Henry Frederick Schricker (August 30, 1883 – December 28, 1966) was an American politician who served as the 36th and 38th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1941 to 1945 and from 1949 to 1953. He is the only Indiana governor elected to two non-consecutive terms, and the only governor between 1852 and 1977 to be elected to more than one term in office. His terms were marked by strong opposition party control of the Indiana General Assembly, which attempted to remove powers from the governor that had been granted during the Great Depression. Schricker fought the attempt in the state courts, and although his power was significantly reduced, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in the case of Tucker v. Indiana that the governor was the chief executive of the state, and the legislature could not pass legislation that interfered with the division of powers.
Family and background
Schricker was born in North Judson, Indiana, on August 30, 1883, to Bavarian immigrants Fredrick and Magdelena Gray Schricker. He attended a Lutheran parochial school in North Judson to elementary school and attended a public school and completed grade eight. After graduation, he began working in his family's grocery store as a bookkeeper. His parents sent him to a local college to take a course in bookkeeping as the final step in his education. After working in the grocery store for nine years, Schricker decided to become a lawyer and worked toward that goal by taking a position in the Starke County clerk's office in Knox, Indiana.
After a year of studying law on the side, he passed the bar examination and began practicing law in Knox with his mentor, Adrian Courtright. He became the cashier of the Hamlet bank in 1907.and became the owner, publisher, and editor of the Starke County Democrat in 1908. He was actively involved in the community, organizing the first Boy Scout troop in Starke County in 1912 and presiding as the chief of the Knox Fire Department. It was also during this time that Henry met Maude Brown, a teacher in North Dakota, who had originally come from Knox. In 1914, Henry visited her and persuaded her to return to Knox, resulting in their marriage on October 21, 1914. In 1919, he returned to his previous career and became the cashier of the First National Bank of Knox.
Legislator
Schricker's first entry into politics was his run for the Indiana Senate in 1924 as a Democrat. After losing the race, he retained his cashier position and continued there until 1932, when he again ran and won. During his term in the Indiana Senate, he drafted legislation to create a new circuit court district for Starke County. Another important bill he created was one to create a tenure system for state teachers, which guaranteed the teachers they would remain employed by the state upon completing a certain number of years in state service. A third bill created a pension fund for firemen in the state. All three bills were passed and signed into law.
Lieutenant governor
He was nominated to run again for re-election to the Senate in 1936, but turned down the nomination after Governor Paul V. McNutt arranged for the convention to nominate him to run for Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, on a ticket with M. Clifford Townsend. McNutt was considered to be significantly more conservative than Townsend, and party leaders believed Schricker would help draw more Republican votes. Townsend and Schricker won the election and took office in January 1937.
As President of the Democratic-controlled Senate, Schricker helped pass welfare measures supported by Townsend. As lieutenant governor, he was also head of the state's agricultural department and spent considerable time traveling around the state for meetings with leaders of farming communities. The state party was in the midst of a dispute during his term, with the McNutt and Frederick Van Nuys faction opposing President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to stack the US Supreme Court. Roosevelt intervened in the state party affairs, and with the support of Townsend, he attempted to remove the state's senators, who were blocking his plan. Schricker did not takes sides in the debate, which McNutt ultimately won, but tried to avoid the Capitol. His traveling effectively turned into a four-year campaign for the governorship as he gained support around the state.