Michael James Hart

Michael James Hart (July 16, 1877 – February 14, 1951) was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Michigan who represented Michigan’s 8th congressional district in the early 1930s. He was born in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1880. The family settled in James Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, where he spent his childhood and youth. Hart attended the district schools of Jamestown and Saginaw and later pursued further training at a business college, preparing himself for both teaching and commercial work in an area that was then heavily agricultural.

As a young adult, Hart entered the field of education. From 1896 to 1898 he taught in the public schools of Saginaw County, gaining early experience in public service and community life. After leaving teaching, he engaged in agricultural pursuits, reflecting the economic base of the region and the opportunities available in rural Michigan at the turn of the twentieth century. By 1920 he had expanded his activities to include the packing and shipping of farm products, developing a business that linked local agricultural producers to broader markets and establishing himself as a figure in the commercial life of Saginaw County.

Hart’s involvement in business and agriculture provided a foundation for his later political career. A Democrat in a state and district often dominated by Republicans, he emerged as a candidate for federal office at the outset of the Great Depression. In 1930 he ran for election from Michigan’s 8th congressional district to the 72nd Congress but was unsuccessful, losing to the incumbent Republican, Bird J. Vincent. This initial defeat did not end his political ambitions, and he remained active in party affairs and public life.

Following the death of Representative Bird J. Vincent on July 18, 1931, a special election was called to fill the vacancy in Michigan’s 8th district. In November 1931 Hart was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat, defeating Republican Foss O. Eldred. The campaign was influenced in part by public sentiment over national prohibition, and Hart’s victory was attributed largely to Eldred’s support for continuing prohibition at a time when many voters were turning against it. Hart took his seat on November 3, 1931, and thus entered Congress during a critical period marked by the deepening economic crisis of the Great Depression.

Hart was elected to a full term in November 1932 and continued to serve in the House of Representatives until January 3, 1935. During his tenure he was aligned with the Democratic majority that came to power with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, representing the interests of his largely industrial and agricultural district in central Michigan. Despite the national Democratic surge, Hart faced strong Republican opposition at home. In the general elections of November 1934 and November 1936, he was defeated by Republican Fred L. Crawford, who succeeded him in representing the 8th district. Hart sought to extend his political career beyond the House and, in 1940, was an unsuccessful candidate in the Democratic Party primary election for a United States Senate seat from Michigan. He again challenged Crawford in the 1942 general election for the 8th district seat but was once more defeated. In addition to his candidacies, Hart played a role in national party affairs as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions from Michigan in 1932 and 1944.

After leaving Congress, Hart returned to Saginaw and resumed his former business activities in agriculture-related enterprises and local commerce. Reflecting the changing economic and social climate following the repeal of prohibition, he also became president of a brewing company from 1935 to 1937, participating in the revival of the brewing industry in Michigan. His post-congressional years were spent largely in private business and community life, maintaining his ties to the region where he had lived since childhood.

Michael James Hart died in Saginaw, Michigan, on February 14, 1951. He was interred in St. Andrews Cemetery in Saginaw, closing a life that had spanned immigration from Canada, service as a teacher and agricultural businessman, and a notable, if intermittent, career in elective office and Democratic Party politics.