Raymond Earl BALDWIN, Congress, CT (1893-1986)

BALDWIN, Raymond Earl, a Senator from Connecticut; born in Rye, Westchester County, N.Y., August 31, 1893; moved to Middletown, Conn., in 1903 and attended the public schools; graduated, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., 1916; entered Yale University in 1916 but, when war was declared, enlisted as a seaman in the United States Navy; assigned to officers’ training school, commissioned an ensign in February 1918, and promoted to lieutenant (jg.) in September 1918; resigned from the Navy in August 1919 and returned to Yale University Law School, graduating in 1921; admitted to the bar in 1921 and practiced in New Haven and Bridgeport, Conn.; prosecutor of Stratford Town Court 1927-1930; judge of Stratford Town Court 1931-1933; member of the State house of representatives 1931-1933, serving as majority leader in 1933; resumed the practice of law 1933-1938; town chairman of Stratford, Conn. 1935-1937; Governor of Connecticut 1939-1940; unsuccessful candidate for reelection as Governor in 1940; again elected Governor in 1942 and 1944, and served until his resignation on December 25, 1946, having been elected United States Senator; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate on November 5, 1946, to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1947, caused by the death of Francis T. Maloney, and at the same time was elected for the term commencing January 3, 1947, and served from December 27, 1946, until his resignation on December 16, 1949; associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors; appointed chief justice in 1959 and served until his retirement in 1963; chairman, Connecticut Constitutional Convention 1965; died in Fairfield, Conn., October 4, 1986; interment in Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown, Conn.

Bibliography

Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives; Baldwin, Raymond. Let’s Go Into Politics. New York: Macmillan, 1952; Johnson, Curtis. Raymond E. Baldwin: Connecticut Statesman. Chester, Conn.: Pequot Press, 1972.

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