John E. Kenna

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John E. Kenna

John Edward Kenna (born April 10, 1848 in St. Albans , Kanawha County , Virginia , † January 11, 1893 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of West Virginia in both chambers of Congress represented.

Life

John E. Kenna was born in Kanawha County, which at the time was still part of Virginia, but became part of the new state after West Virginia was founded in 1863. He received little education in his youth; at the age of 16 he joined a brigade of the Confederate Army under the leadership of General Joseph Shelby during the Civil War and was wounded.

After the war he attended college in Wheeling , studied law and was inducted into the bar in 1870. He practiced law in Charleston and became Kanawha County attorney in 1872; In 1875 he was appointed judge pro tempore in his county's judicial district.

politics

John Kenna played an active role in building the Democratic Party in West Virginia. In 1876 he was elected to the US House of Representatives for his state . His parliamentary activities focused on legislation on railway matters; He was also keen to support the coal, timber, and salt industries in West Virginia. This earned him a seat in the US Senate in 1883 , where he continued to work in these areas.

In addition, he rose to the position of minority leader in the Senate and made a name for himself as a controversial speaker on the subject of the independence of the government executive. He sided with President Grover Cleveland on numerous issues and accused the Senate Republican majority of errors in the area of ​​tariff reforms.

His distinguished career came to an end when he died at the age of 44 on January 11, 1893. A statue donated by the State of West Virginia in 1901 in the National Statuary Hall Collection of the Capitol commemorates John E. Kenna .

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