Norris, George William

(1861-1944)

   Born in Ohio, George Norris qualified in law at Valparaiso University in Indiana in 1883. He moved to Nebraska in 1885 and established a law practice. A Republican, Norris won election as a county prosecuting attorney in 1892, a judge in 1895, and a congressman to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1902. He held that position until 1912, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate, a seat he held almost until his death. An independently minded progressive, Norris opposed U.S. intervention in the affairs of Latin American nations, and he supported neutrality in the war in Europe. He was one of the six senators, alongside Robert M. La Follette Sr., James K. Vardaman, William Stone, Asle J. Gronna, and Harry Lane, who voted against the declaration of war in 1917. He also voted against the Versailles peace treaty and entry into the League of Nations in 1919.

   Throughout the 1920s Norris increasingly sided with Republican insurgents in favor of policies to aid farmers, and he supported the McNary-Haugen bills. He was particularly conspicuous in calling for public ownership and development of the Muscle Shoals facilities in Alabama. Norris was cosponsor of the Norris-La Guardia Antiinjunction Act of 1932 that extended some protection to organized labor in the event of strikes. He also sponsored the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, ending the “lame duck” sessions of Congress from December to March following the election.

   Although a Republican, Norris was highly critical of Herbert Hoover, and supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal during the 1930s, and led the fight in favor of the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933. He sponsored the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 providing funding for the Rural Electrification Administration and the Farm Forestry Act of 1937. He increasingly supported Roosevelt in foreign affairs, moving away from his earlier isolationist stance. In 1936, he was reelected as an independent progressive but was defeated in 1942 and retired from public life.