Biography
Born in Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York, Mead moved to Buffalo with his family at the age of four. He served on the Erie County, New York Board of Supervisors (County Council) in 1914, then represented New York’s 4th District in the State Assembly from 1915-1918.
In 1918, Mead defeated incumbent Republican congressman William Frederick Waldow for New York’s 42nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He held the seat from 1919 to 1938. Mead left the house after defeating Republican Edward F. Corsi in 1938 to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant after Royal S. Copeland died in office. He was re-elected in 1940, defeating two-term Republican Congressman Bruce Barton.
Mead was the Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in 1946, losing to Republican incumbent Thomas Dewey. After his defeat, Mead served on the Federal Trade Commission from 1949 to 1955.
Mead was a New York delegate to Democratic National Convention in every presidential election year from 1936 to 1952. In 1937, the Works Progress Administration built what would eventually become the James Mead Library in Senator Mead’s hometown of Buffalo, New York.
Mead died in Lakeland, Florida and was buried at Oakhill Cemetery in Clermont, Florida.
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