Tom Stewart (politician)

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For other people named Thomas Stewart, see Thomas Stewart (disambiguation).
Tom Stewart
Photo credited to the United States Senate Historical Office
United States Senator
from Tennessee
In office
November 9, 1938[1] – January 3, 1949
Preceded byGeorge L. Berry
Succeeded byEstes Kefauver
Personal details
Born(1892-01-11)January 11, 1892
Dunlap, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedOctober 10, 1972(1972-10-10) (aged 80)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic

Arthur Thomas Stewart (January 11, 1892 – October 10, 1972) was a Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1938 to 1949.

Early life and education

Stewart was born in Dunlap, Tennessee. Stewart also had a sister called Lydia. He attended the former Pryor Institute, a private school, in Jasper, Tennessee and Emory College (now Emory University). He returned to Tennessee and attended Cumberland University's law school in Lebanon, Tennessee. Upon admission to the bar in 1913, he set up practice in Birmingham, Alabama. He moved back to Jasper, Tennessee in 1915 and practised there until 1919, then moved to Winchester, Tennessee.

Legal career

In private practice in Winchester, he was elected

defense to introduce scientific testimony or to show there was not a conflict between evolution and the story of divine creation set forth in Genesis. Except for the willingness of William Jennings Bryan (hired by a Christian fundamentalist group to assist with the prosecution) to be cross-examined by Clarence Darrow, Stewart's positions controlled the trial and the Scopes defense had no recourse but to ask the jury to convict the defendant so the case could be appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court (which overturned the conviction on a legal technicality but upheld the constitutionality of the Butler Act
).

Political career

In 1938 Stewart entered the race for the balance of the unexpired term of the late Senator

labor union leader George L. Berry, who had been appointed to the seat upon Bachman's death by Governor Gordon Browning
, and was elected Senator on November 8. Eligible to begin serving immediately, he instead waited until the expiry of his term as district attorney on January 16, 1939 to take his Senate seat.

Stewart was somewhat typical of the Democratic Party's

Japanese internment, he introduced a bill in the Senate to revoke citizenship from all American-born persons of Japanese ancestry.[3] In 1948, he was challenged for renomination by Estes Kefauver, a progressive East Tennessean who defeated him. Edward J. Meeman, the influential editor of the Memphis Press-Scimitar, supported Kefauver to undermine the Crump machine, with which Meeman had long been at odds. After he defeated Stewart, Kefauver then handily prevailed over the Republican nominee, B. Carroll Reece
.

Stewart returned to the private practice of law. He died in Nashville and was interred at Winchester's Memorial Park Cemetery.

References

  1. ^ Although eligible and elected, he did not "take his seat" as he preferred to remain as district attorney general. Nevertheless, his service in the Senate begins on the date of election and eligibility, not on the date of an oath.
  2. OCLC 607061280
    . Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  3. ^ "Japanese Internment - PLEA MADE FOR "LOYAL" ALIENS - 1942". www.sfmuseum.org. Retrieved 2019-01-08.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 2)
1938, 1942
 Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Tennessee
November 9, 1938 – January 3, 1949
Served alongside: Kenneth McKellar 		Succeeded by
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