Warren Grant MAGNUSON, Congress, WA (1905-1989)

MAGNUSON, Warren Grant, a Representative and a Senator from Washington; born in Moorhead, Clay County, Minn., April 12, 1905; attended the public schools, the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks and North Dakota State College; graduated from the University of Washington in 1926, and from the law school in 1929; admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Seattle, Wash.; secretary of the Seattle Municipal League in 1930 and 1931; served as special prosecuting attorney of King County, Wash., in 1931; member, State house of representatives 1933-1934; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1933; served in the United States Navy during the Second World War, attaining rank of lieutenant commander; United States district attorney in 1934 and prosecuting attorney of King County, Wash., 1934-1936; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1937, until his resignation on December 13, 1944; appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Homer T. Bone, and served from December 14, 1944, to January 3, 1945; elected in 1944 for the term commencing January 3, 1945; reelected in 1950, 1956, 1962, 1968 and 1974 and served from December 14, 1944, to January 3, 1981; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Ninety-sixth Congress; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1980; chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Eighty-fourth through Eighty-seventh Congresses), Committee on Commerce (Eighty-eighth through Ninety-fifth Congresses), Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Ninety-fifth Congress), Committee on Appropriations (Ninety-fifth and Ninety-sixth Congresses); resumed the practice of law; died in Seattle, Wash., May 20, 1989; interment in Acacia Memorial Park.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives; Magnuson, Warren G., and Elliot A. Segal. How Much for Health? Washington, D.C.: R.B. Luce, 1974; Scates, Shelby. Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.

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