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Thomas Hennings | |
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 Official portrait, 1952 | |
| Chair of theSenate Rules Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1957 – September 13, 1960 | |
| Preceded by | Theodore F. Green |
| Succeeded by | Mike Mansfield |
| Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – September 13, 1960 | |
| Leader | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Brien McMahon |
| Succeeded by | George Smathers |
| United States Senator fromMissouri | |
| In office January 3, 1951 – September 13, 1960 | |
| Preceded by | Forrest C. Donnell |
| Succeeded by | Edward V. Long |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's11th district | |
| In office January 3, 1935 – December 31, 1940 | |
| Preceded by | James Edward Ruffin |
| Succeeded by | John B. Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Carey Hennings Jr. (1903-06-25)June 25, 1903 |
| Died | September 13, 1960(1960-09-13) (aged 57) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Party | Democratic |
| Education | Cornell University (BA) Washington University (LLB) |
Thomas Carey Hennings Jr. (June 25, 1903 – September 13, 1960) was anAmerican political figure fromMissouri. He was aDemocratic member of theUnited States House of Representatives (from 1935 until 1940) and theUnited States Senate (from 1951 until 1960).
Born into a wealthy family inSt. Louis, Missouri to Judge Thomas Carey Hennings, his father was an influential member of the Jefferson Club, an organization dedicated to overthrowing the bossism of the city's Democratic Political Machine. Hennings Jr. attendedSoldan High School, and displayed talents in athletics, going on to run track and field atCornell University.[1] After graduating from Cornell in 1924, he finished his education at the law school ofWashington University in St. Louis in 1926. He was admitted to thebar in 1926 and commenced practice in St. Louis, and served as assistant circuit attorney for that city from 1929 to 1934. He served as acolonel on theGovernor's staff from 1932 to 1936 and was a lecturer on criminaljurisprudence at theBenton College of Law in St. Louis from 1934 to 1938.
Hennings was elected to the Seventy-fourth, Seventy-fifth, and Seventy-sixth Congresses and served from January 3, 1935, to December 31, 1940. He was the first Democrat in 22 years to represent Missouri's11th congressional district.[2] Hennings enjoyed support from St. Louis' growing African American population. Hennings regularly hired African Americans to his offices in Washington D.C. and St. Louis. During theSecond New Deal, he worked towards establishing an African American branch of theCivilian Conservation Corps atPoplar Bluff, Missouri. Within the New Deal'sFederal Emergency Relief Act (FERA), Hennings advocated for a “Negro Federal Employment Office” with all black staff. Hennings also sponsored anti-lynching bills while in the House. His work secured him the endorsements of two of St. Louis' black newspapers, theArgus and theAmerican and the city'sNAACP chapter.[3] Hennings resigned in 1940 to become a candidate for circuit attorney of St. Louis.
Hennings was circuit attorney from 1941 to 1944, taking leave of absence in September 1941 to volunteer for active duty in theUnited States Naval Reserve. Serving in the Pacific and Caribbean as a lieutenant commander for three years, he was discharged from active duty due to physical disability incurred in the line of duty.[2] After which, he resumed the practice of law in the St. Louis firm of Green, Hennings, Henry and Evans.
He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1950 over Republican incumbent and former governorForrest Donnell in the only senate election that year when Democrats took a seat from Republicans, was reelected in 1956, and served from January 3, 1951, until his death fromabdominal cancer inWashington, D.C. in 1960.[4] Hennings did not sign the 1956Southern Manifesto, and voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957 and1960.[5][6] While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration (Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Congresses), and served on theUnited States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency while it investigated comic books.
Hennings died on September 13, 1960, and is buried inArlington National Cemetery.
Hennings' daughter Karla Ann was briefly married toWhite House CounselJohn Dean who would later be deeply involved in events leading up to theWatergate burglaries and the subsequent cover-up.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 11th congressional district 1935–1940 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMissouri (Class 3) 1950,1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus 1953–1960 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Missouri 1951–1960 Served alongside:James P. Kem,Stuart Symington | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Rules Committee 1957–1960 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Rules (1870–1947) | | |
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| Rules and Administration (1947–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
