David Worth Clark, aka D. Worth Clark (April 2, 1902June 19, 1955), was a Democratic

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and

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from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

, its first U.S. Senator born in the state.

Early years

Clark was born in

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

and attended public schools there. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, and the

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, where he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in 1922. Clark graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

in 1925 and was admitted to the bar that year. He commenced practice in Idaho at Pocatello, and was the state's assistant

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1933 to 1935.

Congress

House

Clark was elected to the U.S. House from the 2nd district of Idaho in 1934. The seat had been vacant for several months, since the untimely death of Thomas Coffin in June. Clark was re-elected in 1936, defeating his successor, newspaper publisher Henry Dworshak of Burley. :

Senate

Clark ran for the U.S. Senate in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

and won the Democratic primary in August over incumbent James Pope of Boise, a setback for

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supporters. In the general election, Clark defeated Republican former state Representative Donald Callahan of

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. Six years later, he was defeated for renomination in the

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...

Democratic primary by Glen H. Taylor of Pocatello. Clark vied to reclaim his Senate seat in 1950 and defeated Taylor in the primary, as Taylor became the third consecutive incumbent of that Senate seat to lose in the Democratic primary. In the general election in November, Clark lost to Republican state Senator

Herman Welker Herman Orville Welker (December 11, 1906 – October 30, 1957) was an American politician from the state of Idaho. He was a member of the Idaho Republican Party and served one term in the United States Senate, from 1951 to 1957. Early years Bor ...

of Payette, as all four congressional seats (two House, two Senate) went to Republicans. Welker aligned himself in the Senate with the infamous

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarth ...

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and lost his re-election bid in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

to 32 year-old

Frank Church Frank Forrester Church III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Idaho from 1957 until his defeat in 1981. As of 2022, he is the longes ...

of Boise (husband of his cousin, Bethine), who served four terms. :

After Congress

After losing to Welker, Clark resumed the practice of law in Boise and Washington, D.C. He moved to in 1954 and held financial interests in radio stations in and

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

, and a bank in

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Death

While watching television with his wife and youngest daughter, Clark died of a heart attack at his southern California home at age 53 on June 19, 1955, and was buried in

Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to: United States California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) *Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) * Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California) *Holy ...

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Personal

Clark was a member of a prominent Idaho political family; his uncles Barzilla Clark and Chase Clark both served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Idaho. His cousin Bethine, Chase Clark's daughter, married future U.S. Senator

in 1947. Clark's wife Virgil (1901–1991) was a sister-in-law of Robert Smylie; the three-term (1955–1967) Republican governor of Idaho married her younger sister Lucile.

References

External links

Idaho State Historical Society entry
(

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- requires reader)
Boise State University Library
– D. Worth Clark (1902–1955) – papers, 1935–1950 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, D. Worth 1902 births 1955 deaths University of Notre Dame alumni Harvard Law School alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Idaho People from Idaho Falls, Idaho Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho 20th-century American politicians Old Right (United States)