{{short description|American politician}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Alex Groesbeck |image = AlexJGroesbeck.jpg |order = 30th [[Governor of Michigan]] |lieutenant = [[Thomas Read (politician)|Thomas Read]]<br>[[George W. Welsh]] |term_start = January 1, 1921 |term_end = January 1, 1927 |predecessor = [[Albert Sleeper]] |successor = [[Fred W. Green]] |office2 = [[Attorney General of Michigan]] |governor2 = [[Albert Sleeper]] |term_start2 = January 1, 1917 |term_end2 = January 1, 1921 |predecessor2 = [[Grant Fellows]] |successor2 = [[Merlin Wiley]] |office3 = Chair of the [[Michigan Republican Party]] |term_start3 = 1912 |term_end3 = 1914 |predecessor3 = [[Frank Knox]] |successor3 = [[Gilman M. Dame]] |birth_name = Alexander Joseph Groesbeck |birth_date = {{birth date|1873|11|7}} |birth_place = [[Warren, Michigan]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1953|3|10|1873|11|7}} |death_place = [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], U.S. |party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] |education = [[University of Michigan]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]]) }} '''Alexander Joseph Groesbeck''' (November 7, 1873<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oYx6AAAAMAAJ&q=alex+groesbeck+public+man ''Alex J. Groesbeck: Portrait of a Public Man''] – "Groesbeck was born in Warren Township, Macomb County, but there is some confusion concerning the exact date. ... He always insisted the correct date was November 7, 1873 ..."</ref> – March 10, 1953) was an American politician who served as [[Michigan Attorney General|attorney general]] and the 30th [[governor of Michigan]].<ref name=graveyard>{{cite web|title=s.v. Groesbeck, Alexander Joseph (1873–1953) |work=The Political Graveyard |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gritzmacher-grosfeld.html#RH801 hpRR |access-date=May 29, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060614061905/http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gritzmacher-grosfeld.html| archive-date= June 14, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref>
==Early life== [[File:Groesbeck Men of Michigan.png|thumb|left|170px|Groesbeck, 1904]] Groesbeck was born in [[Warren, Michigan]], the son of [[Macomb County, Michigan|Macomb County]] Sheriff Louis Groesbeck and his wife Julia (Coquillard) Groesbeck.<ref name=graveyard/> Groesbeck attended the public schools of [[Mount Clemens, Michigan]], and of [[Wallaceburg, Ontario]], where his parents resided for two years with their family. Groesbeck wanted to become a lawyer from an early age, and undertook the study of law in the office of an attorney at [[Port Huron, Michigan]]. He went on to earn a [[Bachelor of Laws|law]] degree from the [[University of Michigan]] at [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]] in 1893. He was admitted to the [[bar (law)|bar]] that year and set up practice in Detroit where he rapidly gained the "respect, goodwill and confidence of his colleagues, because of his close conformity to the highest ethical standards of the profession".<ref name=burton>{{cite book |editor-last=Burton |editor-first=Clarence M. |title=The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701–1922 |orig-year=1922 |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/BAD1447.0005.001 |access-date=May 29, 2006 |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Library]] |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |pages=668–271 |chapter=s.v. Alexander J. Groesbeck | chapter-url=http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=Groesbeck;q2=Alexander;op2=and;op3=and;rgn=pages;idno=BAD1447.0005.001;didno=BAD1447.0005.001;view=image;seq=00000674 }}</ref>
==Politics== Groesbeck's entrance into state politics came in 1912 {{mdash}} he led efforts to select a delegation to the [[1912 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]] favoring the renomination of [[President of the United States|President]] [[William Howard Taft]]. Groesbeck also actively led the party faction supporting Taft in the [[1912 United States presidential election|general election]]. That same year, Groesbeck was elected the [[MIGOP|state party chairman]], serving until 1914.<ref name=burton/> In 1914, he was a candidate for [[governor of Michigan]], but lost in the Republican [[Partisan primary|primary election]] to [[Chase S. Osborn]].<ref name=graveyard2>{{cite web|title=Michigan: Governors |work=The Political Graveyard |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MI/ofc/gov.html |access-date=March 22, 2012}}</ref> In 1916, Groesbeck was elected [[attorney general of Michigan]], and was re-elected in 1918.
As reported in ''[[The New York Times]]'', Attorney General Groesbeck supported a call for [[Henry Ford]] to run for the [[United States Senate]] as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]. This vision drew opposition from many other Republicans.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/18/102711370.pdf "Michigan Republicans Split on Henry Ford – Attorney General Groesbeck Supports Him"], June 18, 1918. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>
In 1920, he won the Republican primary election for governor and defeated Democrat and former governor [[Woodbridge N. Ferris]] in the [[general election]]. After being re-elected in 1922 and 1924, Groesbeck lost to [[Fred W. Green]] in the 1926 Republican primary election.<ref name=graveyard2/> In 1924, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, which chose President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to be re-elected. In addition to Groesbeck's political work, he was one of the builders of the Flint-Saginaw [[Interurban]] Railway.<ref name=burton/>
At the [[Detroit Club]], he was instrumental in 1922 in selecting [[James Couzens]] to be the successful Republican candidate for the [[United States Senate|Senate]] seat left vacant by [[Truman Newberry]].<ref>[http://www.thedetroitclub.com/tradition.html "Tradition"] from The Detroit Club {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420104609/http://www.thedetroitclub.com/tradition.html |date=April 20, 2008 }}</ref>
In 1925, Groesbeck vetoed legislation that would have created a [[state poet laureate]]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine reported:<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,720327,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204074710/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,720327,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |title=Free Fights, No Laureate |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=May 18, 1925 |access-date=May 29, 2006}}</ref> <blockquote>Forgetful of the state poets of republican Athens, the Governor's historical knowledge led him to describe the bill as "a reversion to monarchical customs" which "has no place in a republican form of government."</blockquote> During his six years in office, the state's highway growth continued, prison reform measures were sanctioned, state titles for automobiles began, and state government was restructured and consolidated.
