Henry Pomeroy Miller

Henry Pomeroy "Roy" Miller (March 27, 1883 - April 28, 1946), once the "boy mayor of Corpus Christi",[1] was a Texas newspaperman, politician, and lobbyist influential in both the state capital Austin and national capital Washington, D.C. He represented sulphur interests in Texas.[2][3][4][5]

Roy Miller
Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas
In office
1913–1919
Preceded byClark Pease
Succeeded byGordon Boone
Personal details
Born
Henry Pomeroy Miller

(1883-03-27)March 27, 1883
Blue Rapids, Kansas
DiedApril 28, 1946(1946-04-28) (aged 63)
Washington, D.C.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Maud Heaney
ChildrenDale Miller
EducationUniversity of Chicago, Ph.B.
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Occupationlobbyist

Early life

As a boy, he worked as a soda jerk and had three newspaper routes in Houston, until he finished high school as valedictorian at age 15.

He attended University of Chicago on a scholarship, waited tables, and tutored other students. He was among six lower division students to win a University Prize for excellence in declamation (summer, 1901) and took part in the Freshman Sophomore debate on whether England was right in the Second Boer War (March 15, 1902).[5][6][7] He finished his four-year curriculum in three years.

After college, he was a reporter (and railroad editor) at the Houston Post. From about 1905 he was an advertising and immigration agent for Kleberg's St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. In that capacity, he ran special trains every other week to promote the sale of farm land along the railroad. From 1907 to 1911 he ran another Kleberg business, The Caller, as its editor.[8]

Civic booster

Roy Miller was elected mayor of Corpus Christi at age 29. During his term of office (1913-1919) the city made major improvements in water supply and paving roads.

Not long after his unsuccessful bid for reelection, Miller headed the relief committee after the 1919 hurricane struck Corpus Christi.

His lobbying efforts, aided by his friendship with U.S. Representative John Nance Garner, led to Corpus Christi's designation as a deep water port and federal appropriations to build the port.

Lobbyist

He was renowned in Austin as a lobbyist who supplied members of the Texas State Legislature with bourbon, beefsteak, and blondes.[1] In Washington, he had a reserved table in the House Restaurant where members could eat at his expense.[9]

He was a successful lobbyist in New Deal Washington, though he was privately contemptuous of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his policies. Among the Miller group were Representative Martin Dies, Jr., Rep. Richard M. Kleberg, GE lobbyist Horatio H. "Rasch" Adams, Rep. Nat Patton, James P. Buchanan, and Rep. Hatton W. Sumners.[9]

He enjoyed carte blanche access to Rep. Kleberg's office on Capitol Hill. When Kleberg opposed the "socialistic" and "radical" 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Administration bill, Miller and Lyndon Johnson persuaded him to vote yes because it was politically expedient.[10]

He represented Texas Gulf Sulphur, a company that needed deep harbors on the Gulf Coast. He was personally close to Joseph J. Mansfield, Chairman of the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors.[11]

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References
  1. Caro, Robert A. (1982). The Path to Power. The Years of Lyndon Johnson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. p. 80. ISBN 0394499735.
  2. Givens, Murphy (January 2, 2000). "11 individuals who made a difference in Corpus Christi". Caller-Times. Corpus Christi. Archived from the original on September 21, 2005. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Henry Pomeroy Miller, the "boy mayor who played a key role in developing the port and the Intracoastal Waterway.
  3. "Biographies of Corpus Christi Leaders". Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. Archived from the original on 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Miller was editor of the Daily Caller from 1908 until 1913 when he was elected mayor. He served three terms and during his administration made major improvements in the town's infrastructure: paved roads, sewers, streetlights and a water system. Through his leadership a full-time fire department was established and a new city hall and municipal wharf were built. He headed the relief committee after the 1919 storm. Roy Miller spearheaded efforts to get congressional funding for the Port of Corpus Christi. As one of the founding members of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association, he was a leader in getting the waterway completed. Another major accomplishment was bringing the Naval Air Station to Corpus Christi. In 1950 Corpus Christi High School was renamed in his honor.
  4. "cctimeline 1913 Roy Miller and the Bringing of the City into the Twentieth Century". Corpus Christi Leadership Class LCCXXXVIII. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Elected Mayor at the age of 29, Roy Miller immediately set about bringing Corpus Christi into the Twentieth Century. In three years, his administration paved 12 miles of streets, laid 26 miles of sewers, installed a modern water system, built a new city hall and organized a new professional fire department. Known locally as "Mr. Washington" for his ability to lobby on the city's behalf, he spearheaded efforts to get congressional funding for Port Corpus Christi, was a leader in getting the waterway completed, and brought the Naval Air Station to Corpus Christi. In 1950, Corpus Christi High School was renamed Roy Miller High School in his honor.
  5. "Roy Miller Realized Dream in Port of Corpus Christi". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. August 7, 1955. pp. 5A, 6A. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  6. "Cap and Gown". Order of the Iron Mask of the University of Chicago. 1902. p. 105. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  7. "The Junior Colleges". The Decennial publications of the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago Press. 1908. p. 121. Retrieved 2013-08-26. henry pomeroy miller chicago president.
  8. O'Rear, Mary Jo Holoubek (February 10, 2009). "8 Targets and Trials". Storm Over the Bay: The People of Corpus Christi and Their Port (1st ed.). College Station: Texas A&M University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9781603440882. LCCN 2008042786. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  9. Caro (1982). Path to Power. pp. 269–273.
  10. Caro (1982). Path to Power. pp. 220, 255.
  11. Caro (1982). Path to Power. p. 269.
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