Homer Thornberry

Homer Thornberry (1961)

William Homer Thornberry (born January 9, 1909 in Austin , Texas , † December 12, 1995 there ) was an American lawyer and politician . He represented the state of Texas as a member of the US House of Representatives . He later became a federal judge .

Career

Homer Thornberry's parents were teachers at a school for the deaf, although they themselves were deaf. He attended Austin Public School and graduated from Austin High School in 1927 . In 1932 he received his Bachelor of Business Administration and in 1936 his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin . Thornberry was a member of the Texas House of Representatives , prosecutor in Travis County , during the Second World War, Lieutenant Commander ( Lieutenant Commander ) in the United States Navy and a member of the city council of Austin.

In 1948 he was elected to the 81st Congress as the Democratic representative of the tenth Congressional Constituency of Texas . He was a member of the Committee on Rules from January 3, 1955 until his resignation in 1963 . During his tenure in Congress, he refused to sign the Southern Manifesto , which spoke out against racial integration in public institutions. He was named by President John F. Kennedy to succeed R. Ewing Thomason as federal district judge for western Texas. Thereafter, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him and empowered him in 1965 as a judge on the Federal Court of Appeals for the fifth district, where he was involved in many civil rights judgments of the 1960s and 1970s.

Thornberry was nominated for Abe Fortas ' seat on the Supreme Court by Lyndon B. Johnson when Johnson named Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice . However, Fortas withdrew his nomination in October 1968, so Thornberry's nomination became questionable and was then eventually withdrawn by the White House.

Homer Thornberry died at his home on December 12, 1995 and was buried two days later in Texas State Cemetery .

Web links

• Homer Thornberry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• "William Thornberry". Texas State Cemetery .