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{{Short description|American politician (1897–1978)}}
{{Other people|John Butler}}
{{Infobox officeholder |name=John Marshall Butler
|image name=johnmbutler.jpg
|jr/sr=United States Senator
|state=[[Maryland]]
|party=[[United States Republican Party|Republican]]
|alma_mater=[[Johns Hopkins University]]<br/>[[University of Maryland, Baltimore|University of Maryland Law School]]
|term_start=January 3, 1951
|term_end=January 3, 1963
|preceded=[[Millard Tydings]]
|succeeded=[[Daniel Brewster]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1897|7|21}}
|birth_place=[[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1978|3|14|1897|7|21}}
|death_place=[[Rocky Mount, North Carolina]], U.S.
|spouse=
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=1917&ndash;1919
|unit=
|battles=[[World War I]]
}}

'''John Marshall Butler''' (July 21, 1897{{spaced ndash}}March 14, 1978) was an American lawyer and politician. A [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], he served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Maryland]] from 1951 to 1963.

==Early life and career==
Born in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], to John Harvey and Eunice West (née Riddle) Butler,<ref name=national>{{cite book|editor1-first=James Terry|editor1-last=White|title=[[The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography]]|volume=61|year=1982|publisher=J.T. White & Company|location=Clifton, NJ}}</ref> he received his early education at public schools in his native city. He worked as a [[paperboy (newspaper delivery)|paperboy]] and later an employee at a mattress factory.<ref name=mayer>{{cite book|title=The Eisenhower Years|last=Mayer|first=Michael S.|year=2010|publisher=Facts On File, Inc.|location=New York}}</ref> During [[World War I]], he served as a private in 110th Field Artillery ([[29th Infantry Division (United States)|29th Division]]) of the [[US Army]] from 1917 to 1918.<ref name=congress>{{cite news|work=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]|title=Butler, John Marshall, (1897–1978)|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001180}}</ref>

After his military service, he returned to Baltimore and attended [[Johns Hopkins University]] (1919-1921) before joining his father's [[real estate]] business.<ref name=mayer/> He studied nights at the [[University of Maryland School of Law]], where he received his law degree in 1926.<ref name=congress/> After his admission to the bar, he joined the Baltimore law firm of Venable, Baetjer & Howard, where he worked until 1950.<ref name=national/> He served as a member of City Service Commission of Baltimore from 1947 to 1949.<ref name=congress/>

==Political career==
In 1950, Butler was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[United States Senate]] from Maryland.<ref name=congress/> In the Republican primary, he lost the popular vote to [[D. John Markey]] by a margin of 51%-49%, but won the nomination after receiving a larger unit vote count at the state convention.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|date=1978-03-17|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=John M. Butler, 80; M'Carthy Supporter}}</ref> In the general election, he faced four-term [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] incumbent [[Millard Tydings]]. Butler received strong support from Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] of [[Wisconsin]], whose accusations of [[Communist Party USA|Communist]] infiltration into the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] had been rejected by the [[Tydings Committee]].<ref name=mayer/> During the campaign, McCarthy's staff distributed a pamphlet that featured a falsified photograph showing Tydings with Communist leader [[Earl Browder]].<ref name=nytimes/> Butler eventually defeated Tydings by a margin of 53%-46%.<ref name=election>{{cite news|work=[[Clerk of the United States House of Representatives]]|title=Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1950|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1950election.pdf}}</ref>

Following the election results, Tydings petitioned the Senate to disqualify Butler due to McCarthy's campaign tactics.<ref name=mayer/> The Senate subsequently convened a special subcommittee, which declared that Butler's campaign used "despicable methods" against Tydings and fined one of his aides $5,000, but refused to expel Butler.<ref name=mayer/> Butler admitted to paying the printer of the pamphlet and described the falsified photograph as "a product of enthusiastic but ill-advised friends."<ref name=nytimes/>

During his tenure in the Senate, Butler established himself as a staunch conservative. He sponsored the [[Communist Control Act of 1954]], which outlawed the Communist Party and authorized the prosecution of Communist-infiltrated organizations.<ref name=national/> When the federal courts blocked some prosecutions, Butler submitted a constitutional amendment in 1955 to limit the courts' jurisdiction and an omnibus bill in 1958 for the same purpose.<ref name=nytimes/> He was one of the twenty-two Senators who voted against the [[Censure in the United States|censure]] of Senator McCarthy in 1954.<ref name=mayer/> He supported returning offshore oil lands to the states, and voted in favor of the non-interventionist [[Bricker Amendment]].<ref name=mayer/>

In 1956, Butler was re-elected to a second term after defeating Democrat [[George P. Mahoney]] by a margin of 53%-47%.<ref name=results>{{cite news|work=[[Clerk of the United States House of Representatives]]|title=Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1956|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1956election.pdf}}</ref> Former Senator Tydings had originally won the Democratic nomination, but later dropped out of the race due to poor health.<ref name=nytimes/> Butler decided not to seek re-election to a third term in 1962. Butler did not sign the 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]], and voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]] and [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s284|title=HR. 8601. PASSAGE OF AMENDED BILL.}}</ref> but did not vote on the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/s226|title=S.J. RES. 29. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION BANNING THE POLL TAX AS PREREQUISITE FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> In 1959 he was the lone Republican senator to vote against Hawaiian statehood.

==Later life==
After retiring from the Senate, Butler returned to Baltimore. At 80, he died from a [[heart attack]] in [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina|Rocky Mount]], [[North Carolina]], as he and his wife were returning from a vacation on [[St. Simons, Georgia|St. Simons Island]] in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name=nytimes/> He is buried at [[Druid Ridge Cemetery]] in [[Pikesville, Maryland|Pikesville]].<ref name=congress/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.95935|name=Longines Chronoscope with John M. Butler}}

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{{s-bef|before=Blanchard Randall, Jr.}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Maryland]]<br>([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 3]])|years=[[1950 United States Senate election in Maryland|1950]], [[1956 United States Senate election in Maryland|1956]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edward Tylor Miller]]}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box |before = [[Millard Tydings]] |state=Maryland|class=3 |years = 1951&ndash;1963 |after = [[Daniel Brewster]] |alongside=[[Herbert O'Conor]], [[James Glenn Beall]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Andrew Frank Schoeppel]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation|Senate Commerce Committee]]|years=1962–1963}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Norris Cotton]]}}
{{s-end}}

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{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 81st–87th [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[Maryland]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, John Marshall}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:American United Methodists]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Maryland Republicans]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Politicians from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Maryland]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Methodists]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]