George Graham Vest

George Graham Vest

George Graham Vest (born December 6, 1830 in Frankfort , Franklin County , Kentucky , † August 9, 1904 in Sweet Springs , Saline County , Missouri ) was an American politician . From 1879 to 1903 he represented the state of Missouri in the US Senate . He had previously represented his state in both chambers of the Confederate Congress .

Career

In 1848 George Vest graduated from Center College in Danville . After a subsequent law degree at Transylvania University in Lexington and his admission to the bar in 1853, he began to work as a lawyer in Georgetown , Missouri. In 1856 he moved his residence and law firm to Boonville , also in the state of Missouri. At the same time he began a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . In 1860 he was a Democratic elector in the presidential election. In 1860 and 1861 he sat in the State House of Representatives .

When the American Civil War broke out , he opted for the southern states and was temporarily in the legal service of the Confederate Armed Forces. From February 1862 to January 1865 he represented his state in the House of Representatives of the Confederation. Missouri was one of its members, even if the official state government remained loyal to the Union and the state was also represented in the US Congress. In January 1865, Vest moved to the Senate to take a vacancy there. He later practiced as a lawyer in Sedalia . In 1877 he moved to Kansas City .

In the elections of 1878 George Vest was elected as his party's candidate to the US Senate, where he succeeded James Shields on March 4, 1879 . Re-elected three times, he completed four six-year terms as senator by March 3, 1903. He was temporarily chairman of the state property committee. He was also part of the Dangerous Diseases Committee and the Health and Quarantine Committee. After the end of his time in Congress, he withdrew from the public for health reasons. He died on August 9, 1904 in Sweet Springs, Missouri.

Web links

Commons : George Graham Vest  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• George Graham Vest in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)