James Howard EDMONDSON, Congress, OK (1925-1971)

EDMONDSON, James Howard, (brother of Edmond A. Edmondson), a Senator from Oklahoma; born in Muskogee, Okla., September 27, 1925; attended the public schools; during the Second World War enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps 1943-1945; graduated from the law department of the University of Oklahoma at Norman 1948; admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Muskogee the same year; moved to Tulsa in 1953 and became chief prosecutor in the Tulsa County attorney’s office; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Oklahoma 1953; elected Tulsa County attorney 1954 and reelected in 1956; Governor of Oklahoma 1959-1963, when he resigned and was immediately appointed on January 7, 1963, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert S. Kerr, and served from January 7, 1963, to November 3, 1964; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to fill the vacancy in 1964; returned to Oklahoma City and resumed the practice of law; died in Edmond, Okla., November 17, 1971; interment in Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Bibliography

Davis, Billy J. “J. Howard Edmondson: A Political Biography.” Ph.D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1980.

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