Thad Hutcheson
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Thaddeus Thomson Hutcheson (October 29, 1915 – August 3, 1986), was a Republican attorney in his native
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, who was an early figure in the movement to establish a competitive
two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...
in the
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of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.


Background

Born to a wealthy family, Hutcheson was the grandson of
Joseph C. Hutcheson Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, Sr. (May 18, 1842 – May 25, 1924), was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives. Biography Hutcheson was born near Boydton, V ...
, a
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
native who served from Houston as a
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in the
Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...
and 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 1893 to 1897 from
Texas's 1st congressional district Texas' 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives serves the Northeast Texas, northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of 2022, the 1st district contained 775,992 people. It consists largely of four small Eas ...
. Thad Hutcheson was the middle of three sons of the attorney William Palmer "Pam" Hutcheson, Sr., and the former Eleanor Lee Thomson. Like his father, Hutcheson was educated at the private
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
,
The Hill School The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization. The school is accredited by the Mi ...
in Pottstown in
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near
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. Hutcheson graduated in 1937 from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in
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. He received his legal education from the
University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...
at
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. He was married to the former Caroline Brownlee, an Austin native, and the couple had five children: Thaddeus T. Hutcheson, Jr. (born March 2, 1941), Houghton B. Hutcheson (born August 27, 1946), John Palmer Hutcheson and Thomas Taliaferro Hutcheson (twins born October 14, 1948), and Lucy Hutcheson Barrow (born October 20, 1959.) Following service in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a Lieutenant Commander assigned to the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Swasey, Hutcheson entered the practice of law in Houston with his father, older brother, Palmer Hutcheson, Jr., and cousin, Thomas Taliaferro. The firm was known at its founding as Hutcheson, Taliaferro & Hutcheson, and was subsequently known as Hutcheson and Grundy.


Political life

Hutcheson began his early life as a Democrat, but in 1951 became a Taft Republican. Hutcheson spoke at 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 ...
in
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,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, which nominated 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. In 1957, when
U.S. Senator 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 ...
Price Daniel Marion Price Daniel Sr. (October 10, 1910August 25, 1988), was an American jurist and politician who served as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic United States Senate, U.S. Senator and the 38th governor of Texas. He was appointed by Ly ...
vacated his seat to become
governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...
, Hutcheson was the Republican candidate in the
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 choose a successor. At the time, the
plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...
winner automatically filled the Senate vacancy. Hutcheson ran third with 23 percent of the vote. Victory in the Senate election went to Daniel's gubernatorial
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runoff opponent,
Ralph Yarborough Ralph Webster Yarborough (June 8, 1903 – January 27, 1996) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1971 and was a leader of the progressive wing of his p ...
, the
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
who received 38 percent of the ballots cast. In second place with 30 percent of the vote was
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 ...
Democratic
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...
Martin Dies, Jr., known for his House investigations into
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
subversion. Had the supporters of Hutcheson and Dies been able to consolidate their votes in a second round of balloting, Yarborough would have been defeated. So highly regarded was Hutcheson in Texas GOP circles that when a second U.S. Senate vacancy arose in 1961, when
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
resigned to become
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, some party leaders encouraged Hutcheson to run again, but he declined.
John Tower John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician and military veteran who represented Texas in the United States Senate from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas si ...
, a Republican
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instructor at
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In
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, entered the special election. Tower had received 41 percent of the vote in November 1960 in the regular
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 ...
against Senator Johnson. who sought both reelection and the vice presidency under special state legislation. Tower went on to win the special election by a narrow margin over appointed
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 ...
Democrat William Blakley. This time, a runoff—between Tower and Blakley—was required under revised state law to guarantee a majority-vote winner. Ironically, Blakley, a wealthy
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
businessman, had held the Daniel Senate vacancy for three months in 1957 but did not run for the position at that time. Tower in 1961 became the first Republican senator from Texas since the 19th century and served ultimately nearly twenty-four years. Since Tower retired from the Senate in January 1985, his former seat has remained continuously in Republican hands, a testimony to Hutcheson's vision for his party from decades past. Hutcheson was a delegate to the
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and the
1960 Republican National Convention The 1960 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 25 to July 28, 1960, at the International Amphitheatre. It was the 14th and most recent time overall that Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention, more ...
s. He was the chairman of the Texas
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from 1958 to 1960 and did not run for public office after the 1957 special Senate race. The annual
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competition for first-year students at the UT Law School is named for Hutcheson. Hutcheson, his wife, and most other family members are interred at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutcheson, Thad 1915 births 1986 deaths Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Houston, Texas) Soling class sailors Lawyers from Houston Princeton University alumni Texas Republican state chairmen Texas Republicans The Hill School alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni Soling class world champions 20th-century American lawyers