Thruston Ballard Morton (August 19, 1907 – August 14, 1982), a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, represented Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 and the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. He was born in Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 and received a B.A. with the Yale

YALE

RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...

 Class of 1929.

Morton won his seat in the House by defeating incumbent Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Emmet O'Neal

Emmet O'Neal (Kentucky)

Emmet O'Neal was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and an ambassador to the Philippines. A member of the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame, his brother was Louisville Mayor Joseph T. O'Neal.-Biography:...

 in 1946

United States House election, 1946

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 80th United States Congress took place in 1946. These midterm elections occurred in the middle of President Harry S. Truman's first term....

, 61,899 votes to 44,599. He served three terms in the House, January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1953.

After leaving the House, Morton served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

.

In 1956

United States Senate election, 1956

The U.S. Senate election, 1956 was an election for the United States Senate whichcoincided with the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The party balance of the chamber remained unchanged as Republican and Democratic gains cancelled each other....

 Morton, by a very narrow margin, defeated incumbent Democratic United States Senator Earle C. Clements

Earle C. Clements

Earle Chester Clements was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and was its 47th Governor, serving from 1947 to 1950...

, 506,903 votes to 499,922. Morton won re-election to a second term in the Senate in 1962

United States Senate election, 1962

The U.S. Senate election, 1962 was an election for the United States Senate which occurred in the middle of John F. Kennedy's term. His Democratic Party made a net gain of four seats from the Republicans, maintaining control of the Senate, with Democrats having about 2/3 of the Senate...

, defeating Democratic lieutenant governor

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

The office of lieutenant governor of Kentucky has existed under the last three of Kentucky's four constitutions, beginning in 1797. The lieutenant governor serves as governor of Kentucky under circumstances similar to the Vice President of the United States assuming the powers of the presidency...

 and former mayor of Louisville Wilson W. Wyatt

Wilson W. Wyatt

Wilson Watkins Wyatt served as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1941 to 1945 and as Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky from 1959 to 1963. He was a member of the Democratic Party....

. Morton served in the Senate from January 3, 1957, until his resignation on December 16, 1968. He vacated the seat a few weeks early to allow his Republican successor, Marlow William Cook

Marlow Cook

Marlow Webster Cook is a former Republican United States Senator from Kentucky.-Early life:Cook moved to Louisville when he was 17. He joined the United States Navy and served on submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War II...

, another "moderate" Republican, to gain an edge in seniority.

Morton was the chairman of the Republican National Committee

Republican National Committee

The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...

 from 1959 until 1961. In the Senate, Morton was considered a "moderate" Republican and voted, along with his Republican colleague John Sherman Cooper, and 80% of the other Republican Senators, for the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...

.
He chaired the Republican National Convention of 1964.

Thruston Morton was the brother of Rogers Clark Ballard Morton, who represented Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 in the United States House of Representatives from 1963 through 1971, when he became Secretary of the Interior

United States Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

 in the administration of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford and Secretary of Commerce under Ford before heading Ford's re-election campaign in 1976

United States presidential election, 1976

The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...

.

Morton is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film In the Year of the Pig

In the Year of the Pig

In the Year of the Pig is a 1968 American documentary film about the origins of the Vietnam War, directed by Emile de Antonio. It was nominated for an Academy award for best documentary....

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External links