Thomas F. Ford (original) (raw)

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American politician

"Thomas Francis Ford" redirects here. For the English architect, see Thomas Ford (architect).

Thomas F. Ford
Ford in the 1920s
Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom California's 14th district
In officeMarch 4, 1933 – January 3, 1945
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Helen Gahagan Douglas
Member of the Los Angeles City Council for 12th district
In officeJune 3, 1931 – March 1, 1933
Preceded by	Thomas W. Williams
Succeeded by	James T. Carroll
Personal details
Born	(1873-02-18)February 18, 1873St. Louis, Missouri
Died	December 26, 1958(1958-12-26) (aged 85)South Pasadena, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Martha Alison McCracken ​ ​(m. ; died )​

Thomas Francis Ford (February 18, 1873 – December 26, 1958) was an American politician, journalist, and editor who served six terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California from 1933 to 1945. He was previously a member of the Los Angeles City Council, and the only member to have been elected by a write-in vote.[_citation needed_]

Early life and career

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Ford was born on February 18, 1873, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Thomas Ford and Ellen Ferris. He went to public and private schools in Saint Louis and in Toledo, Ohio, and studied law in that city.

He was with the U.S. Post Office Department after 1896 and then moved westward in 1900 to work on newspapers in Idaho and Washington, before arriving in Los Angeles in 1904. Thomas Francis Ford married Martha Alison McCracken on October 22, 1901 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Martha died February 5, 1905 in Toledo, Lucas, Ohio.

Ford traveled extensively in Europe between 1909 and 1913, where he wrote newspaper feature articles on foreign trade. On June 21, 1911, he was married in Los Angeles to Lillian Cope Cummings, with whom he wrote a book, The Foreign Trade of the United States, published in 1920. Between 1913 and 1918 he was the West Coast correspondent for the Washington Post, and on January 1, 1919, he became the literary editor of the Los Angeles Times, where he also edited the rotogravure section. He was a lecturer on international trade at the University of Southern California in 1920–21. In the 1930s he was living at 940 North Benton Way, Los Angeles.[1][2][3][4]

By October 1930, Ford had left the Times and was working in the publicity department of the city's Water and Power Department.[5] He resigned on December 11, 1930.[3]

He ran for the 12th District seat in 1931, and, "supported by friends and supporters of the late incumbent" councilman Thomas W. Williams in that district, he was nominated by a write-in vote in the primary. He beat Douglas E. Foster in the final election by 8,315 votes to 5,882.

Highlights of his two years as a councilman included:

• 1931 Voting against instructing the city attorney to appeal a judge's decision ordering the city to stop the practice of segregating its swimming pools by race. The vote was 6 in favor of an appeal and 8 opposed, including Ford, a vote that resulted in the pools' being immediately desegregated in summer 1931.[6]
• 1931 Submitting a motion calling on the Police Department to "concentrate its efforts on major crime instead of petty infractions of the law." He claimed that underworld "gambling joints flourish under 'protection' to the extent that it has become a citywide scandal."[7]
• 1932 Investigating reports that City Prosecutor Johnson had issued an unusually high number of special investigators badges in advance of an election in which Johnson was running for a municipal judgeship in opposition to Judge Isaac Pacht. "We feel that the people of Los Angeles are entitled to know why the badges were issued, to whom presented, for what purpose, and who paid for them," he said.[8] Pacht won the election.
• 1932 Sponsoring a proposal that would have the city establish a public works program for the unemployed, with the workers being paid in certificates that would be used in lieu of cash. The certificates would have been financed by a voluntary 4-cent tax on each merchant handling them.[9]
• 1932 Attacking Mayor John C. Porter over the mayor's attempts to remove three members of the Water and Power Commission, one of whom was Ford's former campaign manager.[10]
• 1932 Proposing a pay cut of 8.3 percent for city workers instead of reducing the work week to five days as previously ordered by the council.[11]

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Ford, a Democrat, ran for election to the US House of Representatives in 1932. He won and served six terms in the U.S. Congress from 1933 to 1945. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1944.[2]

During the 1934 California gubernatorial election, Ford backed Upton Sinclair and his "End Poverty in California" program.[12]

Ford died on December 26, 1958, in his home at 1705 Spruce Street, South Pasadena,[13] and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.[4]

1. ^ Location of the Ford home in the 1930s on Mapping L.A.
2. ^ a b Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
3. ^ a b Los Angeles Public Library reference file
4. ^ a b "Thomas Ford, Former Congressman, Dies", Los Angeles Times, December 27, 1958, page B-1. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "Power Bonds Called Unfair", Los Angeles Times, October 30, 1930, page A-10. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Vote Drops City's Pool Racial Case", Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1931, page A-1. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "Penny-Ante Arrests Hit in Council", Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1931, page A-1. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Special Badge Inquiry Sought", Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1932. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ "New Relief Plan Urged in Council", Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1932, page A-8. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "Hyde and Ford Assail Porter", Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1932, page A-3. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "Municipal Pay Cuts Urged", Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1932. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. ^ "Sinclair leaves for convention; 'co-operation' aim". Los Angeles Daily News. Los Angeles. September 20, 1934. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
13. ^ Location of the Ford home in 1958 on Mapping L.A.
14. ^ 1932 election results
15. ^ 1934 election results
16. ^ 1936 election results
17. ^ 1938 election results
18. ^ 1940 election results
19. ^ 1942 election results

• The foreign trade of the United States; its character, organization and methods, by L. C. Ford and Thomas F. Ford; with an introduction by W. L. Saunders