George Howard Earle III

George Howard Earle III (December 5, 1890December 30, 1974) was an American politician and diplomat from Pennsylvania. He was a member of the prominent Earle and Van Leer families and the 30th governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939. Earle was one of just two Democrats who served as governor of Pennsylvania between the Civil War and World War II.

The son of prominent attorney George Howard Earle Jr., Earle worked in his family's sugar business after graduating from Harvard University. During World War I, he commanded , a submarine chaser which was also his private yacht. Though raised a Republican, Earle joined the Democrats out of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party's handling of the Great Depression. He campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election and served as the U.S. Minister to Austria from 1933 to 1934. In this role, he warned the Roosevelt administration of the rising danger presented by Nazi Germany.

Earle defeated Republican William A. Schnader in the 1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. As governor, he introduced an ambitious "Little New Deal" that sought to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Among other policies, his administration created a centralized Department of Public Assistance, eliminated the private police forces operated by several coal and steel companies, began construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, instituted Pennsylvania's first gasoline and cigarette tax, and established a forty-hour work week. The Little New Deal made Earle one of the most popular politicians in the country.

Earle sought election to the United States Senate in 1938, but he was defeated by incumbent Republican Senator James J. Davis. Earle was appointed as the Minister to Bulgaria in 1940 and served as a special emissary to the Balkans during World War II. He compiled a report blaming the Katyn massacre of Polish intelligentsia on the Soviet Union, but this report was suppressed. After the war, he served as assistant governor of American Samoa. He retired from public office and died in 1974. Provided by Wikipedia