John G. Sargent

John Garibaldi Sargent
53rd United States Attorney General
In office March 7, 1925 – March 4, 1929
President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Harlan Fiske Stone
Succeeded by	William DeWitt Mitchell
Attorney General of Vermont
In office 1908–1912
Preceded by	Clarke C. Fitts
Succeeded by	Rufus E. Brown
Personal details
Born	October 13, 1860 Ludlow, Vermont, U.S.
Died	March 5, 1939 (aged 78) Ludlow, Vermont, U.S.
Resting place	Pleasant View Cemetery, Ludlow, Vermont, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Gordon Sargent
Children	Gladys Gordon Sargent
Alma mater	Tufts College
Profession	Government, Lawyer
Religion	Universalist[1]

John Garibaldi Sargent (October 13, 1860 – March 5, 1939) was an American lawyer and government official. He served as United States Attorney General during the administration of President Calvin Coolidge.

Biography

John G. Sargent was born in Ludlow, Vermont on October 13, 1860, the son of John Henmon Sargent and Ann Eliza Hanley.^[2] He graduated from Black River Academy, and received his degree from Tufts College in 1887.^[3][4] Sargent was married to the former Mary Lorraine Gordon on August 4, 1887.^[5] They had a daughter, Gladys Gordon Sargent.^[6]

Sargent studied law at a firm in Ludlow, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and became a partner in the firm of William W. Stickney, a cousin of Calvin Coolidge.^[7]

In addition to practicing law, Sargent was active in the insurance business, served as President of the Ludlow Savings Bank, and was a member of the board of directors of several railroads and other corporations.^[8][9][10]

A Republican, he served as Windsor County State's Attorney from 1898 to 1900.^[11] Sargent was Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) for Stickney during Stickney's term as Governor of Vermont from 1900 to 1902.^[12]

From 1908 to 1912 Sargent was Vermont Attorney General.^[13] In 1912, Sargent received an honorary master's degree from Tufts.^[14][15]

In 1925, President Coolidge's nominee for Attorney General, Charles B. Warren, was rejected by the United States Senate.^[16] Coolidge then nominated Sargent, whom he had known since childhood.^[17] Sargent was confirmed unanimously, and served until March 4, 1929.^[18][19]

After the leaving office, Sargent returned to practicing law. He was also Chairman of the Vermont Commission on Uniform State Laws, and a trustee of the Black River Academy.^[20][21]

Sargent died in Ludlow on March 5, 1939, and was buried at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Ludlow, Vermont.^[22][23]

John G. Sargent's honors included honorary LL.D. degrees from Tufts, Norwich University, Middlebury College, and Dartmouth College.^[24]

References

1. Universalist Publishing House, The Universalist Leader, Volume 28, Issues 1-26, 1925, pages 315, 446
2. Volney Sewall Fulham, The Fulham Genealogy, 1910, page 260
3. E. Thompson Company, Law Notes, Volume 29, 1925, page 16
4. Funk & Wagnalls, The Literary Digest, Volume 75, 1925, page 44
5. William Henry Smith, History of the Cabinet of the United States of America, 1925, pages 355-356
6. Robert I. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members, Volume 2, 1975, page 544
7. James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 25, 1967, page 337
8. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members
9. Standard Publishing, The Standard
10. Boston and Maine Railroad, Annual Report, 1919, page 4
11. William Richard Cutter, American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Volume 24, 1926, page 137
12. Robert Sobel, Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989, 1990, page 320
13. Vermont Attorney General, Past Vermont Attorneys General, retrieved January 31, 2014
14. Vermont Bar Association, Report of Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, Volume 33, 1939, page 39
15. The Green Bag magazine, The Academic Roll of Honor, July 1912, page 375
16. Joseph Pratt Harris, The Advice and Consent of the Senate, 1953, page 260
17. Federal Writers' Project, Vermont; a Guide to the Green Mountain State, 1934, page 255
18. Meenekshi Bose, Rosanna Perotti, editors, From Cold War to New World Order: The Foreign Policy of George H.W. Bush, 2002, page 373
19. Phyllis Raybin Emert, Attorneys General: Enforcing the Law, 2005, page 155
20. Standard Publishing, The Standard, Volume 124, 1939, page 292
21. U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, 1929, page 3817
22. Newsweek magazine, Deaths: John G. Sargent, Volume 13, 1939, page 57
23. John G. Sargent at Find a Grave, retrieved January 31, 2014
24. George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, editors, The American Mercury, Volume 12, 1927, page 477

External links

• DOJ biography
• John Garibaldi Sargent at The Political Graveyard
• John Garibaldi Sargent at Black River Academy Museum