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Senate Years of Service: 1943-1951 Party: Republican
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WHERRY, Kenneth Spicer, a Senator from Nebraska; born in Liberty, Gage County, Nebr., February 28,
1892; attended the public schools and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1914;
attended Harvard University in 1915 and 1916; during the First World War served in the United
States Navy Flying Corps in 1917 and 1918; engaged in the sale of automobiles, furniture, and in
livestock farming; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Pawnee City, Nebr.;
member of the Pawnee City council in 1927 and 1929; mayor of Pawnee City 1929-1931,
1938-1943; member, State senate 1929-1932; unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1932;
unsuccessful candidate for nomination for United States Senator in 1934; western director for the
Republican National Committee 1941-1942; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in
1942; reelected in 1948 and served from January 3, 1943, until his death; Republican whip
1944-1949; minority leader 1949-1951; chairman, Special Committee on Problems of Small
Business (Eightieth Congress); died in Washington, D.C., November 29, 1951; interment in Pawnee
City Cemetery, Pawnee City, Nebr.
BibliographyAmerican National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Paul, Justis F. Butler, Griswold, Wherry: The Struggle
for Dominance of Nebraska Republicanism, 1941-1946. North Dakota Quarterly
43 (Autumn 1975): 51-61; Stromer, Marvin. The Making of a Political Leader, Kenneth S.
Wherry and the United States Senate. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969.
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