Wayne Bidwell Wheeler

About

American lawyer best known for his role in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, outlawing the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. He was a leading advocate of the prohibitionist movement.

Before Fame

He graduated from Oberlin College in 1894 prior to receiving his law degree from Western Reserve University in 1898. Quickly thereafter, he became a leader of the Anti-Saloon League, which organized the temperance movement. 

Trivia

While growing up on his family's farm, he witnessed a horrible accident which was caused by a worker on the farm who was intoxicated. This led to his lifelong animosity towards alcohol.

Family Life

He is the son of Mary Usrula Hutchinson and Joseph Wheeler.

Associated With

He played a role in overriding the Webb-Kenyon Act veto, made by President William Howard Taft.