| Kenneth Wherry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Líder de la cuarta minoría del Senado | |
| En el cargo 3 de enero de 1949-29 de noviembre de 1951 | |
| Diputado | Leverett Saltonstall |
| Precedido por | Alben W. Barkley |
| Sucesor | Estilos puentes |
| Líder de la Conferencia Republicana del Senado | |
| En el cargo 3 de enero de 1949-29 de noviembre de 1951 | |
| Diputado | Leverett Saltonstall |
| Precedido por | Wallace H. White Jr. |
| Sucesor | Estilos puentes |
| Látigo de la mayoría del Senado | |
| En el cargo 3 de enero de 1947-3 de enero de 1949 | |
| Líder | Wallace H. White Jr. |
| Precedido por | J. Lister Hill |
| Sucesor | Francis Myers |
| Látigo de la minoría del Senado | |
| En el cargo 3 de enero de 1943-3 de enero de 1947 | |
| Líder | Charles L. McNary Wallace H. White Jr. |
| Precedido por | Felix Hebert (1935) |
| Sucesor | Scott Lucas |
| Senador de los Estados Unidos por Nebraska | |
| En el cargo 3 de enero de 1943-29 de noviembre de 1951 | |
| Precedido por | George W. Norris |
| Sucesor | Fred Seaton |
| Detalles personales | |
| Nació | 28 de febrero de 1892 Liberty , Nebraska , EE . UU. |
| Fallecido | 29 de noviembre de 1951 (59 años) Washington, DC , EE . UU. |
| Partido político | Republicano |
| Esposos) | Marjorie Colwell |
| Niños | 1 hijo 1 hija |
| Educación | Universidad de Nebraska, Lincoln ( BA ) Universidad de Harvard |
| Servicio militar | |
| Lealtad |  Estados Unidos |
| Sucursal / servicio |  Marina de Estados Unidos |
| Años de servicio | 1917-1918 |
| Unidad | Cuerpo de vuelo |
| Batallas / guerras | Primera Guerra Mundial |
Kenneth Wherry Spicer (28 febrero 1892 a 29 noviembre 1951) fue un americano empresario, abogado y político. [1] Miembro del Partido Republicano , se desempeñó como senador estadounidense por Nebraska desde 1943 hasta su muerte en 1951; fue el líder de la minoría durante los últimos dos años.
Vida temprana [ editar ]
Wherry was born in Liberty, Nebraska, to David Emery and Jessie (née Comstock) Wherry.[2] He received his early education at public schools in Pawnee City, and graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity) in 1914.[3] From 1915 to 1916, he studied business administration at Harvard Business School.[2] During World War I, he served in the U.S. Navy Flying Corps (1917–18).[4]
Después de su servicio militar, Wherry comenzó una carrera comercial vendiendo automóviles, muebles y ganado; también era un empresario de pompas fúnebres con licencia con oficinas en Nebraska y Kansas . [2] También estudió derecho y, después de ser admitido en el colegio de abogados, ingresó a la práctica privada en Pawnee City . [4]
Carrera política [ editar ]
Wherry entró en política como miembro del consejo de la ciudad de Pawnee , sirviendo en 1927 y 1929. [3] Fue alcalde de 1929 a 1931, sirviendo simultáneamente como miembro del senado estatal de 1929 a 1932. [3] Wherry fue un candidato fracasado a la nominación republicana a gobernador en 1932 y a senador estadounidense en 1934. [2]
In 1938, Wherry was again elected mayor of Pawnee City, serving until he left for Washington and the U.S. Senate.[3] He was chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party from 1939 to 1942, and Western Director for the Republican National Committee from 1941 to 1942.[4]
U.S. Senator[edit]
In 1942, Wherry was elected to the U.S. Senate, unseating incumbent George W. Norris. He was reelected in 1948 and served until his death. He served as Republican whip from 1944 to 1949 and minority leader from 1949 to 1951. He was also one of the few postwar politicos to see the plight of the defeated Germans. "The American people should know once and for all that as a result of this government’s official policy they are being made...accomplices in the crime of mass starvation...Germany is the only nation subjected to a deliberate starvation policy..."
In 1945, Wherry was among the seven senators who opposed full U.S. entry into the United Nations.[5]
Wherry también respaldó, con el senador Homer Capehart de Indiana, la legislación para la construcción de viviendas para familias militares en la era posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial, cuando hubo una escasez crítica de tales viviendas.
Wherry representó las opiniones aislacionistas de su gran circunscripción germano-estadounidense . Se opuso intensamente a las actividades internacionales del gobierno federal, incluida la entrada en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la Guerra Fría y Corea. Se opuso enérgicamente a cualquier préstamo o ayuda a Europa, incluido el Plan Marshall. No creía que la Unión Soviética amenazara los intereses de Nebraska y se oponía firmemente a la Doctrina Truman y a la OTAN.
Whatever the issue, he could be counted on as a strong opponent of the presidency of Harry Truman. [6] Wherry was the unsuccessful leader in the fight to block the Marshall Plan in Congress in early 1948. Congress, under the control of conservative Republicans, agreed to the program itself and the funding for multiple reasons. The 20-member conservative isolationist wing of the party was led by Wherry. He was outmaneuvered by the internationalist wing, led by Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg. Wherry and his men argued that it would be "a wasteful "operation rat-hole"; that it made no sense to oppose communism by supporting the socialist governments in Western Europe; and that American goods would reach Russia and increase its war potential. Vandenberg admitted there was no certainty that the plan would succeed, but said it would halt economic chaos, sustain Western civilization, and stop further Soviet expansion.
