Ben Hugh Guill (September 8, 1909 – January 15, 1994) was a short-term Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from Texas's 18th congressional district, which then encompassed the

Panhandle A salient, panhandle, or bootheel is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on three sides. Ins ...

counties. He won a 1950 special election and served the remaining eight months in office before the term expired.

Early life and education

Guill was born on September 9, 1909, in

Smyrna, Tennessee Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 53,070 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Tennessee by population in that census. Smyrna is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. Histo ...

, the son of Hugh Hays Guill and Cora Anna (Jones) Guill. His family moved to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, in 1918. He attended Canyon High School. He graduated in 1933 from

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

Canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

, Texas, then known as West Texas State College.

Career

Guill worked as an educator before becoming a business executive, and a real estate agent.

World War II

From 1942 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Congress

Guill won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to the Eighty-first Congress to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Representative

Eugene Worley Francis Eugene Worley (October 10, 1908 – December 17, 1974) was a United States representative from Texas and later an Associate Judge and Chief Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Education and career Worley wa ...

. Guill served the remaining term from May 6, 1950, to January 3, 1951. In the November 1950

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, he was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection to a full term in the Eighty-second Congress, losing to the Democratic candidate. The next Republican to hold the Panhandle U.S. House seat was Bob Price, also from Pampa. He was elected to four terms beginning in 1966.

Later career

Guill was a delegate to the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated Dwight David Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York (state), New York, nicknamed "Ike", for Pres ...

, which met in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to nominate the

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

. From 1953 to 1955, Guill served as the executive assistant in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to

Arthur Summerfield Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield (March 17, 1899 – April 26, 1972) was a U.S. political figure who served as the 57th Postmaster General of the United States from 1953 to 1961. As Postmaster General, he was an ardent opponent of obscenity. Early ...

, the

United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

. From 1955 to 1959, he was a member of the

United States Federal Maritime Board The United States Federal Maritime Board was an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for certain aspects of merchant shipping between 1950 and 1961. History The agency was established in 1950 when the U.S. Maritime Commission ...

in the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

Death and burial

Guill died on January 15, 1994, in

Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...

, Texas, and is interred there at Fairview Cemetery.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guill, Ben Hugh 1909 births 1994 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II West Texas A&M University alumni Businesspeople from Texas People from Smyrna, Tennessee People from Pampa, Texas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives