Gerald Prentice Nye (1892-1971) was an United States legislator and political activist, serving in the U.S. Senate from the 1920s to the 1940s

Nye worked in journalism as a young man, serving as first editor and later owner of several newspapers.

Political Career

Nye entered politics as a progressive Republican in 1926, filling a vacant senatorial seat for North Dakota. Nye, like his father before him, supported the political positions of Robert M. La Follette. Having been an editorial supporter of the agrarian reform movement, Nye suported legislation for agricultural price supports.

He established a reputation as "Gerald the Giant-Killer" in the Teapot Dome scandal, when he uncovered the fact that Albert B. Fall, Pres. Warren G. Harding's interior secretary had uncompetitively leased a government oil field to Mammoth Oil Company in return for contributions to the Republican National Committee. He went on to investigate other instances where the corrupting influence of money on politics had gone unnoticed.

In 1934 Senator Nye headed an investigation of the munitions industry. Once again, he sniffed out corruption and created headlines by making connections between the wartime profits of the banking and munitions industries and America's involvement in World War I. Many Americans felt betrayed: perhaps the war hadn't been an epic battle between the forces of good (democracy) and evil (autocracy). This investigation of these "merchants of death" helped to bolster sentiments for isolationism. [1] (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/merchants_of_death.htm)

Nye was instrumental in the development and adoption of the Neutrality Acts passed between 1935 and 1937. When it became apparent that these laws would not prevent American involvement in the escalating European conflicts, he helped to establish the America First Committee (AFC) to mobilize anti-war sentiments.

Nye again gained prominence in 1941 for his severe criticism of Jewish film producers. Nye accused them of peddling anti-Hitler propaganda to the masses. He also blamed Jews for contributing in other ways to America's involvement in the war.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor put an end to both the AFC and Nye's resistance to American participation in World War II. His earlier anti-war stands now undercut his reputation, and he was not re-elected in 1944.