Elbert Duncan THOMAS, Congress, UT (1883-1953)

THOMAS, Elbert Duncan, a Senator from Utah; born in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 1883; attended the public schools; graduated from the University of Utah at Salt Lake City in 1906 and from the graduate department of the University of California, Berkeley 1924; served as a missionary of the Church of Latter Day Saints in Japan 1907-1912; student traveler in Asia and Europe 1912-1913; instructor of Latin and Greek at the University of Utah 1914-1916 and secretary of board of regents 1917-1922; served as major, inspector general’s department, Utah National Guard, and United States Reserves 1917-1926; professor of political science at the University of Utah 1924-1933; author; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1932; reelected in 1938 and again in 1944 and served from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1951; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1950; chairman, Committee on Education and Labor (Seventy-fifth through Seventy-eighth Congresses), Committee on Military Affairs (Seventy-ninth Congress), Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (Eighty-first Congress); appointed high commissioner of United States trust territories of the Pacific and served from 1951, until his death in Honolulu, Hawaii, February 11, 1953; interment in City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Libby, Justin H. “Senators King and Thomas and the Coming War with Japan.” Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (Fall 1974): 370-80; Thomas, Elbert D. “The Senate During and Since the War.” Parliamentary Affairs 3 (Winter 1949): 114-26.

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