File:Richard Achilles Ballinger, 1906 (PORTRAITS 1699).jpg

English:

Caption on image: Lawyer

Cartoons and Caricatures of Seattle Citizens (page 11).

Photographs from which these Pen and Ink Sketches were Produced have been furnished principally by James & Bushnell and E.S. Curtis. Engravings by the Art Engraving Company. Published by the Associated Cartoon Service. Artwork by Edwin F. Brotze.

Richard A. Ballinger (1858-1922) was born in Boonesboro, Iowa. He attended Williams College, from which he received both a Bachelor of Arts and a law degree. He married Miss Julia A. Bradley in 1886. He began practicing law in Illinois that year, but later moved to Port Townsend, and, finally, Seattle. In 1894 he was elected as a judge, a position which he served for four years. He then practiced law in the law firm of Ballinger, Battle, Hulbert & Shorts, and was elected Mayor of Seattle in 1904. He became a part of Teddy Roosevelt's administration in 1907 as general land office commissioner. In 1909, he began serving as Secretary of the Interior for President Taft's administration, during which time he was embroiled in a scandal over development of land set aside for conservation. He was forced out of the position in 1911. Ballinger had two sons.