Norris H. COTTON, Congress, NH (1900-1989)

COTTON, Norris H., a Representative and a Senator from New Hampshire; born on a farm in Warren, Grafton County, N.H., May 11, 1900; attended Phillips Exeter Academy at Exeter, N.H.; graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in 1923; editor of the Granite Monthly; clerk of the State senate; aide to United States Senator George Moses; attended the law school of George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; admitted to the bar in 1928 and commenced practice in Lebanon, N.H.; member, State house of representatives 1923, 1943, 1945, serving as majority leader in 1943 and speaker in 1945; elected as a Republican to the Eightieth Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1947, until his resignation November 7, 1954, having been elected to the United States Senate; elected on November 2, 1954, as a Republican to the United States Senate to complete the unexpired term caused by the death of Charles W. Tobey for the term ending January 3, 1957; reelected in 1956, 1962, and again in 1968, and served from November 8, 1954, until his resignation December 31, 1974; was not a candidate for reelection in 1974; chairman, Republican Conference (1973-75); subsequently appointed to the seat August 8, 1975, to fill the vacancy caused by the contested election of November 5, 1974, and served from August 8, 1975, until September 18, 1975; was a resident of Lebanon, N.H., until his death, February 24, 1989; interment in First Congregational Church Cemetery.

Bibliography

Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives; Bixby, Roland. Standing Tall: The Life Story of Senator Norris Cotton. Crawfordsville, IN: Lakeside Press, 1988; Cotton, Norris. In the Senate: Amidst the Conflict and Turmoil. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1978.

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