MLK Library

UNDERWOOD, Thomas Rust, a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky; born in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Ky., March 3, 1898; attended the public schools; graduated from the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1917; started newspaper career in 1917; during the First World War served in the Students Army Training Corps at the University of Kentucky in 1918; general manager of Lexington (Ky.) Herald 1931-1935 and editor 1935-1956; member of the State planning board 1931-1935; secretary of the State racing commission 1931-1943, 947-1948; secretary of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners 1934-1948; assistant to the Director, Office of Economic Stabilization 1943; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first Congress; reelected to the Eighty-second Congress and served from January 3, 1949, until his resignation on March 17, 1951; appointed on March 19, 1951, to the United States Senate as a Democrat to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1955, caused by the death of Virgil M. Chapman, and served from March 19, 1951, to November 4, 1952; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1952 to fill the vacancy; resumed editorial duties with the Lexington Herald; died in Lexington, Ky., June 29, 1956; interment in Lexington Cemetery.