Martin served in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives (1912–1914),
Massachusetts Senate (1914–1917) and the
United States House of Representatives (1925–1967). He was a
presidential elector in
1920. Martin was the
Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1940 to 1942, having been recruited to that position by presidential nominee
Wendell Willkie, whose nomination came as a complete surprise to political pro Martin. During the
New Deal, he stood out as a major opponent of
Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies and opposed his internationalist outlook on foreign affairs. However, he supported a few New Deal measures, such as the establishment of the
minimum wage. During the 1940 presidential campaign, Martin achieved a measure of notoriety as one-third of President Roosevelt's famous denunciation of "Martin, Barton and Fish." The other two were fellow GOP House members
Bruce Fairchild Barton and
Hamilton Fish III. Martin won
re-election in 1946 against the social justice activist
Martha Sharp. During his campaign, he called the 41-year-old woman a "little girl". After 1952, Martin joined the
moderate wing of the Republican Party and supported
Dwight D. Eisenhower's internationalist outlook (through support of foreign aid), endorsed federal aid for school construction, and backed
Lyndon B. Johnson's
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. In 1960,
McGraw-Hill published
My First Fifty Years in Politics, by Joe Martin as told to Robert J. Donovan, a lively and detailed account of Martin's role in American politics over half-a-century. Martin was the longtime publisher of
The Evening Chronicle newspaper in North Attleborough. After his death it merged with a nearby rival and became
The Sun Chronicle newspaper.
Leadership at the U.S. Capitol Martin was elected
House Minority Leader following Republican gains in the
1938 elections. He served as
Speaker of the House of Representatives for two terms, separated in time: from 1947 to 1949, and from 1953 to 1955. The terms represented two Republican short-term majorities in the House, and Martin's two terms were bookended by
Sam Rayburn, the
Texas Democrat and mentor of Lyndon Johnson with whom Martin enjoyed a warm personal relationship. Probably the most controversial moment of Martin's congressional career came in April 1951, when he read on the floor of Congress a letter he had received from General
Douglas MacArthur, who was commanding US troops fighting in the
Korean War. President
Harry S Truman had decided on peace negotiations as the best way out of the grinding conflict. MacArthur's letter, written in response to one from Martin asking for the general's views on Truman's policy, was scathingly critical of the president. Martin had hoped that disclosing the letter's contents would bolster MacArthur's case. Instead, it ignited a political firestorm and demands for his removal. Six days after Martin read the letter on the House floor, Truman dismissed MacArthur. Despite the unintended outcome, Martin and MacArthur remained friends. Martin invited the general to deliver what became known popularly as the "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech before a joint meeting of Congress following his dismissal. In 1952, Martin urged MacArthur to seek the Republican presidential nomination. MacArthur, however, favored
U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft, of
Ohio, who lost the nomination to Willkie in 1940, to Dewey in 1948, and to Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower then defeated
Governor Adlai E. Stevenson II of
Illinois. In his capacity as leader of the House Republicans, Martin presided over the
Republican National Convention on five occasions between 1940 and 1956. In 1940, he was instrumental in the choice of Senate Minority Leader
Charles L. McNary of Oregon as
Wendell Willkie's running mate. Martin's most controversial role was at the
1952 Republican National Convention, when several of his rulings were seen as tilting the nomination to Eisenhower over Taft. In preparation for the 1952 elections, Martin traveled to
Hot Springs,
Arkansas, for a regional Republican meeting called by the state party chairman
Osro Cobb, a former member of the
Arkansas House of Representatives, to unveil a potential strategy to make the party competitive in the
American South. "We came away from the meeting more determined and better prepared to advance the two-party system in the South," recalled Cobb in his memoirs, as the Republicans won at the presidential level that year in
Tennessee,
Texas,
Florida, and
Virginia. Martin was in the Speaker's chair presiding over the House on March 1, 1954, when
four Puerto Rican independence activists opened fire on the House, wounding five Representatives. Martin declared the House in recess as he sought cover behind a marble pillar on the rostrum. Martin would be the last Republican to serve as Speaker of the House until the election of
Newt Gingrich of
Georgia 40 years later. Martin remained the leader of the House Republicans until
1958, when the party experienced heavy losses in that year's elections. In the aftermath, Martin was ousted from the leadership by his deputy,
Charles A. Halleck. Despite the defeat, Martin chose to remain as a backbench member of the House. Eight years later, in 1966, he was ousted from his seat in the Republican primary by a more
liberal Republican,
Margaret Heckler, who was 46 years his junior. He was also one of seven Speakers to serve more than one non-consecutive term and the second Republican to do so. Martin voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Acts of 1957,
1960, and
1964, as well as the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Martin voted in favor of the House amendment to the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 on July 9, 1965, but did not vote on the
joint conference committee report on August 3, 1965. A lifelong bachelor, Martin never married. Martin died in
Hollywood,
Florida, on March 6, 1968. He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in
North Attleborough, Massachusetts. ==Legacy==