Herman Welker
| Herman Orville Welker | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Senator from Idaho From: January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1957 | |||
| Predecessor | Glen H. Taylor | ||
| Successor | Frank Church | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Gladys Taylor Pence | ||
| Religion | Episcopalian[Citation Needed] | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Allegiance | United States | ||
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces | ||
| Service Years | 1943–1944 | ||
| Rank | Corporal | ||
| Battles/wars | World War II | ||
Herman Orville Welker (December 11, 1906 – October 30, 1957) was a Republican from Idaho who served as the state's U.S. senator from one term in the 1950s.
U.S. Senate
Welker ran for United States Senate in 1950 and faced David Worth Clark, who defeated incumbent Glen H. Taylor in the Democrat primary.[1] He won the general election against Clark by over twenty percentage points.[2]
In 1954, Welker and his Republican colleagues Styles Bridges of New Hampshire and Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin blackmailed Sen. Lester C. Hunt of Wyoming over the arrest of Hunt's son Lester "Buddy" Hunt, Jr. for soliciting an undercover police officer.[3][4][5] After demanding that Hunt quit from the Senate in order to prevent his son from being prosecuted, the Wyoming Democrat committed suicide by shooting himself with a Winchester rifle.
A strong anti-Communist, Welker and his Idaho senatorial colleague Henry Dworshak were among twenty-two mostly conservative Republicans to oppose the Senate censure of McCarthy, who exposed communist infiltration of the United States government.[6]
Welker lost re-election in 1956[7] to Democrat Frank Church by over fifteen points.[8] He died several months after leaving the Senate[9] and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
See also
- William E. Jenner, former Republican U.S. senator from Indiana
References
- ↑ ID US Senate - D Primary. Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ ID US Senate. Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ The Shocking Death of Senator Lester Hunt. Boise State University. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ↑ Storrow, Benjamin (April 14, 2013). A Death Untold: The Suicide of Wyoming Sen. Lester Hunt. Capser Star Tribune. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ↑ Lester Callaway Hunt. Find A Grave. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ↑ S. RES. 301. PASSAGE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ Pearson, Richard (April 8, 1984). Frank Church Dies. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ↑ ID US Senate. Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ Associated Press (October 31, 1957). HERMAN WELKER, EX-SENATOR, DIES; Idaho Republican, 1950-56, Was a Stanch Supporter of McCarthy in Censure Move Won by Big Majority ADEEB FARIS. Associated Press via The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
