Appointed first Commissioner of Baseball following the 1919 World
Series "Black Sox" scandal. Term of office: 12 January 1921 through 25
November 1944 (died in office).
Named after the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain in the US Civil War.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball
Veterans in 1944.
In 1907 he imposed a $29,240,000 fine on the Standard Oil Company of
Indiana in a rebate case (which was later reversed).
Landis sentenced Victor Berger and six other Socialists for sedition
(impeding the war effort). This was also later reversed.
Restored Baseball's integrity by banning the Black Sox.
Served as U.S. district court judge for Northern Illinois (1905-1922).
He was selected by Theodore Roosevelt.
The official title for the Most Valuable Player Award is the Kenesaw
Mountain Landis Award (renamed after his death).
Two of his brothers, Charles and Frederick Landis, became Indiana
congressmen.
He was a member of the Republican party.
Subject of the Jonathan Coulton song "Kenesaw Mountain Landis", a mostly-fictionalized biography of his life.