He was defeated in the 1930 Republican primary election by [[Wilber M. Brucker]].<ref name=graveyard2/>
Groesbeck is recognized as an important "road builder" in Michigan, being the first governor to champion the use of [[concrete]] and "take Michigan out of the mud."
In 1924, he opposed a ballot initiative (sponsored by the Public School Defense League) to require attendance at [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]] and outlaw [[private schools|private ones]]; this placed him at odds with the position of the then increasingly popular [[Ku Klux Klan]], which supported the opposing candidate, James Hamilton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=340|title=Governor Groesbeck: Road Builder and Defender of School Choice |publisher=Mackinac Center}}</ref>
==Retirement, death and legacy== [[Image:Groesbeck grave.jpg|thumb|right|Groesbeck's tomb, at [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)|Woodlawn Cemetery]], Detroit]] Groesbeck was later appointed chairman of the Michigan [[Civil Service Commission]], and served from 1941 to 1944. Also in 1944, he was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] which nominated for U.S. president, [[Thomas Dewey]], who would lose to the three-term President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] in the general election. He was also a member of the [[Detroit Bar Association]], the [[State Bar of Michigan|Michigan Bar Association]] and the [[American Bar Association]], and in club circles was well known as a member of the [[Detroit Club]] and the [[Detroit Athletic Club]].<ref name=burton/>
Groesbeck's gubernatorial papers are kept in the Archives of the State of Michigan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mhc_sa_circular39_50008_7.pdf|title=Archives of Michigan.}}</ref>
He died in Detroit and is interred there at [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)|Woodlawn Cemetery]].<ref name=graveyard/>
Groesbeck Highway ([[M-97 (Michigan highway)|M-97]]) was named for the governor, both because of the local prominence of the Groesbeck family in Macomb county and Oakland County and because of his strong support for building roads and highways in Michigan.<ref>{{cite web|title=s.v. M-97 |url=http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys90-99.html#M-097 |work=Michigan Highways |access-date=May 29, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060615093852/http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys90-99.html| archive-date= June 15, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Governor Groesbeck: Road Builder and Defender of School Choice |url=http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=340 |publisher=[[Mackinac Center for Public Policy]] |access-date=May 29, 2006}}</ref>
He is memorialized by a state historical marker<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=87766|title=Governor Alex J. Groesbeck |work=Michigan Historical markers |accessdate=January 14, 2023}}</ref> in the City of Warren.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.glis.net/whgs/markers.htm |title=Warren Historical and Genealogical Society, Marker and Picture of Alexander Groesbeck. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517144506/http://members.glis.net/whgs/markers.htm |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.cityofwarren.org/index.php/alex-j-groesbeck City of Warren, Alex Groesbeck historical marker information.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430104654/http://www.cityofwarren.org/index.php/alex-j-groesbeck |date=April 30, 2010 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070627044805/http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=2558 Fuller, George, Ed., ''Messages of the Governors of Michigan, Volume 4''] (East Lansing, Michigan: [[Michigan State University Press]]) {{ISBN|0-87013-723-9}}; {{ISBN|978-0-87013-723-5}}. *Woodford, Frank B. (1962) ''Alex J. Groesbeck Portrait of a Public Man'' (Detroit: [[Wayne State University Press]]) 1st Edition. Hardcover. {{ISBN|0-8063-0061-2}}. 366 pp.
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070113115334/http://www.macombcountymi.gov/historicalcommission/historytales.htm Alexander Groesbeck at Macomb County Historical Commission.] *[http://seekingmichigan.cdmhost.com/seeking_michigan/discover_item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4006coll2&CISOPTR=1&search=s%3DAlexander%2BGroesbeck%26media-types%255B%255D%3Dimage%26search-button.x%3D30%26search-button.y%3D6%26search-button%3D%2B%26CISOSTART%3D6 Digital picture of Alex Groesbeck, Michigan History, Arts and Libraries.] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629003754/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=65eae8569a313010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association, Alexander Groesbeck, 30th Governor of Michigan.] *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gritzmacher-grosfeld.html#RH801 hpRR Political Graveyard]
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=[[W. F. Knox]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Michigan Republican Party]]|years=1912–1914}} {{s-aft|after=[[Gilman M. Dame]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Albert Sleeper]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Michigan]]|years=[[1920 Michigan gubernatorial election|1920]], [[1922 Michigan gubernatorial election|1922]], [[1924 Michigan gubernatorial election|1924]]}} {{s-aft|after=[[Fred W. Green]]}} |- {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=[[Grant Fellows]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Michigan Attorney General|Attorney General of Michigan]]|years=1917–1921}} {{s-aft|after=[[Merlin Wiley]]}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Albert Sleeper]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Michigan]]|years=1921–1927}} {{s-aft|after=[[Fred W. Green]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Governors of Michigan}} {{Attorneys-General of Michigan}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groesbeck, Alex J.}} [[Category:1873 births]] [[Category:1953 deaths]] [[Category:American expatriates in Canada]] [[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)]] [[Category:Michigan attorneys general]] [[Category:Michigan lawyers]] [[Category:Michigan Republican Party chairs]] [[Category:People from Warren, Michigan]] [[Category:Politicians from Detroit]] [[Category:Republican Party governors of Michigan]] [[Category:University of Michigan Law School alumni]] [[Category:20th-century Michigan politicians]]