Charles Bernard Hoeven | |
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.jpg) From 1963'sPocket Congressional Directory of the Eighty-Eighth Congress | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa | |
| In office January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Fred C. Gilchrist |
| Succeeded by | Stanley L. Greigg |
| Constituency | 8th district (1943–1963) 6th district (1963–1965) |
| Member of theIowa Senate from the49th district | |
| In office January 11, 1937 – January 12, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Garritt E. Roelofs |
| Succeeded by | Jans Dykhouse |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1895-03-30)March 30, 1895 Hospers, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 1980(1980-11-09) (aged 85) Orange City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Resting place | Nassau Township Cemetery,Alton, Iowa, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of Iowa |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Unit | Company D, 350th Infantry, 88th Division |
| Battles/wars | |
Charles Bernard Hoeven (March 30, 1895 – November 9, 1980) was an American politician. Elected to represent districts in northernIowa for eleven terms, from theSeventy-eighth toEighty-eighth Congresses, in all he held elective office for forty consecutive years. He was a member of theRepublican Party.
Hoeven was born inHospers, Iowa; his paternal grandparents wereDutch immigrants and his maternal grandparents wereGerman immigrants.[1] Hoeven attended the public schools and Alton (Iowa) High School.[2]
DuringWorld War I, Hoeven served in England and France as a sergeant in Company D, 350th Infantry, 88th Division, and with the Intelligence Service of the First Battalion.
He received a bachelor's degree from theUniversity of Iowa at Iowa City, in 1920 and a law degree from theUniversity of Iowa College of Law in 1922.
Hoeven wasadmitted to the bar in 1922 and began to practice law inAlton, Iowa. He was elected as County Attorney ofSioux County, Iowa in 1924, and served in that position from 1925 to 1937. Then, he was elected to theIowa Senate, where he served from 1937 to 1941, the last two years aspresident pro tempore.[3]
In 1940, Hoeven ran for the Republican nomination inIowa's 9th congressional district (which was then represented by DemocratVincent Harrington ofSioux City). Hoeven finished a close second toAlbert Swanson in the primary, who in turn lost to Harrington in the general election by fewer than 2,500 votes out of over 130,000 cast. Newspapers and others speculated that, if Hoeven had won the primary, he would have defeated Harrington.[4] Thus, when reapportionment shifted most of the old 9th district intoIowa's 8th congressional district, Hoeven became an early front-runner for the 1942 Republican primary to run against Harrington. He won the primary, and received a significant boost when Harrington resigned his House seat and the Democratic nomination two months before the 1942 general election to serve full-time in theU.S. Army Air Corps in England.[5] Democrats quickly nominated new candidates to serve out Harrington's 9th district term and to run against Hoeven in the 8th district, but Hoeven won the 8th district seat by over 19,000 votes.
Hoeven was then re-elected to Congress from that district an additional nine times, the last time in 1960 (when he defeated future U.S. District Court JudgeDonald E. O'Brien). Following the 1960 census, Iowa lost a congressional district, and the bulk of his territory was reconfigured as the6th district. Hoeven was elected again. He chose not to run in 1964, the year in which 48 Republican seats (including Iowa's Sixth District) were lost to Democrats. Hoeven voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[6]1960,[7] and1964,[8] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[9]
Hoeven also served as vice president of a savings bank.
In the Republican Party, Hoeven was a delegate to each Iowa State Republican Convention from 1925 to 1970, serving as chairman of the 1940 state convention. He was a delegate to the1964 Republican National Convention. In 1942, he also served as temporary and permanent chairman of Iowa Republican State Judicial Convention.
After retiring from Congress, Hoeven resided inOrange City, Iowa, where he died on November 9, 1980. He was interred in Nassau Township Cemetery, inAlton, Iowa.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 8th congressional district 1943 – 1963 | District eliminated |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th congressional district 1963 – 1965 | Succeeded by |
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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