John W. Kern Jr.

File:Graves of John Worth Kern (1849–1917) and John Worth Kern Jr. (1900–1971) at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis.jpg

Kern graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1920 and Harvard Law School in 1923. Prior to serving as mayor, Kern was a judge on the Superior Court of Marion County.{{cite news |title = Mrs. John W. Kern Sr. Injured |publication-date = December 26, 1931 |newspaper = The New York Times |page = 6 |url = https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1931-12-26_81_26999/page/6/mode/1up |place=Indianapolis |agency=AP |date=1931-12-26 |access-date=2024-10-08 |via=Internet Archive}} He took office as mayor in 1935 and resigned on September 2, 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to a seat on the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, which later became the United States Tax Court.{{cite news |title = A Family Tradition |date = December 5, 1954 |newspaper = The Indianapolis Star |page = 164 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-a-family-tradition/156764414/ |first=Ben |last=Cole |access-date=2024-10-08 |via=Newspapers.com}} Kern was reappointed by President Truman in 1950 when his first term expired and served as chief judge before retiring from active service on June 30, 1961.{{cite news |title = Truman Reappoints Three |newspaper = The New York Times |date = April 21, 1950 |page = 14 |url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/04/21/87021293.html?pageNumber=14 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |title = Tax Court Judge Resigns |date = June 27, 1961 |newspaper = The New York Times |url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/06/27/101468244.html?pageNumber=18 |page = 18 |url-access=subscription}}

He died at Washington Hospital Center on January 29, 1971, and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-and-courier-kern-former-capital/156764657/ |title=Kern, Former Capital Mayor, Judge, Dies |newspaper=Lafayette Journal and Courier |place=Washington, D.C. |agency=AP |date=1971-01-30 |access-date=2024-10-08 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Kern's father was Senator John W. Kern, the first Senate Majority Leader, and his son was John W. Kern III, a judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. His grandson, John W. Kern IV, is also a lawyer.{{cite news |title = John W. Kern 4th Engaged to Wed Kate C. Murdoch |newspaper = The New York Times |date = November 23, 1986 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/style/john-w-kern-4th-engaged-to-wed-kate-c-murdoch.html |page=77 |access-date=2024-10-08}}

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{{succession box |title=Mayor of Indianapolis |before=Reginald H. Sullivan |after=Walter C. Boetcher|years=1935–1937}}

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Category:20th-century mayors of places in Indiana

Category:Mayors of Indianapolis

Category:Indiana Democrats

Category:Superior court judges in the United States

Category:Judges of the United States Tax Court

Category:Washington and Lee University alumni

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:1900 births

Category:1971 deaths

Category:United States Article I federal judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Category:United States Article I federal judges appointed by Harry S. Truman

Category:Members of the United States Board of Tax Appeals

Category:Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery

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