Lester Callaway HUNT, Congress, WY (1892-1954)

HUNT Lester Callaway , a Senator from Wyoming; born in Isabel, Edgar County, Ill., July 8, 1892; attended the public schools and Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Ill., 1912-1913; graduated from the St. Louis University College of Dentistry in 1917; moved to Wyoming in 1917 and commenced the practice of dentistry in Lander; during the First World War served in the United States Army Dental Corps 1917-1919, rising to major; after postgraduate study at Northwestern University in 1920 resumed the practice of dentistry in Lander, Wyo.; president of the Wyoming State Board of Dental Examiners 1924-1928; member, State house of representatives 1933-1934; secretary of State of Wyoming 1935-1943; Governor of Wyoming 1943-1949; chairman of the National Governors Conference 1948; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1948; served from January 3, 1949, until his death in Washington, D.C., June 19, 1954; had announced that he could not be a candidate for reelection; committed suicide in his Senate office; interment in Beth El Cemetery, Cheyenne, Wyo.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Ewig, Rick. "McCarthy Era Politics: The Ordeal of Senator Lester Hunt." Annals of Wyoming 55 (Spring 1983): 9-21; U.S. Congress. Memorial Services for Lester Callaway Hunt. 83d Cong., 2d sess., 1954. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1955.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present