William Ezra Jenner (July 21, 1908 – March 9, 1985) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. A Republican, Jenner was an Indiana state senator from 1934 to 1942, and a

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 ...

from 1944 to 1945 and again from 1947 to 1959. In the Senate, Jenner was a supporter of

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 ...

Background

Jenner was born in Marengo, Indiana, on July 21, 1908,Isabel Wilkerson
William E. Jenner, Ex-Senator, Dead
''New York Times'' (March 11, 1985). to L.L. Woody and Jane McDonald Jenner. He attended Lake Placid Preparatory School in New York before attending

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, where he graduated in 1930. Jenner worked as an elevator operator in the old House Office Building while attending night classes at the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

. Jenner later graduated with a law degree from Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington.

Career

After law, Jenner practiced law in Paoli and later in Shoals.

Indiana Senate

Jenner entered politics in 1934, when he was first elected to the Indiana State Senate in 1934. He was minority leader from 1937 to 1939, and then majority leader and president pro tempore from 1939 to 1941. In 1940, Jenner ran for Governor of Indiana, finishing second at the Republican state convention. In 1942, 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 ...

, Jenner resigned his seat to become a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Jenner was discharged in 1944 at the rank of captain.

U.S. Senate

One month after his discharge from the Army Air Corps, Jenner was elected to 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 ...

seat that had been vacated by the death of

Frederick Van Nuys Frederick Van Nuys (April 16, 1874 – January 25, 1944) was a United States senator from Indiana. Born in Falmouth, he attended the public schools and graduated from Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana) in 1898 and from Indiana Law School ( ...

. He served the last few months of Van Nuys's term from November 14, 1944, to January 3, 1945; he was not a candidate for the full six-year term that began in 1945.Jenner, William Ezra, (1908–1985)
''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates fr ...

''. Jenner was the first veteran of World War II elected to the Senate and the youngest member of the Senate. He ran for the Senate in 1946 defeating Congressman Charles M. La Follette 1,994 to 105 at the Republican state convention. He then won the general election by over 150,000 votes. He ran for

governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state gover ...

for a second time in 1948, winning a plurality on the first ballot at the Republican state convention. Jenner lost the nomination on the second ballot to Holbart Creighton 885 to 931. Jenner was re-elected to the Senate in 1952. Jenner voted in favor of the Senate amendment to the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

on August 7, 1957, but did not vote on the House amendment to the bill on August 29, 1957.

McCarthyism

In Congress, Jenner was the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration during the Eighty-Third Congress. He was also a member of the Subcommittee on Internal Security.Robert Griffith, ''The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), p. 196. He was a strong supporter and friend of

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 ...

and engaged in

. Jenner and McCarthy were both part of "a core of isolationist Republicans in the Senate" along with Herman Welker of Idaho and George W. Malone of Nevada. In 1950, when McCarthy accused a number of State Department employees of being secret Communists (see Tydings Committee), Jenner supported him, claiming that the State Department had engaged in "the most scandalous and brazen whitewash of treasonable conspiracy in our history" and stating: "Considering the fact that we are now at war... how can we get the Reds out of Korea if we cannot get them out of Washington?" When McCarthy was censured by the Senate in 1954, Jenner gave a speech suggesting that the censure resolution "was initiated by the Communist conspiracy." In the Senate, Jenner was a strident opponent of General

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under pres ...

, who was appointed Secretary of Defense in 1950. During the

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

debate, Jenner and McCarthy formed part of a group of militantly anti-communist Republican Senators that attacked Marshall. Jenner "delivered a shrill, hour-long attack on the nominee" in which he also disparaged President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

and Secretary of State

Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson ( ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American politician and lawyer. As the 51st United States Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to ...

. Using McCarthyist rhetoric, Jenner accused the Truman administration of "bloody tracks of treason" and called Marshall "a living lie" who was "joining hands once more with this criminal crowd of traitors and Communist appeasers... under the direction of Mr. Truman and Mr. Acheson."Cray, p. 686. Jenner also "denounced and blamed Marshall for the

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

defeat and for his role in helping FDR 'trick America into a war,' the extension of

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

to the Communist Soviet Union, the 'selling out' of Eastern Europe at

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

, the

loss of China In American political discourse, the "loss of China" is the unexpected Chinese Communist Party coming to power in mainland China from the U.S.-backed Nationalist Chinese Kuomintang government in 1949 and therefore the "loss of China to communism." ...

, and the inclusion of an offer of aid to the Soviet Union under the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

." When Marshall was informed of Jenner's speech, the former general replied: "Jenner? Jenner? I do not believe I know the man." In 1951, after President Truman dismissed General Douglas MacArthur for insubordination, Jenner gave a speech on the floor of the Senate in which he said: "I charge that this country today is in the hands of a secret inner coterie, which is directed by agents of the Soviet Government. Our only choice is to impeach President Truman and find out who is the secret invisible government." Jenner introduced legislation that sought to strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction "in all the areas where it had interfered with the anticommunist program," a measure that Senator

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 ...

maneuvered to oppose. Ultimately, Jenner's measure was tabled by a vote of 49–41. A consistent opponent of American

foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The ...

Anti-Communist Ex-Sen. William E. Jenner Dies
. ''Los Angeles Times''. March 13, 1985. and of any involvement in foreign affairs, he opposed U.S. participation in the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

and had other isolationist positions. During his tenure, right-wingers wanted Jenner to run for president as a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

third-party candidate.Leibowitz, p. 369. Jenner claimed that the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

had infiltrated the American educational system in 1952. In 1958, he did not seek re-nomination.

Later life

After leaving the Senate, Jenner practiced law in Indianapolis and was the owner of the Seaway Corporation, a land development company. He also owned farms in Indiana and Illinois.

Personal life and death

In 1933, Jenner married Janet Paterson Cuthill (1908–2002) and had a son, William Edward Jenner (1942–2019). William Ezra Jenner died age 76 on March 9, 1985, of a respiratory illness at Dunn Memorial Hospital in

Bedford, Indiana Bedford is a city in Shawswick Township and the county seat of Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 13,792. That is up from 13,413 in 2010. Bedford is the principal city of the Bedford, IN Micropo ...

. Jenner was interred at Crest Haven Memorial Gardens in Bedford, Indiana.

References

External links

* * * *
Let's Put America First
; address delivered by Jenner on February 14, 1955 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenner, William E. 1908 births 1985 deaths People from Crawford County, Indiana Republican Party Indiana state senators American anti-communists George Washington University Law School alumni Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni Republican Party United States senators from Indiana People from Bedford, Indiana People from Paoli, Indiana American conspiracy theorists Indiana lawyers Farmers from Indiana Politicians from Indianapolis 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly 20th-century American far-right politicians