Herman Orville Welker (December 11, 1906 – October 30, 1957) was an American politician from the state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. He was a member of the

Idaho Republican Party The Idaho Republican Party (IDGOP) is the Idaho state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Boise. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling both of I ...

and served one term in the

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

, from 1951 to 1957.

Early years

Born in Cambridge, Idaho, Welker was the youngest of seven children of John Thornton and Anna Zella Shepherd Welker, who had moved from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and started a potato farm. He was the grandson of Rev. George W. Welker of North Carolina. He attended grade school in Cambridge and high school in Weiser. After graduation from Weiser High School in 1924, Welker went north to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to attend the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, where he started off in a general studies program and was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. He switched to the College of Law in 1926 and graduated with an LL.B. degree in 1929.

Legal career

In April 1929, Welker was appointed prosecuting attorney for Washington County; he graduated from law school in May, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

later that year. He was re-elected and served as prosecutor from 1929 to 1935. In 1937, Welker moved to Los Angeles, where he had a private practice until 1943, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces for

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 until 1944, when he returned to Idaho and began to practice law in Payette. He was a member of the

state senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

from 1949 to 1951.

U.S. Senate

In in 1950, Welker ran for the

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

, as both seats were up for election that year. He won August's Republican primary over Congressman John Sanborn and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

C. A. Robins, then defeated former Democratic Senator D. Worth Clark in the general election. Welker gained seats on several important committees, including the

Armed Services A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

committees. He soon distinguished himself as one of the most

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and anticommunist senators, becoming a leading member and spokesperson for the Republican Party's right wing.

Harmon Killebrew

In the early 1950s, Welker told Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith about Harmon Killebrew, a young

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player from Payette who was batting .847 for a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

team at the time. Thielman, p. 131.

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

, p. 808. Griffith told his

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

director Ossie Bluege about the tip and Bluege flew to Idaho to watch Killebrew play. Thielman, p. 133. The

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

also expressed interest but Bluege succeeded in signing Killebrew to a $50,000 contract on June 19, 1954. Thielman, p. 134. Killebrew (1936–2011) had a Hall of Fame career in the major leagues, with 573

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

Association with Joseph McCarthy

In the early 1950s, Welker became closely associated with fellow Republican Senator

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

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and "

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

", so much so that he was often referred to by Senate colleagues as "Little Joe from Idaho." In 1954, Welker was McCarthy's chief defender during censure proceedings in the U.S. Senate against McCarthy for the questionable investigative techniques McCarthy had used in pursuing individuals he accused of being communists, and others he accused of being homosexuals, within the government. Welker was one of 22 Republicans (out of a total of 46 Republican senators) who voted against the censure of McCarthy in 1954 for these "red scare" communist witch hunts, and his so-called " lavender scare" tactics aimed at homosexuals in government. Welker, along with Republican Senator

Styles Bridges Henry Styles Bridges (September 9, 1898November 26, 1961) was an American teacher, editor, and Republican Party politician from Concord, New Hampshire. He served one term as the 63rd governor of New Hampshire before a twenty-four-year career ...

of New Hampshire, was a key collaborator with McCarthy in the blackmail of Democratic Senator Lester C. Hunt of Wyoming and his son, which led to Hunt's suicide in his Senate office on June 19, 1954. Welker threatened Hunt, a staunch opponent of McCarthy's tactics, that if he did not immediately resign from the Senate and end his re-election bid that year, Welker would see that the younger Hunt's arrest for soliciting an undercover policeman was prosecuted and would widely publicize Hunt Jr.'s alleged homosexuality. Welker also threatened Inspector Roy Blick of the Morals Division of the Washington Police Department with the loss of his job if he failed to prosecute the younger Hunt. After Hunt's suicide, a Republican, Edward D. Crippa, was appointed by the Republican acting governor of Wyoming, Clifford Joy Rogers, to fill the vacant seat.

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book creator, comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which ...

in ''The New Yorker'' wrote in 2012 of an event "loosely dramatized in the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

and film ''Advise & Consent'' n whichSenator Lester Hunt, of Wyoming, killed himself after ... Welker nd others... threatened to expose Hunt's son as a homosexual". In 1955, Welker would be one of two non-Southern senators to vote against the nomination of

John Marshall Harlan II John Marshall Harlan (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish hi ...

to the Supreme Court, opposing Harlan because he was unsatisfied that Harlan "adheres to the doctrine that American sovereignty could not and must not be diluted."

1956 re-election bid

In 1956, Welker ran for a second term in the Senate. Although he won the Republican nomination, again defeating Sanborn, he lost the general election to 32-year-old Democrat Frank Church of Boise, by 46,315 votes, Welker received 39% to Church's 56%. One of the issues was whether the proposed Hells Canyon Dam would be publicly or privately owned with one of Church's aides saying "The campaign was Frank Church against Idaho Power. They fought him tooth and nail." The defeat increased Democratic control of the Senate and led to much anger within the Republican Party, with Joseph McCarthy even accusing President

Dwight 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 ...

of not supporting Welker's reelection campaign enough.

Election results

Death

After leaving the Senate in January 1957, Welker practiced law in

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

and participated in farming. After a few months, however, he became ill, and traveled to

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, for medical treatment at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. He was admitted on October 16, 1957, where he was diagnosed with a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

. Operations were quickly performed, but Welker died later that month at age 50. McCarthy had died earlier that year in Bethesda (Welker had attended McCarthy's funeral). Welker's funeral was at

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

and he was interred in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

.Burial Detail: Welker, Herman (section 34, grave 325-A)
– ANC Explorer He married Gladys Taylor Pence in 1930, and they had a daughter, Nancy.

References

Attribution

External links

– Herman Welker (1906–1957), Papers 1950–1956

at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Herman 1906 births 1957 deaths People from Weiser, Idaho Republican Party Idaho state senators University of Idaho alumni United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Republican Party United States senators from Idaho Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Washington County, Idaho People from Payette, Idaho University of Idaho College of Law alumni American anti-communists 20th-century American Episcopalians Deaths from brain cancer in Maryland 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the Idaho Legislature