Changes

|alma_mater=University of Nebraska at [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]] (BA)

|alma_mater=University of Nebraska at [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]] (BA)

|religion=[[Presbyterian]]

|religion=[[Presbyterian]]

|spouse=Marjorie Colwell Wherry<br>(married 1920-1951, his death)

|spouse=Marjorie Colwell Wherry<br>(married 1920–1951, his death)

|children=Marilynn Wherry Latta<br>

|children=Marilynn Wherry Latta<br>

One son, name unavailable

One son, name unavailable

==Background==

==Background==

Wherry was born in the [[village]] of Liberty in Gage County in southeastern Nebraska, to David Emery Wherry (1862-1847) and the former Jessie Comstock (1864-1934).<ref name=nebraska>{{cite web|publisher=Nebraska State Historical Society|title=Kenneth S. Wherry|url=http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/politics/wherry.htm|accessdate=March 31, 2021}}</ref> He received his early education at public schools in Pawnee City in Pawnee County, located south of Gage County. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in the capital city of  [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]].<ref name=congress>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000344z|publisher=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|title=Wherry, Kenneth Spicer (1892-1951)|accessdate=March 31. 2021}}</ref> From 1915 to 1916, he studied business administration at [[Harvard University]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=nebraska/> During [[World War I]], Wherry served in the [[United States Navy]] Flying Corps.<ref>Kenneth S. Spicer Pawnee County History, no longer accessible on-line.</ref>

Wherry was born in the [[village]] of Liberty in Gage County in southeastern Nebraska, to David Emery Wherry (1862–1847) and the former Jessie Comstock (1864–1934).<ref name=nebraska>{{cite web|publisher=Nebraska State Historical Society|title=Kenneth S. Wherry|url=http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/politics/wherry.htm|accessdate=March 31, 2021}}</ref> He received his early education at public schools in Pawnee City in Pawnee County, located south of Gage County. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in the capital city of  [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]].<ref name=congress>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000344z|publisher=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|title=Wherry, Kenneth Spicer (1892-1951)|accessdate=March 31. 2021}}</ref> From 1915 to 1916, he studied business administration at [[Harvard University]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=nebraska/> During [[World War I]], Wherry served in the [[United States Navy]] Flying Corps.<ref>Kenneth S. Spicer Pawnee County History, no longer accessible on-line.</ref>

==Career==

==Career==

Following his military service, Wherry began a business career selling [[automobile]]s, [[furniture]], and [[livestock]]. He also studied law, was admitted to the bar, and engaged in private practice in Pawnee City. He was even a licensed undertaker in Nebraska and [[Kansas]].<ref name=nebraska/>. He was a member of the city council in Pawnee City from 1927 to 1929, the [[mayor]] of Pawnee City from 1929 to 1931 and, again, from 1938 to 1943. He was a state senator from 1929 to 1932. He ran unsuccessfully for [[governor]] of Nebraska in 1932; he finished a strong second in the [[primary]] , but victory went to the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Robert LeRoy "Roy" Cochran (1886-1963). He also lost in the primary for U.S. Senator in 1934, when victory went to the Democrat Edward Raymond Burke (1880-1968). In 1942, he upset [[progressive]] [[George Norris]], a supporter of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and the [[New Deal]],  in the Republican primary.. He was the Nebraska Republican state chairman and from 1941 to 1942and the western director for the [[Republican National Committee]]. He was reelected to the Senate in 1948, when [[Moderate Republican]] [[Thomas E. Dewey]] carried the state though defeated nationally by [[Harry Truman]], who became something of a nemesis to Wherry. He was the Republican whip from 1944 to 1949 before he became minority leader for the last two years of his life. From 1939 to 1942, he served from 1939 to 1942 as the chairman of Special Committee on Problems of Small Business during what Truman called "the do nothing 80th Congress."<ref>Harry S. Truman - "Do Nothing Congress," State of the Union History, 1947.</ref>

Following his military service, Wherry began a business career selling [[automobile]]s, [[furniture]], and [[livestock]]. He also studied law, was admitted to the bar, and engaged in private practice in Pawnee City. He was even a licensed undertaker in Nebraska and [[Kansas]].<ref name=nebraska/>. He was a member of the city council in Pawnee City from 1927 to 1929, the [[mayor]] of Pawnee City from 1929 to 1931 and, again, from 1938 to 1943. He was a state senator from 1929 to 1932. He ran unsuccessfully for [[governor]] of Nebraska in 1932; he finished a strong second in the [[primary]] , but victory went to the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Robert LeRoy "Roy" Cochran (1886–1963). He also lost in the primary for U.S. Senator in 1934, when victory went to the Democrat Edward Raymond Burke (1880–1968). In 1942, he upset [[progressive]] [[George Norris]], a supporter of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and the [[New Deal]],  in the Republican primary.. He was the Nebraska Republican state chairman and from 1941 to 1942and the western director for the [[Republican National Committee]]. He was reelected to the Senate in 1948, when [[Moderate Republican]] [[Thomas E. Dewey]] carried the state though defeated nationally by [[Harry Truman]], who became something of a nemesis to Wherry. He was the Republican whip from 1944 to 1949 before he became minority leader for the last two years of his life. From 1939 to 1942, he served from 1939 to 1942 as the chairman of Special Committee on Problems of Small Business during what Truman called "the do nothing 80th Congress."<ref>Harry S. Truman - "Do Nothing Congress," State of the Union History, 1947.</ref>

