1910s Wheeler was elected as a
Montana state legislator in 1910, and in that position, he gained a reputation as a champion of labor against the
Anaconda Copper Mining Company that dominated the state's economy and politics. He was appointed as a
United States Attorney. During his tenure, he refused to prosecute alleged
sedition cases during
World War I, arguing that to do so would violate free speech. His refusal is significant as Montana was a stronghold of the
Industrial Workers of the World. In other parts of the country, IWW membership was suppressed under the
Sedition Act. Wheeler's defense of free speech was seen as unpatriotic if not treasonous by conservatives. He further riled conservatives when he served as defense attorney for
William F. Dunne, a socialist newspaper editor who was accused of sedition. Wheeler's actions made him unpopular in the pro–World War I political climate, and he was forced to resign his office as a U.S. attorney in October 1918.
1920s '' cover, June 18, 1923 In
1920, Wheeler ran for
Governor of Montana, easily winning the
Democratic primary, and he won the support of the
Non-Partisan League in the general election. The ticket included a multi-racial set of candidates, unusual for 1920, including an
African American and a
Blackfoot Indian. Wheeler was defeated by
Republican former U.S. Senator
Joseph M. Dixon. He voted for the
Immigration Act of 1924 which limited Catholic and Jewish immigration, and almost entirely banned Asian immigrants. In 1925, Wheeler faced investigation, without major impact, by
Blair Coan, a Justice Department investigator from Chicago, who suspected Wheeler of involvement in communist conspiracy. Now commonly known as the
Wheeler resolution, it was approved on June 13, 1938 and the next year the
Federal Communications Commission implemented a 50,000 watt cap, which still remains in force.
1940s America First Committee Wheeler, an outspoken
non-interventionist, opposed U.S. entry into
World War II. He strongly supported the isolationist
America First Committee but never joined. He gave advice and many speeches to its chapters. His wife Lulu was on its national committee and she was the treasurer of the Washington, DC, chapter. Because he and other speakers at an antiwar rally, including
Norman Thomas, gave the palm-out
Bellamy Salute, critics drew comparisons to the Nazi salute. The Bellamy Salute had been widely used in the U.S. since the 1890s. As chair of the "Wheeler Committee" (formally, the Subcommittee to Investigate Railroads, Holding Companies, and Related Matters of the
United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce),
World War II Following Japan's
attack on Pearl Harbor, Wheeler supported a declaration of war saying, "The only thing now to do is to lick the hell out of them." Wheeler had always considered himself to be a champion of civil liberties for unpopular groups and World War II was no exception. Agreeing with such critics of the Sedition Trial of 1944 as Senator
Robert A. Taft and leading constitutional scholar
Zechariah Chafee, he regarded the Sedition Trial of 1944 a "disgrace" and a scheme to smear more mainstream critics of FDR's pre-war foreign policy. Wheeler also criticized the internment of Japanese Americans though he apparently did not speak out publicly. In 1962, he recalled that he had "protested to various high-level government officials", including his friend Under Secretary of War
Robert P. Patterson, asserting that internment violated the "principles of the Four Freedoms". He warned that if the government "can get away with such treatment of citizens of Japanese descent, it can do the same to any minority". In 1945, Wheeler was among the seven senators who opposed full United States entry into the
United Nations. Wheeler sought renomination in 1946 but was defeated in the Democratic primary by
Leif Erickson, who attacked Wheeler as insufficiently liberal and for his "pre-war isolationist" views. Erickson in turn was defeated by Republican state representative
Zales Ecton. Wheeler's defeat has been attributed, in part, to a pamphlet by
David George Plotkin entitled
The Plot Against America: Senator Wheeler and the Forces Behind Him. Published by supporters of the
Communist Party, the pamphlet accused Wheeler, along with President
Harry S. Truman, of being part of a
fascist conspiracy. Montana writer
Joseph Kinsey Howard called it "one of the worst books ever written" about a politician. It later emerged that the pamphlet had been backed by an aide of
Jerry J. O'Connell, a political rival of Wheeler's in Montana politics. One political commentator characterized the fall of Wheeler's political fortunes by the end of his career: Though Wheeler was accused of becoming a conservative, even reactionary, he remained consistent to the Populist-Progressive tradition in blaming eastern bankers for his ills. In his early years he lumped together the eastern financial interests with capitalism; in 1946 they were partners in crime with Communism. The man was the same, as were his methods, but his sense of timing and knowledge of the Montana voter were not as acute as they had been. By 1946, Wheeler was more acceptable to conservatives than liberals.
1950s On September 15, 1950, Wheeler served as counsel to
Max Lowenthal, a fellow Democrat from Minnesota, as the latter testified before the
House Un-American Activities Committee. {{Cite book Wheeler did not return to politics, nor full-time to Montana, but took up his law practice in
Washington, D.C. Aided by research from his daughter, Frances (died 1957), Wheeler wrote his autobiography, with Paul F. Healy,
Yankee from the West, published in 1962 by Doubleday & Company. He dedicated the book to his wife and daughter. ==Personal life, death, and legacy==