Y., March 17,
1859 (age 48 years, 317
days).
Interment at Green-Wood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Charles Edward Travis (1829-1860) —
also known as Charles E. Travis —
Born in Alabama, August 8,
1829.
Son of Rosanna (Cato) Travis and William
Barret Travis.
Member of Texas
state house of representatives, 1853-54.
Court-martialed
and discharged
from the U.S. Cavalry, on charges of conduct
unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, based on incidents of
alleged slander, unauthorized
absence, and cheating
at cards.
Died, of consumption
(tuberculosis)
in Washington
County, Tex., 1860
(age about
30 years).
Interment at Masonic
Cemetery, Chappell Hill, Tex.
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Louis Stern (d. 1901) —
of St. Paul, Ramsey
County, Minn.
Born in Germany.
Naturalized U.S. citizen; newspaper
reporter; U.S. Commercial Agent (Consul) in Bamberg, 1893-1901.
Jewish.
Arrested
and fined in
Kissingen, Germany, 1895, for insulting the Baron von
Thuengen; also charged
with misrepresenting
his 15-year-old son as being twelve in order to get cheaper passage
to Europe for him on a steamship; the U.S. Consul General in Berlin
asserted that Mr. Stern was "very harshly and unjustly treated".
Depressed over financial problems and perceived anti-Semitism, he
began neglecting
his work; he was recalled
as commercial agent in 1901, but remained at Bamberg; his failure
to return money he had collected on behalf of U.S. citizens led
to a judgement
against him for 2,000 marks, which he was unable to pay; he
committed suicide
by gunshot,
in the public gardens at Bamberg, Germany,
June
10, 1901.
Burial
location unknown.
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John Looney (1865-1947) —
also known as Patrick John Looney —
of Rock Island, Rock Island
County, Ill.
Born in Ottawa, La Salle
County, Ill., October
5, 1865.
Son of Patrick Looney and Margaret Looney.
Lawyer;
newspaper
publisher; indicted
with others in 1897 over a scheme to defraud
the city of Rock Island in connection with a storm drain construction
project; convicted,
but the verdict was overturned on appeal; candidate for Illinois
state house of representatives, 1900; created and led a crime
syndicate in northwest Illinois, with interests in gambling,
prostitution,
extortion,
and eventually bootlegging
and automobile
theft; indicted
in 1907 on 37 counts of bribery,
extortion,
and libel, but acquitted; shot
and wounded by hidden snipers on two occasions in 1908; on February
22, 1909, he was shot
and wounded in a gunfight with business rival W. W. Wilmerton; on
March 22, 1912, after publishing personal attacks on Rock
Island Mayor Henry
M. Schriver, he was arrested,
brought to the police station, and severely
beaten by the mayor himself; subsequent rioting killed two men
and injured nine others; resumed control of the Rock Island rackets
in 1921; in 1922, he was indicted
for the murder
of saloon keeper William Gabel, who had provided evidence against
Looney to federal agents; arrested
in Belen, N.M., in 1924, and later convicted
of conspiracy and murder;
sentenced
to 5 years in prison
for conspiracy and 14 years for murder;
served 8 1/2 years.
Irish
ancestry.
Died, of tuberculosis,
in a sanitarium
at El Paso, El Paso
County, Tex., 1947
(age about
81 years).
Burial
location unknown.
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William Berri (1848-1917) —
of Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y.
Born in Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y., September
12, 1848.
Son of William Berri .
Republican. Carpet
merchant; printing
business; newspaper
publisher; officer or director of banks, electric
utilities, and the New York Telephone
Company; delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1904,
1908,
1912,
1916;
delegate
to New York state constitutional convention at-large, 1915;
member, New York State Board of Regents, 1916-17.
Congregationalist.
Member, Union
League.
In 1911, he was arraigned
on a charge of
criminal libel over an article he published in his newspaper,
brought by three candidates for Supreme Court, Herbert
T. Ketcham, Patrick
E. Callahan, and William
Willett, Jr.; the case was withdrawn a few days later when the
other two candidates discovered that Willett had indeed (as Berri
charged) paid bribes for his nomination.
Died in Brooklyn, Kings
County, N.Y., April 19,
1917 (age 68 years, 219
days).
Interment at Green-Wood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Frederick Waldron Phelps (b. 1929) —
also known as Fred Phelps —
of Topeka, Shawnee
County, Kan.
Born in Meridian, Lauderdale
County, Miss., November
13, 1929.
Son of Frederick Wade Phelps (1893-1977) and Catherine Idalette
(Johnson) Phelps (c.1907-1935).
Democrat. Lawyer; disbarred
by the state of Kansas in 1979 over harassment
of a court reporter and perjury
during the proceedings; in 1985, nine Federal judges filed a
disciplinary complaint against him over alleged false
accusations, which led to an agreement that he cease law
practice in Federal court; pastor of
the Westboro Baptist Church, which is widely
reviled for its extreme hatred
of homosexuals, and its tactics, such as picketing at military
funerals; candidate in primary for Governor of
Kansas, 1990, 1994, 1998; candidate in primary for U.S.
Senator from Kansas, 1992; candidate for mayor of
Topeka, Kan., 1993, 1997.
Baptist.
Still living as of 2011.
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