Herman Welker

Herman Welker

Herman Welker (born December 11, 1906 in Cambridge , Idaho , † October 30, 1957 in Bethesda , Maryland ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) and US Senator for the state of Idaho.

biography

Early life

Herman Welker was born as the youngest of the seven children of John Thornton Welker and his wife Zelda (née Shephard). The Welkers had moved from Guilford County , North Carolina to Idaho around 1900 , where they ran a potato farm. After visiting the schools - including primary school in Cambridge and the high school in Weiser - he made in 1929 at the University of Idaho with a degree in law .

Career

In 1928, while still a student, Welker was appointed examining magistrate in Washington County ; he was re-elected twice. Welker moved to Los Angeles in 1936 , opened his own law firm and practiced there until 1943. As a soldier in the United States Army Air Forces , Welker then went into World War II and served until 1945.

He returned to Idaho and opened a law firm in Payette in 1946 . However, he closed it after only two years because he had decided to go into politics.

US Senator

From 1949 to 1951 Welker was a member of the Idaho Senate . In 1950 he ran for the office of US Senator and won the election. Senator Welker was considered very conservative and can be counted on the right wing of the Republican Party. As a close friend of Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin , he supported him in his plan to persecute communism in the United States. For this approach in the so-called McCarthy era Welker received the popular nickname "Little Joe from Idaho".

Welker was active on numerous supervisory boards, committees and bodies. So he stood up for the judiciary , supported agricultural projects and got involved in the postal service in the USA. Welker was also a member of a Masonic Lodge and a liaison member at Sigma Chi and Phi Alpha Delta .

Late life and death

After only one term as US Senator, Welker was voted out of office in 1956 because of his conservative stance. The successor as senator came in January 1957 to the Democrat Frank Church . Welker settled in Boise and practiced as a lawyer again.

In the fall of 1957, Welker suddenly fell ill. After a consultation at a Washington hospital , Welker was diagnosed with a brain tumor. On October 16, 1957, an operation to remove the tumor was performed in a clinic in Bethesda; a second operation took place on October 28, 1957. Two days later, Herman Welker died at the age of 50 as a result of the operations.

How unpopular Welker's style was as a Senator is shown by the fact that only 150 people were present at his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery , which took place on November 1st. He left behind his wife Gladys, whom he married in September 1930, and their daughter Nancy.

Web links

• Herman Welker in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)