| Edwin S. Mayer | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1, 1896 San Antonio, Texas Resident of San Angelo, Texas |
| Died | March 26, 1963 San Francisco, California |
| Political Party | Republican political activist |
| Spouse | Minnie Hirsh Mayer (married 1926-1963, his death) Five children |
| Religion | Church of Christ, Scientist |
Edwin S. Mayer (August 1, 1896 – March 26, 1963) was a figure in the Republican Party in his native U.S. state of Texas, the only delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention who abstained in the selection of Richard Nixon's running-mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts and the grandson of Woodrow Wilson's nemesis over the League of Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr.[1] The Nixon-Lodge ticket went on to lose nationally and in Texas as well in the hard-fought race against John F. Kennedy, also of Massachusetts who had succeeded Lodge in the Senate, and Lyndon B. Johnson, another Texan native.
Born in San Antonio to Sol and Ernestine E. Mayer, he was educated in Fort Worth, Kansas City, Missouri, and Denver, Colorado, but graduated from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest near Chicago, Illinois. He served for twenty-seven months in World War I and for four years in World War II, in which he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Air Corps, forerunner of the Air Force.[1]
After studying business administration at the University of Denver, Mayer in 1924 began raising sheep and goats and in the 1930s was the president and manager of the Lone Star Wool and Mohair Cooperative Association. He was for two years vice-president of the National Wool Growers Association and also presided over the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association. He was a director for the San Angelo National Bank in San Angelo, Texas, and the president of the San Angelo Community Concert Association and the Rotary Club. He was a member of the Concho Valley Council of the Boy Scouts, the Masonic lodge, and the American Legion.[1]
Beginning in 1953, Mayer joined the Texas Republican Executive Committee. Earlier, he had been an elector for Wendell Willkie in the 1940 presidential election and twice an elector for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. He ran for governor in 1958 but was defeated seven-to-one in a mostly uncontested general election by the incumbent Democrat Marion Price Daniel, Sr. Meyer then went on to become the Republican county chairman in Sutton County, a center of the sheep and goats industry.[1]
On February 15, 1926, Mayer married the former Minnie Hirsh. The couple had four sons and one daughter. The family was active in the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in San Angelo. Mayer died in San Francisco at the Christian Science Benevolent Association after having been stricken for several months previously.[1] The burial site is unknown.
References
Bibliography
- Paul D. Casdorph, A History of the Republican Party in Texas, 1865–1965 (Austin: Pemberton Press, 1965).
- Sheep and Goat Raisers' Magazine, April 1963.
- Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.