50 U.S. Senators missing — can you help find them?

November 13, 2009

No, not current senators — don’t get your ignoble hopes up.

With more than 40,000 photographs and other images, the Senate Historical Office has images of almost all people who have served as members of the U.S. Senate.  5o members are completely absent from the Senate collection, however.

Got any idea where to find images of these guys?  This comes from the Senate Historical Office:

Senators Not Represented in Senate Historical Office Photo Collection

The Senate Historical Office maintains a collection of more than 40,000 still pictures, slides, and negatives. The collection includes photographs and illustrations of most former senators, but to date no photo or other illustration of about fifty members has been found. Below is a list (by state) of U.S. Senators for whom we have no image in our collection. If you have an image, or information that may lead us to an image, please contact the Senate’s photo historian.

__________________________

Alabama: – 2
William Kelly, 1822-1825
John Williams Walker, 1819-1822

Connecticut: – 2
Thaddeus  Betts, 1839-1840
Perry Smith, 1837-1843

Delaware: – 1
Outerbridge Horsey, 1810-1821

Georgia: – 5
William Bellinger Bulloch, 1813-1813
Thomas Willis Cobb, 1824-1828
Alfred Cuthbert, 1835-1843
James Gunn, 1789-1801
Josiah Tattnall, 1796-1799

Kentucky – 1
George Walker, 1814-1814

Louisiana – 3
Eligius Fromentin, 1813-1819
Allan Bowie Magruder, 1812-1813
Robert Carter Nicholas, 1836-1841

Massachusetts – 1
Eli Porter Ashmun, 1816-1818

Maryland – 6
John Henry, 1789-1797
Robert Henry Goldsborough, 1813-1819, 1835-1836
James Lloyd, 1797-1800
William Dunhurst Merrick, 1838-1845
John Selby Spence, 1836-1840
David Stewart, 1849-1850

Mississippi – 4
Robert Huntington Adams, 1830-1830
John Black, 1832-1838
Joseph Williams Chalmers, 1845-1847

New Hampshire – 2
Charles Cutts, 1810-1813
Nahum Parker, 1807-1810

New Jersey: – 3
Jonathan Elmer, 1789-1791
Aaron Kitchell, 1805-1809
James Jefferson Wilson, 1815-1821

New York – 1
Obadiah German, 1809-1815

North Carolina – 4
Timothy Bloodworth, 1795-1801
Jesse Franklin, 1799-1805, 1807-1813
Francis Locke, 1814-1815
James Turner, 1805-1816

Ohio – 3
Stanley Griswold, 1809-1809
Joseph Kerr, 1814-1815
John Smith, 1803-1808

Pennsylvania – 1
Samuel Maclay, 1803-1809

Rhode Island – 7
Nathan Dixon, Sr., 1839-1842
Benjamin Howland, 1804-1809
Henry Frederick Lippitt, 1911-1917
Francis Malbone, 1809-1809
Samuel John Potter, 1803-1804
Joseph Stanton, Jr., 1790-1793
William Sprague, 1842-1844

South Carolina – 1
John Hunter, 1796-1798

Tennessee – 3
Daniel Smith, 1798-1799, 1805-1809
Jesse Wharton, 1814-1815
Jenkin Whiteside, 1809-1811

Vermont – 4
Dudley Chase, 1813-1817, 1825-1831
Nathaniel Chipman, 1797-1803
Jonathan Robinson, 1807-1815
Israel Smith, 1803-1807

_________________________

You just know that somewhere out there, a local museum has a painting of one of these guys.  Or, someone has a painting or drawing of an old-timey guy hanging over a fireplace, a family heirloom that features one of these guys.  I mean, how could a guy like Outerbridge Horsey fail to inspire an artist somewhere?

Do you know of one?  Contact the Senate Historical Office, and let us know here, too.

1 Comment | Biography, History, History and art, History images, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Happy birthday, Toni Novello

August 23, 2009

She looks stuffy in the photographs, but Toni Novello is one of the most genuine people and funniest women I’ve ever worked with — sometimes without intention.  When veterans of the old Senate Labor Committee chairman’s staff get together, we still laugh over Toni’s return from a weekend health care seminar raving about “Cahoon cooking.”

