Terry McGovern Carpenter (March 28, 1900 – April 27, 1978) was an American politician.
[Nebraska Legislature, The Official Site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature: ''Sen. Terry Carpenter'', http://nebraskalegislature.gov/education/carpenter.php, accessed 5 Feb 2012.] Though he changed his party five times, he was elected as a
Democrat to 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 ...
and later served 22 years in the
Nebraska Legislature
The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislative branch, legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators ...
. He also unsuccessfully ran for the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
,
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 ...
and
Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, and also unsuccessfully and then subsequently successfully for mayor of
Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Carpenter was also a successful businessman and founded the village of
Terrytown, Nebraska.
Early life
Carpenter was born in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...
on March 28, 1900, the son of Burt and Martha Carpenter. He moved to Scottsbluff in 1916 and was employed in various capacities by a railroad company. From 1922 to 1923 he sold tobacco and candy, moving to
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
in 1923. There, he was the manager of the municipal gas and water department. He returned to Scottsbluff in 1927 where he worked in the garage business and the retail coal business.
After two brief marriages, Carpenter married Hazeldeane Carruthers on February 1, 1930, and they had three sons: Terry Jr., Gary, and Michael.
Career
Carpenter ran unsuccessfully for mayor of
Scottsbluff, Nebraska in 1931, but the next year was elected to the
Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935) as a
Democrat for the
5th District. He did not run for reelection, since he was running for
Governor of Nebraska in 1934. Failing to get the Democratic nomination, he next ran for a seat in the
U.S. Senate but lost the election, coming in a distant third place with 18% of the vote, as he was running against the incumbent independent Republican
George W. Norris and another Republican candidate. Norris won the election.
Carpenter continued to run for various offices unsuccessfully through the 1940s, but was a very successful businessman. He established the only gasoline
refinery
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.
Types of refineries
Different types of refineries ...
in Nebraska in Scottsbluff, with his own chain of gas stations in several states which created gas wars wherever they opened. He eventually sold this operation and started several new businesses.
Carpenter was a major in the
United States Air Corps 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 was elected mayor of Scottsbluff in 1947, but later stepped down due to perceived conflicts with his many businesses in the city. He founded a new village on the other side of the river from Scottsbluff in 1949 and called it
Terrytown. He based his new businesses there, selling liquor by the drink before Scottsbluff did, starting a radio station, a drive-in movie theater, and two restaurants.
Carpenter changed political affiliation five times, being a delegate to the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
in 1956. He was successful in being elected to the state legislature in 1952 and served 22 years as a state senator.
In 1970, Carpenter conducted much-publicized legislative hearings against a
gay studies
Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBTQ studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoric, asexual, aromantic, queer, questi ...
course being offered at
UNL. Carpenter considered homosexuality "a terrible disease" and believed that the college course would turn students gay.
Carpenter attempted to expose the names of students taking the course.
In 1971, he introduced legislation to prohibit courses pertaining to "aberrant" sexuality. It did not pass into law.
During his legislative career, he also operated Terry Carpenter, Inc., in Terrytown. He retired in Scottsbluff, Nebraska where he died April 27, 1978. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff.
Campaign failures
Carpenter ran for but failed to be elected to the following offices:
*Mayor of Scottsbluff in 1931
*Democratic nomination for governor in
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
*United States Senate in
1936
Events January–February
* January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House.
* January 28 – Death and state funer ...
*Lieutenant governor in
1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
*Governor in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*Janu ...
*Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
*United States Senate in
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
*Democratic nomination for governor in
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
*Republican nomination for the United States Senate in
1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
*Republican nomination for governor in
1960
*United States Senate in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
*Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in
1974
Campaign successes
Carpenter was elected to the following offices:
*United States House of Representatives in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
*Mayor of Scottsbluff in 1947 (but later stepped down)
*Nebraska Legislature from District 48 (formerly District 42) as a Republican in
1952, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1966, and 1970
References
Sources
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*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Terry
1900 births
1978 deaths
Politicians from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Politicians from Scottsbluff, Nebraska
American city founders
Mayors of places in Nebraska
Nebraska Republicans
Nebraska state senators
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska
United States Army Air Forces officers
Military personnel from Iowa
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
20th-century members of the Nebraska Legislature