Homer Truett Bone (January 25, 1883 – March 11, 1970) was an American attorney and politician in Washington state, where he settled in Tacoma as a youth with his family from Indiana. He ran as a candidate for a variety of parties and was elected to the State House. In 1932, he was elected as a Democrat as

United States Senator 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 po ...

from Washington, and re-elected to a second term. In 1944 Bone was appointed as a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

. He served until his death, the last years in senior status.

Education and career

Born on January 25, 1883, in Franklin, Johnson County,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, Bone attended the public schools. He first worked for the United States postal service and in the accounting and credit department of a furniture company. Bone moved with his parents and family to Tacoma,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in 1899 after the state was admitted to the Union.Bone, Homer Truett (1883–1970)
at HistoryLink.org He graduated from the Tacoma Law School (now defunct) in 1911. He was admitted to the bar the same year and entered private practice in Tacoma. From 1911 to 1932, he was in private practice. In 1912 Bone served as a special deputy prosecutor for Pierce County, Washington in 1912. He also served as corporation counsel for the Port of Tacoma in Washington from 1918 to 1932. Initially belonging to the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

, Bone ran as an unsuccessful candidate for prosecuting attorney and Mayor of Tacoma. He was elected to the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

as a Farmer-Labor candidate, serving one term from 1923 to 1924.

State advocacy

While in the Washington House of Representatives, Bone advocated for county governments to have the ability to form public utility districts, a political battle that was finally won when voters approved it as an initiative he helped spearhead.

Congressional service

Bone ran unsuccessfully for the

Farmer–Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail price ...

as a candidate for the

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 ...

. In 1928 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination in to a seat in the

of the

71st United States Congress The 71st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislature of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929, to Ma ...

. With the deepening of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and changing political attitudes among voters, Bone joined the Democratic Party. He ran for 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 po ...

in 1932 and defeated multi-term incumbent, Republican

Wesley L. Jones Wesley Livsey Jones (October 9, 1863November 19, 1932) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate representing the state of Washington. Born near Bethany, Illinois days af ...

. Bone was reelected in 1938, serving in total from March 4, 1933, until his resignation on November 13, 1944, when he was confirmed for a federal judgeship. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Patents for the 76th through the

78th United States Congress The 78th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943, ...

es.

Congressional advocacy

Bone continued his advocacy for publicly owned power and other progressive causes. He supported construction of the

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon ...

and the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerho ...

in western Washington state, which were important for hydropower generation, flood control, and irrigation. He opposed involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Along with Senator

Matthew Neely Matthew Mansfield Neely (November 9, 1874January 18, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from West Virginia. He is the only West Virginian to serve in both houses of the United States Congress and as the Governor of West Virginia. He is ...

and Representative

Warren Magnuson Warren Grant "Maggie" Magnuson (April 12, 1905May 20, 1989) was an American lawyer and politician who represented the state of Washington in Congress for 44 years, first as a Representative from 1937 to 1944, and then as a senator from 1944 to 1 ...

, Bone wrote the legislation that created the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. T ...

, one of the elements of the National Institutes of Health.

Federal judicial service

Bone was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 1, 1944, to a seat on the

, which had been vacated by Judge Bert E. Haney. He was confirmed by the

on April 1, 1944, and received his commission the same day. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on January 1, 1956. His service terminated on March 11, 1970, due to his death in Tacoma. He had returned to Tacoma in 1968, after living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

since his appointment to the federal bench. He was cremated and his ashes interred in Oakwood Cemetery.

Other service

While in senior status, Bone engaged in private practice in San Francisco from 1956 to 1968.

References

External links

Homer T. Bone papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bone, Homer Truett 1883 births 1970 deaths Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt 20th-century American judges Democratic Party United States senators from Washington (state) Washington (state) Democrats Washington (state) Republicans Washington (state) Farmer–Laborites Socialist Party of America politicians from Washington (state) People from Franklin, Indiana Politicians from Tacoma, Washington