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David H. Blair

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David Hunt Blair
23rd Commissioner of Internal Revenue
In office
May 27, 1921 – May 31, 1929
PresidentWarren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Preceded byWilliam M. Williams
Succeeded byRobert H. Lucas
Personal details
Born(1868-01-13)January 13, 1868
High Point, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 1945(1945-09-13) (aged 77)

David Hunt Blair (January 13, 1868 – September 13, 1945) served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1921–1929.

Blair was associated with Col. Francis Henry Fries the President of Wachovia Bank previous to his appointment as Commissioner of Internal Revenue.[1]

Blair was born in High Point, North Carolina. He was selected by United States Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, who thought that as a teetotaller from a strongly pro-prohibition region of North Carolina, Blair would be the best individual to help enforce the Eighteenth Amendment.

However, Blair was criticized for asserting in a speech that every bootlegger should be stood before a wall and shot to death. He was also criticized for issuing a leaflet urging all citizens to spy on their neighbors and to use telephones outside their neighborhoods to report Prohibition offenders anonymously. On the other hand, many "drys" (proponents of Prohibition) criticized him for allegedly hampering his enforcement officers by requiring them to follow the law and verify that alleged bootleg beverages were actually alcoholic before seizing them and taking other legal actions.

Blair was a delegate to the 1924 Republican National Convention from North Carolina.

References

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  1. ^ "The Chicago Banker: A Weekly Paper Devoted to the Banking and Financial Interests of the Middle West". 1921.

Sources

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Party political offices
Preceded by
Jacob F. Newell
Republican nominee for Attorney General of North Carolina
1912
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by
Millard F. West
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
May 27, 1921 – May 31, 1929
Succeeded by
Robert H. Lucas