Basil Lee Whitener

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Basil Lee Whitener

Basil Lee Whitener (born May 14, 1915 in York County , South Carolina , †  March 20, 1989 in Gastonia , North Carolina ) was an American politician . Between 1957 and 1969 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Basil Whitener attended public schools in Gaston County . He graduated from Lowell High School in 1931 and Rutherford College in 1933 . Between 1933 and 1935 he studied at the University of South Carolina . After a subsequent law degree at Duke University and his admission as a lawyer in 1937, he began to work in Gastonia in this profession. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . In 1941 he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives. During the Second World War he served as an officer in the US Navy between 1942 and 1945 . Between 1946 and 1956, Whitener was a district attorney in North Carolina's 14th Judicial District. In 1948 he took part as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , on which President Harry S. Truman was nominated for re-election.

In the 1956 congressional election , Whitener was elected to the Eleventh constituency of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Woodrow Wilson Jones on January 3, 1957 . After five re-elections, he was able to complete six legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1969 . Since 1963 he represented the tenth district of his state as the successor to Charles R. Jonas . His time in Congress was marked by the events of the Cold War and the civil rights movement . In addition, the Vietnam War began at that time .

In 1968 and 1970, Basil Whitener applied unsuccessfully to remain in or return to Congress. In the following years he practiced as a lawyer again. He died on March 20, 1989 in Gastonia.

Web links

  • Basil Lee Whitener in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
personal data
SURNAME Whitener, Basil Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH York County , South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1989
Place of death Gastonia , North Carolina