Garrett Lee Withers (June 21, 1884 – April 30, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. As a Democrat, he represented

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Withers was born on a farm in

Webster County, Kentucky Webster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,017. Its county seat is Dixon. It is the southernmost county in the Evansville, IN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1908 and was a practicing attorney in Webster County from 1911 to 1953. He was elected clerk of Webster County Circuit Court and served from 1910 to 1912, and later as a master commissioner from 1913 to 1917. He served as a member of the Kentucky Highway Commission from 1932 to 1936; as a Referee in Bankruptcy from 1941 to 1945; and as an appointed commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Highways from 1947 to 1949. He was appointed on January 20, 1949, to the

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Alben W. Barkley to become

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

. Withers served from January 20, 1949, until a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in November to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. Withers was not a candidate for the special election to the seat to which he was appointed. Garrett Withers (1953)

Withers won election to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1951 and then won a special election (due to the death of Rep. John A. Whitaker) on August 2, 1952, to the

. He served as a Democrat in the Eighty-second Congress and was reelected to the Eighty-third Congress. He served from August 2, 1952, until his death in the naval hospital at

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, on April 30, 1953.

References

Official Congressional Directory: 83d Congress, 1st Session (1953)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Withers, Garrett L. Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives 1884 births 1953 deaths People from Webster County, Kentucky Democratic Party United States senators from Kentucky Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers Kentucky lawyers

See also

References