George Woodward Wickersham

George Woodward Wickersham 1858-1936, American lawyer and government official, b. Pittsburgh. He began law practice in Philadelphia, and after moving (1882) to New York City, he became a prominent corporation lawyer. As U.S. Attorney General (1909-13) under President Taft, he successfully prosecuted many corporations under the Sherman Antitrust Act. His book The Changing Order (1914) deals with monopolies. In 1929 he was appointed by President Hoover to head the National Commission on Law Observance and Law Enforcement, which came to be called the Wickersham Commission. It concluded in its final report of 1931 that the federal machinery for enforcing criminal law in the United States was inadequate. It found in particular that prohibition enforcement had broken down, and the majority (which did not include Wickersham) recommended revision (but not repeal) of the 18th Amendment.

Woodward, George W. (b. Bethany, Penn., 26 Mar. 1809; d. Rome, Italy, 10 May 1875), judge, congressman, and unconfirmed nominee to the Supreme Court. After being admitted to the bar in 1830, George W. Woodward practiced law in his home state of Pennsylvania, served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1837, and assumed the position of president judge of Pennsylvania's fourth judicial district in 1841. Four years later, after making an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, Woodward received an appointment on 23 December 1845 from President James K. Polk to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Henry Baldwin.

Although a loyal Democrat from a distinguished family, Woodward failed to gain Senate confirmation. Divisions within the Democratic party—especially the opposition of a senator from Woodward's home state—caused the Senate on 22 January 1846 to reject Woodward's nomination by a vote of 20 to 29. Woodward later served as associate justice and chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and eventually won election the U.S. House of Representatives.

Timothy S. Huebner

Woodward, W[illiam] E. (1874–1950), born in South Carolina, author of the novels Bunk (1923), Lottery (1924), Bread and Circuses (1925), and Evelyn Prentice (1933), in addition to popular debunking books for which he was known. His biographies include George Washington: The Image and the Man (1926), Meet General Grant (1928), and Tom Paine: America's Godfather (1945). A New American History (1936) is a breezy narrative; The Way Our People Lived (1944) selects representative episodes; Years of Madness (1951) deals with the Civil War. The Gift of Life (1947) is his autobiography.