Senator Wherry was an [[isolationist]] and an iconoclast in foreign affairs and was one of the few defenders of the [[Germany|German]] people suffering in the postwar years from starvation. He joined six colleagues in opposition to the U.S. entry into the [[United Nations]] because he expected none of these organizations to benefit the American people. He opposed the [[Marshall Plan]], the [[Truman Doctrine]], and entry into the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]].<ref>"UNO Bill Approved By Senate, 65 to 7, With One Change," ''[[The New York Times]],'' December 4, 1945.</ref> With conservative Senator Homer Capehart of [[Indiana]], he supported building military family housing in the post-[[World War II]] era.<ref>Bernard Lemelin, "Isolationist Voices in the Truman Era: Nebraska Senators Hugh Butler and Kenneth Wherry." ''Great Plains Quarterly'' (Vol. 37, No. 2) (2017), pp. 83-109.</ref> He was the leader of the twenty conservative isolationists in the Senate. He was outmaneuvered by the internationalist wing, led by Moderate Republican Senator [[Arthur Vandenberg]] of [[Michigan]]. The isolationists claimed that supporting the [[socialist]] post-war governments of Western Europe would not thwart the spread of international [[communism]], but Vandenberg said that the Marshall Plan would at the least stop economic chaos, sustain Western Civilization, and stop further Soviet expansion. Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]], a son of U.S. President [[William Howard Taft]] who lost three bids for the Republican presidential nomination, said that the Marshall Plan had no economic justification but was needed in the battle against communism. Ultimately, only seventeen  senators voted against the Marshall Plan on March 13, 1948.<ref>John C. Campbell, ''The United States in World affairs: 1947-1948'' (1948) pp 500-505; quotes on pages 504, 505.</ref>

Senator Wherry was an [[isolationist]] and an iconoclast in foreign affairs and was one of the few defenders of the [[Germany|German]] people suffering in the postwar years from starvation. He joined six colleagues in opposition to the U.S. entry into the [[United Nations]] because he expected none of these organizations to benefit the American people. He opposed the [[Marshall Plan]], the [[Truman Doctrine]], and entry into the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]].<ref>"UNO Bill Approved By Senate, 65 to 7, With One Change," ''[[The New York Times]],'' December 4, 1945.</ref> With conservative Senator Homer Capehart of [[Indiana]], he supported building military family housing in the post-[[World War II]] era.<ref>Bernard Lemelin, "Isolationist Voices in the Truman Era: Nebraska Senators Hugh Butler and Kenneth Wherry." ''Great Plains Quarterly'' (Vol. 37, No. 2) (2017), pp. 83-109.</ref> He was the leader of the twenty conservative isolationists in the Senate. He was outmaneuvered by the internationalist wing, led by Moderate Republican Senator [[Arthur Vandenberg]] of [[Michigan]]. The isolationists claimed that supporting the [[socialist]] post-war governments of Western Europe would not thwart the spread of international [[communism]], but Vandenberg said that the Marshall Plan would at the least stop economic chaos, sustain Western Civilization, and stop further Soviet expansion. Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]], a son of U.S. President [[William Howard Taft]] who lost three bids for the Republican presidential nomination, said that the Marshall Plan had no economic justification but was needed in the battle against communism. Ultimately, only seventeen  senators voted against the Marshall Plan on March 13, 1948.<ref>John C. Campbell, ''The United States in World affairs: 1947-1948'' (1948) pp 500-505; quotes on pages 504, 505.</ref>

==Death==

==Death==

Wherry died at the age of fifty-nine a week after [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1951  at the George Washington University Hospital in [[Washington, D.C.]], while he was the Republican Minority Leader. He is interred at the Pawnee City Cemetery, along with his wife, the former Marjorie Colwel (1896-1990).<ref name=findagrave/>  

Wherry died at the age of fifty-nine a week after [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1951  at the George Washington University Hospital in [[Washington, D.C.]], while he was the Republican Minority Leader. He is interred at the Pawnee City Cemetery, along with his wife, the former Marjorie Colwel (1896–1990).<ref name=findagrave/>  

==References==

==References==