Topics in Kansas History: Politics & GovernmentEssay on Kansans in the U.S. Senate"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; . . . No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall, when elected, be an Inhabitant of the State from which he shall be chosen." [U. S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 3] When Kansas entered the Union in January 1861, the state legislature, which selected senators until this task was turned over to the electorate in 1913, chose two men to represent the state in the upper house of the U. S. Congress. Since that time, Kansans have sent thirty men and two women to Washington to serve in this honored position. Their political affiliation has been overwhelmingly Republican. The average age upon entering the Senate has been 49--the youngest was 39, the oldest 67. Only ten of the thirty-two people to hold the office were native-born Kansans; five were natives of Ohio, and four were born in Pennsylvania. Within the state, Topeka and Wichita lead all other towns as the place of residence for U. S. Senators; they claim five and four respectively. The average term of office (excluding the incumbents) has been 9.3 years from the legal profession; journalism ranks second with six, and agriculture was the primary occupation of only two. James Henry Lane James H. Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on June 22, 1814. Before moving to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1855, he served one term as an Indiana congressman. He was a veteran of the Mexican War, Kansas' territorial struggle, and the Civil War. In 1865, Lane was elected to a second term in the Senate, but took his own life in July 1866. Samuel Clark Pomeroy Born in Southampton, Massachusetts, in January 1816, Samuel C. Pomeroy came to Kansas in 1854 as a finance agent for the Emigrant Aid Association. Under the shadow of corruption charges, he unsuccessfully sought a third Senate term in 1873. Pomeroy returned to New England and died in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, on August 27, 1891. Edmund Gibson Ross Edmund G. Ross, an Ohio native, was appointed to fill the Senate vacancy created by Lane's suicide. Born in December 1826, Ross came to Kansas at the head of a free-state colony in 1856. Subsequently, he worked as a Lawrence journalist, served as a delegate to the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention, and saw military service during the Civil War. Ross lost favor in Kansas when he cast a decisive vote in favor of President Andrew Johnson at the impeachment trial of 1868. Years later, he was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory, where he died on May 8, 1907. Alexander Caldwell Born at Drakes Ferry, Pennsylvania, in 1830, Alexander Caldwell was brought to Leavenworth in 1861 by the freighting business. He was later involved in manufacturing and banking. Caldwell resigned from office undr another cloud of corruption in 1873 and pursued his business interests in Leavenworth and Kansas City until his death on May 19, 1917. John James Ingalls The state's fourth senator, John J. Ingalls, was born in Middletown, Massachusetts, on December 29, 1833. Ingalls moved to Kansas in 1857 and two years later was a leader at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention. In addition to serving as president pro tem of the U. S. Senate, Ingalls became a nationally recognized orator and author. Despite his fame and long years of service, the senator was unpopular in reform circles and fell victim to the farm revolt of the early 1890s. Ingalls died in Las Vegas, New Mexico, on August 16, 1900. Robert Crozier Born in Harrison County, Ohio, in October of 1827, Robert Crozier moved west in 1856 and settled in Leavenworth. A lawyer, newspaperman, and banker, Crozier served as a U. S. district attorney and chief justice of the state supreme court before being appointed to the Senate upon the resignation of Alexander Caldwell. Crozier remained in office only until the legislature could choose a successor, and thus gained distinction among U. S. senators from Kansas for brevity of service--72 days. He died in Leavenworth on October 2, 1895. James Madison Harvey Robert Crozier was succeeded by James M. Harvey who had moved to Kansas in 1859 at age 26. A farmer and land surveyor by occupation, Harvey located in Riley County. After the Civil War, he served in the legislature and became the state's fifth governor in 1869. Harvey returned to his native Virginia during the 1880s but after a few years moved back to Vinton where he died on April 15, 1894. Preston Bierce Plumb Emporia's Preston B. Plumb was born in Ohio on October 12, 1837. He emigrated to Kansas in 1856 where he became involved in the newspaper business. Plumb attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel with the 11th Kansas Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, and thereafter he practiced law and was elected to the state legislature. During his third term in the U. S. Senate, Plumb died in Washington, D. C., on December 20, 1891. William Alfred Peffer Populist William Peffer was the first non- Republican to serve as a U. S. senator from Kansas. Born in 1831, Peffer left Pennsylvania and settled in Fredonia in 1870. He soon took up journalism and eventually moved to Topeka where he became editor of the Kansas Farmer. Peffer remained active in state politics until retiring to his home at Grenola, Wilson County, where he died in October 1912. Bishop Walden Perkins Senator Bishop Perkins was born at Rochester, Ohio, on October 18, 1841. He moved to Labette County in 1869 where he served as county attorney and district judge. Elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1882, Perkins remained in this office until appointed to fill