Senator Robert A. Taft, the most prominent conservative, hedged on the issue. He said it was without economic justification; however it was "absolutely necessary" in "the world battle against communism." In the end only 17 senators voted against it on March 13, 1948.[7]
Wherry was openly opposed to homosexuals, telling Max Lerner in a 1950 interview that "You can't hardly separate homosexuals from subversives" and "But look Lerner, we're both Americans, aren't we? I say, let's get these fellows [closeted gay men in government positions] out of the government."[8] He also publicized the fear that Adolf Hitler had given Joseph Stalin a list of closeted homosexuals in government, which he believed Stalin would use to blackmail these same homosexuals into becoming Soviet spies.[9] In the spring of 1950, Wherry joined Senator Lister Hill, a Democrat from Alabama, in a Congressional investigation of homosexuals in government, particularly the Department of State. He was particularly concerned with communist influence, saying "Only the most naïve could believe that the Communists' fifth column in the United States would neglect to propagate and use homosexuals to gain their treacherous ends." [10]
Buchenwald concentration camp[edit]
On April 11, 1945, US forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, which was established in 1937 and caused the deaths of at least 56,545 people. General Eisenhower left rotting corpses unburied so a visiting group of U.S. legislators could truly understand the horror of the atrocities. This group was visiting Buchenwald to inspect the camp and learn firsthand about the enormity of the Nazi Final Solution and treatment of other prisoners. Wherry visited the camp along with Alben W. Barkley, Ed Izac, John M. Vorys, Dewey Short, C. Wayland Brooks, General Omar N. Bradley, and journalists Joseph Pulitzer, Norman Chandler, William I. Nichols and Julius Ochs Adler.[11][12]
Death[edit]
Wherry died in Washington in 1951 at age 59, while serving as Republican Floor Leader. Recovering from abdominal surgery a few weeks earlier, he felt ill and was admitted to George Washington University Hospital and died of pneumonia several hours later.[1]
The fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska's Class 2 seat, from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1955, was unusual in that it saw six Senators occupy the seat, beginning with Wherry.
See also[edit]
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)
References[edit]
- ^ a b "GOP 'wheel' Wherry succumbs at 59". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1951. p. 1.
- ^ a b c d "Kenneth S. Wherry". Nebraska State Historical Society.
- ^ a b c d "WHERRY, Kenneth Spicer, (1892 - 1951)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ a b c "Kenneth S. Wherry". Pawnee County History.
- ^ "UNO Bill Approved By Senate, 65 to 7, With One Change". The New York Times. December 4, 1945. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ^ Bernard Lemelin, "Isolationist Voices in the Truman Era: Nebraska Senators Hugh Butler and Kenneth Wherry." Great Plains Quarterly 37.2 (2017): 83-109.
- ^ John C. Campbell, The United States in World affairs: 1947-1948 (1948) pp 500-505; quotes on pages 504, 505.
- ^ Lerner, Max, The Unfinished Country: A Book of American Symbols Simon and Schuster, 1959 pp 313–316
- ^ Von Hoffman, Nicholas, Citizen Cohn Doubleday, 1988, pp 130
- ^ Adkins, Judith (2016), "'These People Are Frightened to Death': Congressional Investigations and the Lavender Scare", Prologue, National Archives, 48 (2)
- ^ Stromer, Marvin E. (1969), The Making of a Political Leader: Kenneth S. Wherry and the United States Senate, University of Nebraska Press, pp. 136–137
- ^ "American Congressmen and reporters visit Buchenwald, April 24, 1945". www.scrapbookpages.com. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
External links[edit]
- United States Congress. "Kenneth S. Wherry (id: W000344)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Kenneth S. Wherry papers at Nebraska State Historical Society
- "Fundamentalist Republican", obituary from Time
- Nebraska State Historical Society – Kenneth S. Wherry, 1892-1951
- Kenneth S. Wherry at Find a Grave
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George William Norris | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Nebraska January 3, 1943 – November 29, 1951 Served alongside: Hugh A. Butler | Succeeded by Fred Andrew Seaton |
| Preceded by Felix Hebert Rhode Island (Position vacant 1935–1943) | Senate Minority Whip January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947 | Succeeded by Scott W. Lucas Illinois |
| Preceded by J. Lister Hill Alabama | Senate Majority Whip January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 | Succeeded by Francis Myers Pennsylvania |
| Preceded by Alben W. Barkley Kentucky | Senate Minority Leader January 3, 1949 – November 29, 1951 | Succeeded by Styles Bridges New Hampshire |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Robert G. Simmons | Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Nebraska 1942, 1948 | Succeeded by Dwight Griswold |
| Preceded by Felix Hebert Rhode Island (Position vacant 1935–1943) | Senate Republican Whip January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949 | Succeeded by Leverett Saltonstall Massachusetts |
| Preceded by Wallace H. White, Jr. Maine | Senate Republican Leader January 3, 1949 – November 29, 1951 | Succeeded by Styles Bridges New Hampshire |
| vteUnited States Senate Minority Leaders | ||
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| vteRepublican Party leaders in the United States Senate | ||
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| vteUnited States Senate Majority Whips | ||
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| vteUnited States Senate Minority Whips | ||
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