Borah, William Edgar (1865-1940)

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United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Emily Greene Balch to William Jennings Bryan, September 7, 1916

Jane Addams to William Edgar Borah, August 16, 1927

William Edgar Borah to Mabel Hyde Kittredge, March 8, 1921

William Edgar Borah to Jane Addams, March 29, 1924

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Birth Date

1865-06-29

Death Date

1940-01-19

Birthplace

Jasper Township, IL

Biographical Text

William Edgar Borah was a lawyer and Republican Senator. Borah attended the University of Kansas in 1885, but due to illness, he was on unable to graduate from the school. In 1887, Borah passed the Kansas bar and began practicing law in Boise, Idaho, in 1890. Borah began his career in politics in 1892, when he was elected to serve as chairman of the Republican State Central Committee. After gaining national attention for his legal defense of William “Big Bill” Haywood, Borah won the 1907 U.S. Senate elections for the state of Idaho, which he held until his death. Borah was known as a “progressive” for his support of social welfare initiatives, anti-monopoly laws, and New Deal policies. However, Borah was not a member of the Progressive Party, nor did he support it. He earned the nicknamed the “Idaho Lion” by his supporters and contemporaries for his steadfast protection against any issue he perceived to be a threat to the welfare of the nation and for defending citizens civil liberties. Borah was a staunch isolationist and the leader of the Irreconcilables. He believed in the idea of “America First” when dealing with foreign politics and strongly opposed U.S. involvement in World War Two.

Borah married Mary McConnell in 1895. Borah died in 1940.