Would there ever be a time when Prohibition would not be popular? And that Repeal leaders would emerge?

The vision of National Prohibition (1920-1933) was beautiful. Promoters promised that it would lead to increased prosperity. To less poverty. To better health. That it would cause less disease. Less early death. Lower crime. Less violence. Higher morality. And cause more happiness.

Yet the vision promised by prohibitionists was only an illusion. It failed to reach any of its goals. Worse, it created serious problems.

As time passed, more and more people became disillusioned. They began calling for the revision of Prohibition. Then some pressed for Repeal. Pro-Prohibition groups fought the tide. Their efforts were futile. Voters finally rejected Prohibition by three to one.

Repeal Leaders

List of Some Major Repeal Leaders

• • Sewell Avery (head of Montgomery Ward).
  • Nicholas Murray Butler (diplomat and president of Columbia U).
  • Robert K. Cassatt (banker).
  • Joseph H. Chaote, Jr. (lawyer).
  • Fred G. Clark (president of oil and insurance firms).
  • Julian Codman (lawyer).
  • Henry H. Curran (prominent NYC politician).
  • Cleveland H. Dodge (a leader of Phelps Dodge Corp.)
  • Lammot du Pont II (head  of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. for 22 years).
  • Pierre S. du Pont (head of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. for five years. Later president of General Motors).
  • William Faulkner (writer).
  • Marshall Field III (founder, Chicago Sun).
  • M. Louise Gross (activist; prominent in Democratic Party).
  • Henry B. Joy (head of Packard Motor).
  • Robert R. McCormick (publisher of the Chicago Tribune).
  • John Campbell Merriam  (president of the Carnegie Institute).
  • Grayson Murphy (private banker; director).
  • Thomas W. Phillips, Jr. (businessman; active in Republican Party).
  • John J. Raskob (financier;  aGeneral Motors leader ).
  • Col. Ira Reeves (army; former federal prohibition enforcement official).
  • Pauline Sabin  (opinion leader).
  • Charles Scribner, III (publisher).
  • Jouett Shouse (publisher and political leader).
  • Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (head and chair of GM).
  • Captain William H. Stayton (naval officer).
  • James W. Wadsworth, Jr. (member U.S. House).
  • Matthew Woll (vice president of AFL-CIO).

These Repeal leaders all had high positions in Repeal organizations.

Resources

Web

• • Repeal Groups  
  • Timeline of Repeal 
  • Repeal: End of a Dream
  • 21st Amend (brought about Repeal)  
  • Timeline of Repeal 
  • Prohib and Repeal in Various States.
  • Repeal Trivia 

Readings

• • Engdahl, S. (Ed.) Amend XVIII and XXI.
  • Kyvig, D. Repealing National Prohib.
  • Lucas, E. The Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amend.
  • Munger, M., and Schaller, T.. The Prohibition Repeal amend. Pub. Choice, 90(1-4), 139-163.
  • Pollard, J. The Road to Repeal.
  • Rose, K. Women and Repeal.
  • Root, G. Women and Repeal.
  • Schrad, M. Constitutional Blemishes.
  • Severen, B. The End of the Roaring Twenties.

Theses

Please see a librarian to get a copy. Or to access a thesis on-line.

• • Allen, C.  Repeal in MS. U. MS, 1992.
  • Gasper, L. The Movement for Repeal, 1926-1933. Bowling Green State U., 1949.
  • Graymont, B. Prohib and Repeal. U. Chicago, 1959.
  • Leeman, R.  Rhetoric of Repeal. U. MD, 1982.
  • Schaller, T. The Case of Repeal. Yale U., 1997.
  • Weise, C.  The Political Economy of Repeal. Auburn U., 1998.