Bourke Blakemore HICKENLOOPER, Congress, IA (1896-1971)

HICKENLOOPER, Bourke Blakemore, a Senator from Iowa; born in Blockton, Taylor County, Iowa, July 21, 1896; attended the public schools and Iowa State College at Ames until April 1917, when he enrolled in the officer’s training camp at Fort Snelling, Minn.; commissioned a second lieutenant, embarked overseas in August 1918 and served in France as battalion orientation officer; returned to the United States in February 1919 and was honorably discharged; reentered Iowa State College and graduated in 1919; graduated from the College of Law of the State University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1922; admitted to the bar in 1922 and commenced practice in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; member, State house of representatives 1934-1937; lieutenant governor of Iowa 1939-1942 and Governor 1943-1944; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1944 for the term commencing January 3, 1945; reelected in 1950, 1956, and 1962 for the term ending January 3, 1969; was not a candidate for reelection in 1968; co-chairman, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (Eightieth Congress), chairman, Republican Policy Committee (Eighty-seventh through Ninetieth Congresses); died in Shelter Island, N.Y., September 4, 1971, while visiting; interment in Cedar Memorial Cemetery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Schapsmeier, Edward, and Schapsmeier, Frederick. ‘A Strong Voice for Keeping America Strong: A Profile of Senator Bourke B. Hickenlooper.” Annals of Iowa 47 (Spring 1984): 362-76; U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses. 92nd Cong., 2nd sess., 1972. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1972.

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