the unexpired term of Preston Plumb. After leaving office in 1893, Perkins remained in Washington where he died the following year. John Martin John Martin, who became the leader of Kansas' struggling Democratic Party, was born on November 12, 1833, in Wilson County, Tennessee. He settled in Tecumseh in 1855 and six years later opened a law office in Topeka. The first Kansas Democrat elected to the U. S. Senate, Martin died at his Topeka home in September 1913. Lucien Baker Born in Fulton County, Ohio, on June 8, 1846, Lucien Baker moved to Leavenworth in 1869, where he practiced law, served as city attorney, and was elected to the state senate. After six years in Washington, Baker resumed his law practice in Leavenworth where he died in 1907. William Alexander Harris In 1865, at the age of 24, Virginia native William Harris came to Kansas as a civil engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. A Democratic congressman from 1893 to 1895, Harris received the Populist Party's endorsement for the Senate in 1897. Harris resumed his agricultural pursuits in Leavenworth County for nearly a decade, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the governorship as the Democratic nominee. Three years later, on December 20, 1909, Harris died in Chicago. Joseph Ralph Burton Lawyer, newspaperman, legislator, and senator, Joseph R. Burton was born near Mitchell, Indiana, in November 1850. He removed to Kansas in 1878 and settled in Abilene. Burton entered the U. S. Senate in 1901, but was forced to resign before the end of his first term after being convicted of illegally using his influence. Burton returned to his Abilene newspaper business, but eventually left Kansas for California, where he died in 1923. Chester Isaiah Long During the 1890s, Chester I. Long won respect and influence with many of his fellow Republicans by holding his own in debate with Populist rival "Sockless" Jerry Simpson. Born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 1860, Long moved to Kansas in 1879 and eventually set up a law practice in Medicine Lodge. After three terms in the lower house of the U. S. Congress and one in the Senate, Long was defeated by the progressive wing of his own party. Eventually, he returned to Washington as a private citizen where he died in July 1934. Alfred Washburn Benson A. W. Benson moved to Ottawa from Chautauqua County, New York, in 1869. He served the people of the area as county attorney, mayor, state senator, and state representative before being appointed to the U. S. Senate at age 62. He served in this position for only seven months, finishing out Burton's term of office. Benson was unable to win the GOP nomination for himself in 1906 but was later appointed to the state supreme court. He died in Topeka, January 1, 1916. Charles Curtis Charles Curtis, born in Topeka on January 25, 1860, was the state's first native son to serve in the U. S. Senate. A lawyer, who served as Shawnee County attorney from 1885-1889, Curtis was elected to the U. S. House in 1892 and the Senate in 1907. Defeated for reelection in 1912, Curtis returned to the Senate in 1915, where he served until 1929. He was Republican whip, 1915-1924, and majority leader, 1924-1929. Curtis, a one-eighth blood Kansa Indian, was elected vice-president of the United States in 1929. He served under President Herbert Hoover until the two left office in March 1933. Curtis remained in Washington, where he practiced law, until his death on February 8, 1936. Joseph Little Bristow Joseph L. Bristow was born in Wolf County, Kentucky, in 1861. He came to Kansas with his father in 1873 and graduated from Baker University in 1886. He was active in Republican Party politics and owned newspapers in Ottawa and Salina before his election to the Senate. He also had served in the post office department during the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations. Three years after his unsuccessful bid for a second term, Bristow moved to an estate in Virginia. There he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in 1944. William Howard Thompson Born on October 14, 1871, in Montgomery County, Indiana, William H. Thompson arrived in Kansas when he was only nine years old. The Thompson family moved from Indiana to a Nemaha County farm in 1880, Thompson studied law under his father, and practiced in Seneca and Iola before moving to Garden City in 1905. A progressive Democrat, Thompson was involved in the national prohibition and woman suffrage movements. After a single term in the U. S. Senate, he resumed his law practice and eventually moved back to Washington, where he died in 1928. Arthur Capper Arthur Capper, Kansas' first native-born governor, was born in Garnett on July 14, 1865. While still in his teens, Capper began a long and successful career in journalism. Nine years after moving to Topeka in 1884, he purchased the North Topeka Mail, and started down a road that would lead to the creation of a publishing empire. He also was active in Republican politics and served two terms as governor before being elected to the U. S. Senate in 1918. Arthur Capper retired after thirty years and died at home in Topeka on December 19, 1951. Henry Justin Allen In 1929, when Charles Curtis moved from the U.S. Senate to the vice-presidency, 60-year-old former Governor Henry Allen was appointed to fill the vacancy until the next general election. Allen, a Pennsylvania native, was a Wichita editor when he succeeded Capper as governor in 1919. After unsuccessfully seeking his own senatorial term in 1930, Allen returned to Wichita, where he died in January 1950. George S. McGill Born in Lucas County, Iowa, in 1879, George McGill moved to a Barton County farm with his parents in 1884. An unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938, McGill