Thomas Carey Hennings Jr. (June 25, 1903September 13, 1960) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

political figure from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He was a Democratic 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 1935 until 1940) and 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 until 1960).

Early life

Born into a wealthy family in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri to Judge Thomas Carey Hennings, his father was an influential member of the Jefferson Club, an organization dedicated to overthrowing the bossism of the city's Democratic Political Machine. Hennings Jr. attended

Soldan High School Soldan International Studies High School (also known as Soldan High School) is a public magnet high school in the Academy neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, that is part of St. Louis Public Schools. Soldan was known for its wea ...

, and displayed talents in athletics, going on to run track and field at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. After graduating from Cornell in 1924, he finished his education at the law school of

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in 1926. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1926 and commenced practice in St. Louis, and served as assistant circuit attorney for that city from 1929 to 1934. He served as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on the Governor's staff from 1932 to 1936 and was a lecturer on criminal

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

at the

Benton College of Law Benton College of Law was a law school in St. Louis, Missouri. It opened in as Kent School of Law, and incorporated as Benton School of Law in 1897. George L. Corlis was its dean. James Avery Webb helped establish the school. The school initial ...

in St. Louis from 1934 to 1938.

Congressional career

House of Representatives

Hennings was elected to the Seventy-fourth, Seventy-fifth, and Seventy-sixth Congresses and served from January 3, 1935, to December 31, 1940. He was the first Democrat in 22 years to represent Missouri's 11th congressional district.Edward V. Long, Tom Hennings-The Man from Missouri, 26 MO. L. REV. (1961) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol26/iss4/3 Hennings enjoyed support from St. Louis' growing African American population. Hennings regularly hired African Americans to his offices in Washington D.C. and St. Louis. During the

Second New Deal The Second New Deal is a term used by historians to characterize the second stage, 1935–36, of the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The most famous laws included the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, the Banking Act, the ...

, he worked towards establishing an African American branch of the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

Poplar Bluff Poplar Bluff is a city in Butler County in southeastern Missouri, United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. The population was 16,225 at the 2020 census. The Poplar Bluf ...

, Missouri. Within the New Deal's

Federal Emergency Relief Act The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, building on the Hoover administration's Emergency Relief and Construction Act. It was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progress ...

(FERA), Hennings advocated for a "Negro Federal Employment Office" with all black staff. Hennings also sponsored anti-lynching bills while in the House. His work secured him the endorsements of two of St. Louis' black newspapers, the ''Argus'' and the ''American'' and the city's

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

chapter. Hennings resigned in 1940 to become a candidate for circuit attorney of St. Louis.

Time out of Office

Hennings was circuit attorney from 1941 to 1944, taking leave of absence in September, 1941 to volunteer in active duty in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

. Serving in the Pacific and Caribbean as a lieutenant commander for three years, he was discharged from active duty due to physical disability incurred in the line of duty. After which, he resumed the practice of law in the St. Louis firm of Green, Hennings, Henry and Evans.

Senate

He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1950 over Republican incumbent and former governor Forrest Donnell in the only senate election that year where Democrats took a seat from Republicans, was reelected in 1956, and served from January 3, 1951, until his death from

abdominal cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes ...

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 ...

in 1960. Hennings did not sign the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

, and voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration (Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Congresses), and served on the

United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was established by the United States Senate in 1953 to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency. Background The subcommittee was a unit of the United States Senate Judiciary Co ...

while it investigated comic books.

Personal life

Hennings died on September 13, 1960, and is buried

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. ...

. Hennings' daughter Karla Ann was briefly married to

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a disbarred American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scan ...

who would later be deeply involved in events leading up to the

Watergate burglaries The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revolv ...

and the subsequent cover-up.

References

* * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hennings, Thomas C. Jr. 1903 births 1960 deaths American prosecutors Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Cornell University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Democratic Party United States senators from Missouri Lawyers from St. Louis Politicians from St. Louis United States Navy officers Washington University School of Law alumni United States Navy reservists 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives