Vernon Wallace THOMSON, Congress, WI (1905-1988)

THOMSON, Vernon Wallace, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Richland Center, Richland County, Wis., November 5, 1905; graduated from Richland Center High School in 1923; attended Carroll College in Waukesha, 1923-1925; graduated from University of Wisconsin in 1927; taught at Viroqua High School, 1927-1929; graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1932; engaged in private practice of law, Richland Center, Wis., 1932-1951; assistant district attorney of Richland County, 1933-1935, and city attorney, 1933-1937, and again, 1942-1944; mayor of Richland Center from April 1944 to February 1951; member of the State assembly, 1935-1951, serving as speaker, 1939-1945, and as Republican floor leader, 1945-1951; State attorney general, 1951-1957; Governor of Wisconsin from January 7, 1957, to January 5, 1959; delegate, Republican National Conventions, 1936, 1940, 1952, and 1956; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-seventh Congress; reelected to the six succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1961, until his resignation December 31, 1974; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1974 to the Ninety-fourth Congress; member, Federal Election Commission, April 1975 to June 1979 and January 1981 to December 1981; was a resident of McLean, Va., until his death in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 1988; interment in Richland Center Cemetery, Richland Center, Wis.

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