served on the U. S. Tariff Commission from 1944 to 1954. Thereafter, he resumed his law practice in Wichita where he died on May 14, 1963. Clyde Martin Reed In 1875, when Reed was just four years old, his family left Illinois for Kansas. In 1917, after a number of years with the U. S. Post Office Department, Reed took over as manager and editor of the Parsons SUN. In 1938 he defeated the incumbent George McGill in the senatorial race and was reelected in 1944. Senator Reed died in Parsons, during his second term, on November 8, 1949. Andrew Frank Schoeppel When he was elected to succeed Arthur Capper in 1948, former Governor Andrew Schoeppel was 54 years old. Although a native of Barton County, Schoeppel spent much of his youth in Ness City where he started a law practice in 1923. Twice reelected, Senator Schoeppel died in office on January 21, 1962. Harry Darby When Senator Reed died in November 1949, Governor Carlson appointed Kansas City businessman Harry Darby to fill the vacancy. A 56-year-old native of Wyandotte County, Darby had no designs on political office and did not seek election in 1950. Instead, he resigned on November 28 to allow senator-elect Carlson to take office early. Darby returned to private life in Kansas City where he died on January 17, 1987. Frank Carlson Frank Carlson, a Cloud County farmer, is the only Kansan ever to serve in both houses of Congress and as governor. In 1950, at the end of his second term as chief executive, Carlson resigned, after having won the senatorial race. His successor, Frank Hagaman, immediately appointed him to the Senate seat opened by Darby's resignation. This somewhat complicated maneuver gave Carlson a seniority advantage over the other freshman senators of the 82nd Congress. After serving three terms in the Senate, Carlson retired to Concordia, the place of his birth where he died at age 94 on May 30, 1987. James Blackwood Pearson Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 7, 1920, James B. Pearson moved to Kansas after service in World War II. He started a law practice in Mission and quickly became involved in local politics. Pearson served as assistant county attorney and probate judge for Johnson County, and in 1956 he was elected to the state senate. In 1962, he was appointed to fill the Senate vacancy left by Andrew Schoeppel's death, and was reelected twice to that position, retiring in 1979. Robert Joseph Dole Long-time Kansas senator Bob Dole was born at Russell on July 22, 1923. World War II interrupted Dole's college years; he served as a combat infantry officer with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy. After recovering from serious wounds, Dole practiced law in Russell and began a long career in public service. After eight years in the House, he won election to the U. S. Senate in November 1968. Dole was the G.O.P. nominee for the vice-presidency in 1976, senate majority leader in the early 1980s, and a candidate for the presidential nomination in 1988. He resigned his seat in the Senate on June 11, 1996, after capturing his party's presidential nomination, but Dole's final bid for the nation's highest office ended in defeat. Bob Dole and his wife, North Caroline senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole, live in Washington, D.C., where the former senator practices law and is involved in numerous areas of public service. Nancy Landon Kassebaum The daughter of Kansas' 26th governor, Nancy Landon Kassebaum (Baker) was born in Topeka on July 23, 1932. Active in the family communications business and a member of the Maize school board, Kassebaum took a job in Senator James B. Pearson's office in 1975. When he chose not to seek reelection in 1978, Kassebaum entered the race and won hard fought primary and general elections. Senator-elect Kassebaum officially took office on December 23, 1978, when she was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Pearson’s resignation. Senator Kassebaum chose not to seek reelection in 1996, and shortly before leaving office she married former Tennessee senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. Sheila Frahm The state's second woman U.S. Senator, Sheila Frahm, was born in Colby, Kansas, on March 22, 1945, and served on the State Board of Education, in the state legislature, and as lieutenant governor of Kansas before accepting appointment to the U.S. Senate upon the resignation of Senator Bob Dole, June 11, 1996. Frahm failed to capture the Republican nomination for the unexpired term and, after less than six months in office, November 5, 1996, left office in favor of the successful G.O.P. candidate, Sam Brownback. Sam Dale Brownback Born in Garnett, Kansas, on September 12, 1956, Sam Brownback, a Kansas State University graduate, served as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1994. Just two years later, he resigned his position after defeating Jill Docking, a Wichita Democrat, for the unexpired term of Senator Bob Dole. Brownback was reelected in 1998 and again in 2004. Charles Patrick Roberts Pat Roberts, who served for many years as administrative assistant to First District Congressman Keith Sebelius, was born in Topeka on April 20, 1936. He graduated from Kansas State University, served in the Marine Corps, and was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-seventh Congress in November 1980. After eight terms in the House of Representatives, Roberts successfulyl sought election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat State Treasurer Sally Thompson in the November 5, 1996 election by nearly a two to one margin. Roberts was reelected in 2002 and now serves as chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence. Back to Topics in Kansas History: Politics & Government: Senators. |
|
||||
 |
