Richard Charles Hunter (December 3, 1884January 23, 1941) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. He was most prominent for his service as a United States Senator (1934-1935) and as Nebraska's state attorney general (1937-1939).

Biography

Hunter was born in

West Point, Nebraska West Point is a city in and the county seat of Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,504 at the 2020 census. History West Point was first founded in the spring of 1857, when Omaha businessmen formed the Nebraska Settlement ...

on December 3, 1884, the son of Jabez Richard Hunter and Sarah Frances (Olmstead) Hunter. His family moved to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

in 1885, and Hunter attended the Omaha public schools and graduated from Omaha High School in 1904. He graduated from the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1909. He attended Harvard Law School and received his

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1911. Hunter was a member of Columbia's debate team in 1911, and was a member of the

Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigma Rho- Tau Kappa Alpha () is a collegiate honor society devoted to the promotion of public speaking (forensics). History Both Delta Sigma Rho and Tau Kappa Alpha were founded as honorary forensic societies. Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigm ...

and

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternities.

Career

Hunter was admission to the bar and began to practice in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

. He returned to Omaha in 1912, where he continued to practice law. He served in the

Nebraska House of Representatives The Nebraska House of Representatives was the lower house of the Nebraska Legislature during the days when Nebraska Territory, Nebraska was a territory from 1854 to 1867 and then again when Nebraska was a state from 1867 until 1937. In 1934, Nebras ...

and as judge of Omaha's Municipal Court from 1915 to 1917. He ran unsuccessfully for state Attorney General in 1920 and state Railway Commissioner in 1928. On November 6, 1934 Hunter was appointed to the United States Senate to complete the term of

Robert B. Howell Robert Beecher Howell (January 21, 1864 March 11, 1933) was an American politician. He was born in Adrian, Michigan. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1885. Afterwards, he went to the Detroit School of ...

, who had died in office. He served until January 3, 1935 and was not a candidate for a full term. In 1936, he was the successful Democratic nominee for

Nebraska Attorney General The Nebraska Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. state of Nebraska. List of attorneys general ;Parties Notes ReferencesAG Office document(cached) External links Nebraska Attorney Generalofficial ...

, and served from 1937 to 1939.

Death and burial

He died in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

on January 23, 1941. He was buried at West Lawn Memorial Park in Omaha.

Family

On April 22, 1908, Hunter married Viletta G. Taylor (1887-1937). They had no children.

References

Sources

Books

Newspapers

External links

* * *
Unsworn Senators
, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', January 14, 1935. Article about Hunter and Rush D. Holt Sr. * 1884 births 1941 deaths University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Harvard Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the Nebraska House of Representatives Nebraska state court judges Nebraska Attorneys General Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska Columbia Law School alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Nebraska 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Omaha, Nebraska People from West Point, Nebraska 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers {{Nebraska-politician-stub