We were puzzled until somebody remembered the seminar she spoke at was in New Orleans.  In her Puerto Rican view, Cajun was just pronounced a little differently.

Brilliance packaged in a human exterior.

Today in Science History tells us Toni was born on August 23, 19√∞.  “Physician and public official, the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as surgeon general of the United States.”

Leave a Comment » | Health care, History, Life, Personal, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Congratulations, Sen. Al Franken

June 30, 2009

Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that Al Franken won the election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Norm Coleman.

Senator-elect Al Franken and his wife, Franni, after the Minnesota Canvassing Board certified him the winner of the states November 2008 senatorial election, June 29, 2008 - Minneapolis Star-Tribune photo

Senator-elect Al Franken and his wife, Franni, after the Minnesota Canvassing Board certified him the winner of the state's November 2008 senatorial election, June 29, 2008 - Minneapolis Star-Tribune photo

Pat Doyle wrote for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that Democrat Al Franken won the U.S. Senate election and said he was entitled to an election certificate that would lead to him being seated in the Senate.

“Affirmed,” wrote the Supreme Court, unanimously rejecting Republican Norm Coleman’s claims that inconsistent practices by local elections officials and wrong decisions by a lower court had denied him victory.

“Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled [under Minnesota law] to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota,” the court wrote.

In upholding a lower court ruling in April, the justices said Coleman had “not shown that the trial court’s findings of fact are clearly erroneous or that the court committed an error of law or abused its discretion.”

The justices also said that neither the trial court nor local elections officials violated constitutional rights to equal protection, a cornerstone of Coleman’s case and any possible federal appeal.

The ruling was a unanimous, 5-0 decision.

Congratulations, U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

Update: Coleman conceded; NPR report here.  NPR political blog here. Coleman was surprisingly gracious, considering he fought so hard for 238 days after the election.

1 Comment | Elections, Jurisprudence, Law, Politics, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Mr. Mike’s everlasting humility

May 30, 2009

Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, oil on canvas painting by Aaron Shikler, 1978 - Wikimedia image

Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, oil on canvas painting by Aaron Shikler, 1978 - Wikimedia image

Beginning in March 1974 I had the great pleasure and high honor of interning with the Secretary of the Senate, Francis R. Valeo.  Valeo served because of his close relationship with the Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield, and working in Valeo’s office put one on the Mansfield team.  In an era before serious security with magnetometers in Washington’s public buildings — we didn’t even have photo identification cards then — Mike Mansfield’s signature on my staff card got me anywhere I wanted to go in Washington, including the White House.

People who knew Mansfield held him in very high regard.  I often tell people he was the best politician to work for, but in reality, he’s probably the best leader I ever worked with in any enterprise.  He respected every senator as a representative of the people of one of the 50 states, and that respect was returned.

In his office one afternoon he met with the a couple of members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the big bigwigs from the Pentagon.  Mansfield was a former sailor, marine and soldier — he had served in the Navy, Army and Marines.   He lied about his age the first time.  He had served in China and the Philippines, producing a life-long interest and deep expertise in U.S. affairs in the Pacific and Far East.

But this was 1974.  Mansfield had turned against supporting corrupt Vietnamese politicians early in the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.  Originally a supporter of Nixon’s policies, by 1974 his opposition to the war was the chief part of their relationship.  Still the military guys loved him.  An Army Colonel accompanying the group was anxious to explain to the young intern part of the mystique.

“You should see Mansfield in the formal meetings.  Everybody is always introduced, and their full rank is laid on the table.  ‘General Muckamuck.  West Point ’33, Columbia Law.  Admiral Bigship.  General Soandso, who recently got his third star.'”

“And then they get to Mansfield.  He’s the Senate Majority Leader.  And he introduces himself as ‘Mike Mansfield, Private First Class.'”

I asked Mansfield about it later.  He smiled, and said he might have done that a time or two.  He said that the big brass in the military need to remember as every senator does that they work for the American people.  Rank doesn’t make you right, he said.

