State Web Site

Higher Office(s) Served: Senator

JAMES HENRY BRADY was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on June 12, 1862. After his family moved to Kansas in 1865, Brady attended the Olathe public schools, and earned his degree from the Leavenworth Normal College. While studying law, he supported his family by working as a teacher. He also was editor of a semi-weekly newspaper and had a successful career in the real estate business, with offices in three different states. In 1895, he moved to Idaho, where he worked and prospered in the waterpower and irrigation industries. Brady entered politics in 1900, as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, a position he held again in 1908 and 1916. He also served as chairman of the Idaho Republican Central Committee in 1904 and 1908. Brady won the 1908 Republican gubernatorial nomination and was elected governor of Idaho. During his tenure, a school for the deaf, dumb, and blind was founded, direct primaries were instituted, and appropriations were secured for the initiation of the Idaho Children's Home Finding and Aid Society. Also, local option liquor laws were passed, Idaho's sanitary and pure food department was advanced, and the Boise chapter of the national council of women voters was organized. After an unsuccessful reelection bid, Brady left office, and returned to his various business interests. On January 24, 1913, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He served in the senate until his death. Governor James H. Brady passed away on January 13, 1918, and his cremated ashes were placed in the James H. Brady Memorial Chapel in Mountain View in Pocatello, Idaho.

Sources:

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

Idaho State Historical Society Gubernatorial Manuscript and Archive Collections:

• Archive Collection of Governor James Brady, AR0002.0008.
• Brady, James H. papers, 1908-1919. Manuscript Collection. MS0068.
• James Brady cartoons, [191-]. Manuscript Collection. MS2/1008.

James Hezekiah Brady Webpage

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the Untied States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.