In 1999, John Whitacre Jr took a spill while riding his horse. While recuperating he recorded Whitacre Greer’s history. This continues his story.
JJ had three children, Kate, born in 1889; JB, born in 1891; and DD, born in 1899. About 1907, JJ build a large house south of Waynesburg, which became known as the Whitacre mansion. In 1910, JJ was elected to the U. S. Congress as a Democratic representative for the 16th District in Ohio. In the spring of 1912, JJ returned home from Congress and announced in his opinion, Woodrow Wilson was the best qualified Democrat to run for president in the election of 1912. This announcement upset the Ohio Democrats as then-Governor Harmon of Ohio was one of the favorites for the Democratic nomination, but shows that JJ was one to form his own opinions. Wilson was elected President in the fall of 1912. My father reports that before the 1920 presidential election, candidates James Cox, Democrat and Warren Harding, Republican, were JJ’s guests at the mansion.
Henry Ford had founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and by 1912, many people could afford his Model T automobile, not just the very rich. The same year (1903), the Wright brothers flew their airplane in North Carolina and Einstein published his theory of relativity with the famous equation e=mc2, which 40 years later triggered the release of atomic energy. In engineering and science, the 20th century was in motion.
In 1914, JJ declined to run for a third term as 16th District congressman. He made his position clear on term limits, explaining that four years in Washington was enough if one wanted to continue to live with honesty and integrity.
