Arthur Kenneth Reading

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Arthur Kenneth Reading
Reading, circa 1927
27th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In office
1927 – June 6, 1928
GovernorAlvan T. Fuller
Preceded byJay R. Benton
Succeeded byJoseph E. Warner
Middlesex County District Attorney
In office
1923–1926
Preceded byEndicott Peabody Saltonstall
Succeeded byRobert T. Bushnell
Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
3rd Middlesex District[1]
In office
1919[1]–1922[1]
Personal details
BornMarch 9, 1887[2]
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, US[1][2]
DiedMarch 1, 1971(1971-03-01) (aged 83)
Orlando, Florida, US
Political partyRepublican Party[1]
Alma materHarvard Law School[2]
ProfessionLawyer[2]

Arthur Kenneth Reading (March 9, 1887 – March 1, 1971) was an American politician who served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 1927 to 1928.[2]

Biography[edit]

Reading was born on March 9, 1887, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.[2]

Reading was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1919 to 1922, he was the District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from 1923 to 1926 before being elected Attorney General in 1926.[2]

Reading resigned as Attorney General on June 6, 1928, after the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 196 to 18 to impeach him after he accepted $60,000 worth of bribes, the largest being a $25,000 bribe from Decimo Club, Inc.[3]

After leaving office, Reading returned to private practice. In his first case following impeachment, Reading secured the acquittal of former hockey star Raymie Skilton, who was charged with larceny of $10,000 from the Framingham National Bank.[4]

He died on March 1, 1971, in Orlando, Florida.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Howard, Richard T. (1921), Public officials of Massachusetts 1921–1922, Boston, MA: The Boston Review, p. 268
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Public Officials of Massachusetts 1927–28. Boston Review Publicity Service.
  3. ^ "Impeachment". Time. June 18, 1928. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010. With great solemnity, violent denunciation and impassioned infinitive-splitting by the prosecutors, the Massachusetts House of Representatives last week voted 196 to 18 the impeachment of Massachusetts' Attorney General, Arthur K. Reading. It was the first time in 148 years that the Commonwealth had found out a corrupt public officer and affixed censure. ...
  4. ^ ""Raymie" Skilton Found Not Guilty". The Boston Globe. November 24, 1928.