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==Political career==

==Political career==

A supporter of the [[Radical Republican]] faction of the GOP, Houk backed staunch abolitionist and civil rights advocate [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1868|1868]] and [[United States presidential election, 1872|1872]] presidential elections.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/>

Although he served in the Union and fought to defeat the Confederacy, Houk refused to hear cases of [[treason]] against Confederates as a circuit judge after the war on the grounds that Tennessee's status as a U.S. state ceased upon secession in 1861.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/> However, he backed the [[Radical Republican]] faction of the GOP and gave support to staunch abolitionist and civil rights advocate [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1868|1868]] and [[United States presidential election, 1872|1872]] presidential elections.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/>

===U.S. House of Representatives===

===U.S. House of Representatives===