Charles Bowles | |
---|---|
54th Mayor of Detroit, Michigan | |
In office 1930–1930 | |
Preceded by | John C. Lodge |
Succeeded by | Frank Murphy |
Personal details | |
Born | March 24, 1884 Yale, Michigan, US |
Died | July 30, 1957 Detroit, Michigan, US | (aged 73)
Political party | Republican [1] |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Charles E. Bowles (March 24, 1884 – July 30, 1957) was a politician from Michigan, and served as Mayor of Detroit in 1930.
Charles Bowles was born on March 24, 1884, in Yale, Michigan, the son of Alfred and Mary Lutz Bowles. [2] He graduated from Ferris Institute (now Ferris State University) in 1904, received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1908, and was admitted to the bar in 1909. [2] He married Ruth Davis in 1915; the couple had one daughter, Helen Ruth Bowles. [2]
Bowles entered politics from obscurity and to run for the mayor's office vacated by Frank Ellsworth Doremus's resignation in 1925. [3] He was openly supported by the Ku Klux Klan. [4] [5] He ran third in the primary election behind John W. Smith and Joseph A. Martin, eliminating him from the ballot in the general election. [6] However, Bowles continued his campaign as a write-in candidate, and nearly won, losing only after 15,000 ballots were disqualified. [4] Bowles ran unsuccessfully for mayor once more the next year. [4] [7] After his mayoral run, he obtained a position as judge on the recorder's court. [7] He was re-elected to his judgeship, but resigned to make one more run at the mayor's office in 1929. [7]
Bowles defeated John C. Lodge in the primary and John W. Smith in the general election to win office. [7] Bowles had campaigned as an anti-crime reformer, but when he fired Police Commissioner Harold Emmons after the latter had ordered a series of raids, he was accused of "tolerating lawlessness" and a recall election was instituted barely six months after he had entered office. [7] [8] Multiple people campaigned for Bowles's recall, including radio commentator Jerry Buckley. [7] The recall was successful, [8] but on the morning after, Buckley was shot in a hotel lobby. [7] Although evidence later surfaced indicating the murder had more to do with underworld blackmail than politics, the murder of Buckley cast suspicion on Bowles. [7] [9] Bowles ran in the mayoral election a month later, but lost to Frank Murphy. [10]
Later in his career he unsuccessfully ran for both the Michigan State House and U.S. House, as well as Detroit mayor. [11]
Charles Bowles died on July 30, 1957, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. [12]