Walsh became a leader in Democratic Party politics in Helena and attended numerous local, county and state conventions as a delegate. He was defeated in a 1906 election for the
United States House of Representatives and a 1910 race for the U.S. Senate. Walsh was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of
1908,
1912,
1916,
1920,
1924,
1928, and
1932. He was the permanent chairman of the 1928 and 1932 conventions. In 1912, Walsh won a state legislative election for U.S. Senate. He was repeatedly re-elected, and served from 1913 until his death in 1933. He emerged as a spokesman for President
Woodrow Wilson in the Senate and supported the graduated income tax, farm loans, and
women's suffrage. Walsh managed Wilson's western campaign against
Charles Evans Hughes during the 1916 presidential election, and was credited with helping Wilson win a narrow re-election victory. Unlike many Irish Catholics, who did not want the United States to ally with the
United Kingdom, Walsh supported Wilson's foreign policy and voted for war against
Germany in 1917. In 1919, he supported Wilson's peace plans and the
League of Nations. Walsh ran for re-election
in 1918. In a three-way election that included him, former
State Representative Oscar M. Lanstrum as the
Republican nominee, and
US Representative Jeannette Rankin as the
National Party nominee, Walsh narrowly won a second term. '' cover, 4 May 1925 In his re-election
in 1924, he defeated Republican
Frank Bird Linderman by a solid margin. In
1930, Walsh ran for re-election and defeated
Albert J. Galen in a landslide. During his tenure in the Senate, Walsh gained fame for his legal ability in the Judiciary Committee and speaking ability on the floor. In the 1920s, Walsh headed the Senate investigation into the
Teapot Dome scandal that involved top officials of the administration of President
Warren G. Harding. The investigation done by the
Federal Trade Commission would continue through 1935 and eventually result in four of the most important laws governing the electric industry in the 20th century including the breakup of most of the large holding companies that formed during the 1920s. In 1933, Walsh was nominated for
Attorney General by incoming President
Franklin Roosevelt. In late February, he secretly married wealthy Cuban widow Mina Nieves Perez Chaumont de Truffin in Havana, Cuba. Less than a week later, he died while
en route by train to
Washington for
Roosevelt's inauguration, allegedly poisoned by his new wife. His funeral service was held in the Chamber of the United States Senate, and he was interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Helena. ==See also==