Harry Nice

Who was Harry Nice?

Harry Whinna Nice, a member of the United States Republican Party, was the 50th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1935 to 1939.

Harry Nice was born in Washington D.C., but was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He later attended Baltimore City College, Dickinson College and graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1899. He was married to Edna Viola Amos in 1905, with whom he had two sons, Harry Jr, and William, who died in childhood.

Nice served as assistant to the State's Attorney in Baltimore, but later resigned to run for the Republican nomination for governor of Maryland in 1919. He lost to Democrat Albert C. Ritchie by a narrow margin. Following the defeat, Nice accepted a position in the Appeals Tax Court of Baltimore City as a judge from 1920–1924. In 1934, running under the campaign motto of "Right the wrong of 1919", Nice again challenged Ritchie and defeated him by 6,149 votes.

Nice rose to become Governor during the national depression, which brought great financial hardships to the state budget. To help find a solution to the situation, Nice assigned a committee to investigate ways of alleviating the debt, but was not pleased with the recommendations of raising taxes. Neither he nor the Maryland General Assembly felt it would be wise to raise taxes at such a rate. Also as Governor, Nice redesigned the governors' residence at Government House, changing the architectural style from Victorian to Georgian.