Looking up a minor fact on Mansfield this morning I ran into this statement, which I’d never heard [quoting now from Wikipedia]:

This gentleman went from snuffy to national and international prominence. And when he died in 2001, he was rightly buried in Arlington. If you want to visit his grave, don’t look for him near the “Kennedy Eternal Flame”, where so many politicians are laid to rest. Look for a small, common marker shared by the majority of our heroes. Look for the marker that says “Michael J. Mansfield, Pfc. U.S. Marine Corps.”

Remarks by Col. James Michael Lowe, USMC, October 20, 2004.

The burial plot of Senator and Mrs. Mansfield can be found in section 2, marker 49-69F of Arlington National Cemetery.

For the sake of accuracy, I would like to know the occasion of Col. Lowe’s remarks, and who Col. Lowe is.  The link at Wikipedia is dead.  Does anyone know?

Resources:

Know a marine?  Honor a Marine hero and share this story:

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15 Comments | A Good Story, Good Quotes, Heroes, History, History and art, History images, Leadership, Military History, Quotes, U.S. Marines, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Happy birthday, Orrin Hatch

March 22, 2009

Dear Orrin,

We know how old you are really, but we won’t divulge.

U.S. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah

U.S. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah

When we were campaigning in 1976, I don’t think anyone thought you’d be there in 2009, still.  Sen. Reed Smoot served Utah for one day shy of 30 years.  No one else from Utah has come close to your 32 years of service, and it will be a long time before any other challenges your longevity.

Not bad for the first office you ever got elected to.

Kathryn and I wish you all the best on your birthday.

And we’ll be pleased to set  you straight any time you want.

Sincerely,

Ed

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Campaigns, Elections, Government, History, Personal, Politics, U.S. Senate, Utah | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Voting matters, in Iraq, in Texas

October 21, 2008

Rick Noriega is a rising star, a good man who has served his nation and state well, in Iraq, in the Texas legislature, and now — he hopes —  in the U.S. Senate.

Early voting opened this morning in Texas. Record turnouts reported from Dallas County.  It’s an important election, and not too late to donate to the candidate of your choice and/or volunteer to canvass.

Leave a Comment » | Democracy, Democracy in action, History, Iraq, Politics, Texas, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Obama “most liberal,” McCain “most absent”

October 20, 2008

Anyone who has staffed Congress knows the various ratings of the votes of Members of Congress are most often skewed by the organizations that make them.  They pluck a dozen votes out of several hundred cast by a member in a year, to claim that special dozen can tell the character, or value, or liberalness or conservativeness of the member.

So when campaign surrogates claim that one of the candidates is “the most” whatever, it need be taken with a few grains of salt.

Presidential campaigns can wreak havoc on a members voting record — heck, reelection campaigns can do the same — because candidate forums and primary election dates almost always conflict with the work of Congress.  A candidate for president might be lucky to make even the major votes.

Obama missed several key votes, but got enough in to get rated.  According to one rating, by National Journal, Obama is “the most” liberal U.S. senator.  In today’s U.S. Senate, that’s not really saying much, since moderate Republicans have gone extinct there, and most of the liberal lions of the Democrats are at least retired, if not dead.

Listening to the Sunday talk shows today, I wondered why McCain’s people, always anxious to brand Obama as “most liberal,” don’t point to McCain’s own ranking.  Why not show the differences between the two on the issues, where it counts, in the votes?

So I checked.  John McCain missed more than half the votes in most areas rated by National Journal, and so could not be ranked. It looks worse when you look at the company McCain keeps in the “unranked” category.

Three senators do not have scores for 2007 because they missed more than half of the rated votes in an issue area: John McCain, R-Ariz., who was running for president; Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who was recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and returned to work on September 5, 2007; Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., who died on June 4, 2007; and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who was appointed to succeed Thomas on June 22, 2007.

John McCain:  Most absent.

Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, Barack Obama, Campaigns, History, John McCain, McCain 2008, Obama 2008, Politics, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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