Halsted Lockwood Ritter (July 14, 1868 – October 15, 1951) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was the thirteenth individual to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives and the fourth individual to be convicted and removed from office in an impeachment trial before the United States Senate. He was also the last federal official to be impeached by the House of Representatives until Harry E. Claiborne (not counting Richard Nixon, who resigned before he was impeached), when he was impeached and removed from office by the Senate for tax evasion in 1936.
Education and career
Born on July 14, 1868, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ritter received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1891, a Bachelor of Laws in 1892, and an Artium Magister degree in 1893, all from DePauw University. In 1919, as a member of the Denver Lions Club, he attended the association's 3rd international convention in Chicago, where he proposed what would become the association's slogan - "liberty, intelligence, and our nation's safety", a backronym for the Lions name. In 1925, he moved to West Palm Beach, Florida
On March 2, 1936, the United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Ritter by 181 votes to 146 (with 7 present and 96 not voting).
Personal
Ritter's sister was Mary Ritter Beard, the wife of Charles A. Beard; both were noted historians.