Bourke Hickenlooper

Bourke Blakemore Hickenlooper (July 21, 1896 – September 4, 1971), was an American politician and member of the Republican Party, first elected to statewide office in Iowa as lieutenant governor, then 29th Governor of Iowa, then US Senator.

Early life and education

Born in 1896 in Blockton, Iowa, to Nathan O. and Margaret A. Hickenlooper. His college education at Iowa State College in Ames was interrupted by his service in the U.S. Army.

In 1927, he married Verna Eilene Bensch and had two children.

World War I

He served as a Second Lieutenant of the 339th Field Artillery Regiment of the 85th Infantry Division in France during World War I. He served from May 1917 to March 1919.

Higher education

After his military service Hickenlooper finished his education at Iowa State, graduating in 1919, and then went on to the University of Iowa College of Law, where he received a law degree in 1922. He was admitted to the bar in 1922 and started practicing law in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Religion

Hickenlooper was a Methodist.

Political career

Local Office

Hickenlooper was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1934. He served from 1935 to 1939.

Governor of Iowa

In 1938, he was elected to be the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa. He served from 1939 to 1943.

In the 1942 election, governor George A. Wilson did not run for re-election, instead he successfully ran for a seat in the United States Senate. Hickenlooper was elected to succeed Wilson, defeating former governor Nelson Kraschel 63% to 37%, serving one term from 1943-1945. As Governor Hickenlooper oversaw the rejection of the federal government’s soldier vote ballot, he also directed state funding to fund the World War II effort, and the endorsement of the participation in a world peace international organization. Hickenlooper did not seek re-election in 1944, instead he successfully ran for a seat in the United States Senate, narrowly defeating incumbent Democratic senator Guy Gillette.

United States Senator

In the Senate, Hickenlooper was known as one of the most conservative and isolationist members of the Republican Party, and perhaps one of the most conservative American congressmen. He became one of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate, serving as the Republican Policy Committee Chairman from 1962 to 1969. In this position, he had an intense rivalry with Everett Dirksen, the Senate Republican leader at the time. Hickenlooper voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, but along with fellow conservative Barry Goldwater, voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also voted in favor of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Legislation

The 1962 Hickenlooper Amendment to the foreign aid bill cuts off aid to any country expropriating U.S. property. The amendment was aimed at Castro's Cuba, which had expropriated U.S.-owned and U.S.-controlled sugar plantations and refineries.

USS ''Liberty'' incident

Senator Hickenlooper was outraged by the 1967 USS ''Liberty'' incident and was one of the few Congressmen to call for an investigation. He was openly skeptical of Israel's mistaken identity explanation:

"From what I have read I can't tolerate for one minute that this was an accident. I think it was a deliberate assault on this ship. I think they had ample opportunity to identify it as an American ship. … What have we done about the ''Liberty''? Have we become so placid, so far as Israel is concerned or so far as that area is concerned, that we will take the killing of 37 icAmerican boys and the wounding of a lot more and the attack of an American ship in the open sea in good weather? We have seemed to say: 'Oh, well, boys will be boys.' What are you going to do about it? It is most offensive to me…It is inconceivable to me that the ship could not have been identified. According to everything I saw, the American flag was flying on this ship. It had a particular configuration. Even a landlubber could look at it and see that it has no characteristic configuration comparable to the so-called Egyptian ship they now try to say they mistook it for. It just doesn't add up to me. It is not at all satisfactory."

Death

On September 4, 1971, Hickenlooper died at the age of 75 while visiting friends in Shelter Island, New York after suffering a heart attack. He was buried at the Cedar Memorial Park cemetery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His wife had died the year before in 1970.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickenlooper, Bourke B.
1896 births
1971 deaths
Republican Party governors of Iowa
Iowa lawyers
Iowa State University alumni
Lieutenant governors of Iowa
American anti-communists
University of Iowa College of Law alumni
Republican Party United States senators from Iowa
20th-century Iowa politicians
20th-century United States senators