Senator Guy Despard Goff

Guy Despard Goff (September 13, 1866 – January 7, 1933) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia from 1925 to 1931. A member of a prominent political family, he was the son of Nathan Goff, a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from West Virginia, and later became the father of Louise Goff Reece, who served as a U.S. Representative from Tennessee. Over the course of his career, he held significant legal and administrative posts, including United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and several senior roles within the United States Department of Justice.

Goff was born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, on September 13, 1866. He was educated in the common schools before pursuing higher education at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He subsequently attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1888. Seeking a legal career, he enrolled in the law department of Harvard University and completed his legal studies there in 1891. That same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Boston, Massachusetts, marking the beginning of a professional life that would span private practice, public prosecution, and federal service.

In 1893, Goff moved west to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he continued in private legal practice and quickly became active in local public affairs. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Milwaukee County in 1895, an office in which he gained experience in criminal law and public administration. Reflecting his growing prominence in Wisconsin politics, he ran for mayor of Milwaukee in 1904. Although unsuccessful in that bid, his standing within the Republican Party and the legal community continued to rise, leading to his appointment in 1911 by President William Howard Taft as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He remained in that position into the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, serving until 1915.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s office, Goff’s career increasingly centered on federal legal service. In 1917 he was appointed special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. During World War I he entered military service and was commissioned a colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Department of the United States Army. In that capacity he served overseas in France and Germany from 1918 to 1919, contributing to the legal and administrative work of the American Expeditionary Forces in the closing stages of the war and its immediate aftermath. His combined legal and military experience enhanced his reputation as a capable federal lawyer and administrator.

In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Goff general counsel of the United States Shipping Board, a key agency responsible for regulating and developing the nation’s merchant marine in the postwar period. He later became a member of the board itself and served there until 1921. Between 1920 and 1923 he was also appointed on several occasions as an assistant to the Attorney General, reflecting continued confidence in his legal judgment and administrative skill. In 1923, after three decades of professional activity outside his native state, Goff returned to Clarksburg, West Virginia, reestablishing his ties to the state where his family’s political influence was well established.

Goff entered national elective office when he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate from West Virginia, serving one term from March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1931. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, encompassing the later years of the Roaring Twenties and the onset of the Great Depression. As a member of the Senate, Guy Despard Goff participated in the legislative process, represented the interests of his West Virginia constituents, and contributed to national policymaking. During the Seventy-first Congress he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments, where he played a role in overseeing and reviewing the spending and administrative practices of federal agencies. He did not seek renomination in 1930, concluding his Senate service after a single term.

Following his departure from the Senate, Goff resided primarily in Washington, D.C., maintaining his connections to the legal and political communities of the capital. He spent winters at his home in Thomasville, Georgia, where he died on January 7, 1933, at the age of 66. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery, reflecting both his military service and his stature as a former United States senator. His papers are preserved at the West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University within collections A&M 17 and A&M 622, providing a documentary record of his legal career, federal service, and role in the political life of West Virginia and the nation.