Guy Mark GILLETTE, Congress, IA (1879-1973)

GILLETTE, Guy Mark, a Representative and a Senator from Iowa; born in Cherokee, Cherokee County, Iowa, February 3, 1879; attended the public schools; graduated from the law department of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, in 1900; admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Cherokee; during the Spanish-American War served as a sergeant in the Fifty-second Iowa Regiment, United States Army 1898; engaged in agricultural pursuits; city attorney of Cherokee 1906-1907; prosecuting attorney of Cherokee County 1907-1909; member, State senate 1912-1916; during the First World War served as a captain in the United States Army 1917-1919; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress; reelected to the Seventy-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1933, until his resignation on November 3, 1936, having been elected to the United States Senate; elected on November 3, 1936, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Richard Louis Murphy during the term ending January 3, 1939; reelected in 1938 and served from November 4, 1936, to January 3, 1945; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944; chairman of the Surplus Property Board 1945; president of the American League for a Free Palestine 1945-1948; again elected to the United States Senate and served from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1955; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1954; counsel with the Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee 1955-1956; counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee 1956-1961; retired and resided in Cherokee, Iowa, until his death there March 3, 1973; interment in Oak Knoll Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Harrington, Jerry. “Senator Guy Gillette Foils the Execution Committee.” Palimpsest 62 (November/December 1981): 170-80; U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses. 93rd Cong., 1st sess., 1973. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present