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Senator Thomas Kuchel (R-CA)
Thomas H. Kuchel (1910–1994) was born in Anaheim, California. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1932 and the university's law school in 1937. He entered politics in California, serving in the state assembly (1936–1939), the state senate (1940–1945), and as state controller (1946–1953). He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1952 by his mentor, Governor Earl Warren, to fill the seat vacated by Richard Nixon, who had been elected vice president. Kuchel was reelected in 1956 and 1962, and was Republican whip from 1959 to 1969. A liberal Republican, Kuchel supported civil rights bills, the desegregation of public facilities, and Medicare. He served as the Republican floor leader for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. |