[Gutenberg 1297] • The Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of It

James John Davis (1873-1947) was an American steel worker and Republican Party politician in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as U. S. Secretary of Labor and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. He was also known by the nicknames of the "Iron Puddler" and "Puddler Jim. " Davis served as United States Secretary of Labor from 1921 to 1930 under Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. He is one of only three Cabinet officers in U. S. history to hold the same post under three consecutive Presidents. He resigned as Secretary of Labor upon his election to the United States Senate from Pennsylvania, accepting the seat denied to William S. Vare. In 1922, he published his autobiography, The Iron Puddler. During his tenure in the Senate, he was a sponsor of the Davis-Bacon Act. He was defeated for reelection in 1944. Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity initiated Davis as its only honorary member in 1923 at the request of the Omega chapter at the University of Pittsburgh. His other works include: Humanity is Government (1923), Selective Immigration (1925) and You and Your Job (1930).