Congressman John Taber 1880 – 1965

U.S. Congressman John Taber carried several sobriquets among which were John “Cash and Carry” Taber and John “Meat Axe” Taber. He was described as being tough, cantankerous, independent and cynical; and his main concern was the conservation of public money.

Taber was a Representative from the Finger Lakes region around Auburn, New York. He was born in Auburn, Cayuga County, N.Y., May 5, 1880, graduated from Yale University in 1902 and from New York Law School in 1904 after which he was admitted to the bar. Subsequently he was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-Eighth through the Eighty-Seventh Congresses (March 4, 1923-January 3, 1963) and served as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations (Eightieth and Eighty-Third Congresses).

Taber earned his nicknames from being a watchdog over spending. His 40 years in the House were marked by stubborn opposition to the New Deal and later economic programs. Known as John “Cash-and-Carry” Taber, he approached spending requests with a “meat axe” rather than a “surgeon’s knife.” He was known as one of the keenest and most determined guardians of the public money. 

Taber was initially opposed to FDR’s preparations to enter WWII because he felt that the heads of the Army and Navy were inefficient and guilty of economic mismanagement. He softened this stance somewhat in later years.

The portrait shown here is a part of the collection of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was unveiled on July 28, 1971 with great pomp and ceremony in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. President Richard M. Nixon honored Taber with his presence at the unveiling. The portrait was painted in 1960 by Dutch artist Frank deBruin Valerius and donated by Taber’s family to the House of Representatives. Historically, artists from around the world came to Washington, D.C., to paint the statesmen of the day. In Taber’s case, however, it is likely that his upstate New York origins led him to Valerius, who immigrated to Toronto, just across Lake Ontario from Taber’s congressional district.

Taber grew up in an 18 room Queen Ann style house built in 1880 which is still located at 28 South St. in Auburn, NY

In 1929, Taber married Gertrude Johnson Beard (1893-1964), who had been working as his secretary. They were the parents of a son, Charles Beard Taber (1920-1969).

Lineage: John Taber, Franklin P. Taber, Wing Taber, Amaziah Taber, Mary Wing, Edward Wing.