View source for Carl Curtis

{{Short description|American attorney and politician (1905–2000)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Carl Curtis
| image               = Carl Curtis.png
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[Nebraska]]
| term_start          = January 1, 1955
| term_end            = January 3, 1979
| predecessor         = [[Hazel Abel]]
| successor           = [[J. James Exon]]
| state1              = [[Nebraska]]
| term_start1         = January 3, 1939
| term_end1           = December 31, 1954
| predecessor1        = [[Charles Binderup]]
| successor1          = [[Phil Weaver]]
| constituency1       = [[Nebraska's 4th congressional district|4th district]] (1939–1943)<br>[[Nebraska's 1st congressional district|1st district]] (1943–1954)
| birth_name          = Carl Thomas Curtis
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1905|3|15}}
| birth_place         = [[Minden, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2000|1|24|1905|3|15}}
| death_place         = [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], U.S.
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Lois Wylie Atwater|1931|1970|end=died}}<br>{{marriage|Mildred Malvina Genier|1972}}
| children            = 2
| education           = [[Nebraska Wesleyan University]]
}}
'''Carl Thomas Curtis''' (March 15, 1905 – January 24, 2000) was an American attorney and politician from the [[U.S. state]] of [[Nebraska]]. He served as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] (1939–1954) and later the [[United States Senate]] (1955–1979). He remains the second longest-serving [[United States Senate|Senator]] from [[List of United States Senators from Nebraska|Nebraska]].

==Early life==

Curtis was born on his family's farm in [[Kearney County, Nebraska]], near the county seat of [[Minden, Nebraska|Minden]]. He attended public schools and later attended [[Nebraska Wesleyan University]],<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c001006|title= CURTIS, Carl Thomas, (1905–2000)
|publisher= Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date= October 6, 2012}}</ref> where he was a member of [[Theta Chi]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-19|title=Notable Theta Chi Alumni|url=https://thetachiumd.com/notable-theta-chi/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=Theta Chi|language=en}}</ref> He studied law on his own, passed the bar exam, and began practicing; he served as the county attorney of [[Kearney County, Nebraska]], from 1931 to 1934.<ref name=":0" />

==Career==

Curtis was elected to the House of Representatives in 1938 on an anti-[[New Deal]] platform. He served from 1939 until 1954, being reelected every two years.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NE/odd-fellows.html|title= Carl Thomas Curtis (1905-2000)|publisher= The Political Graveyard|access-date= October 6, 2012}}</ref> He ran for the Senate from [[List of United States Senators from Nebraska|Nebraska]] in [[United States Senate elections, 1954#Races leading to the 83rd Congress|1954]] and won; subsequently, incumbent [[Hazel Abel]] resigned, and Curtis was appointed to the seat on January 1, 1955, getting a two-day jump on seniority. Curtis thus became the last of six Senators to serve during the fifteenth Senate term for [[List of United States Senators from Nebraska|Nebraska's Class 2 seat]], from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1955. He was reelected [[United States Senate elections, 1960 and 1961#Elections leading to the next Congress|three]] [[United States Senate elections, 1966#Elections leading to the next Congress|more]] [[United States Senate election in Nebraska, 1972|times]] to six-year terms, serving from 1955 to 1979.

Curtis voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s284|title=HR. 8601. PASSAGE OF AMENDED BILL.}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s409|title=HR. 7152. PASSAGE.}}</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1968|1968]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1968/s346|title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.}}</ref> as well as the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/s226|title=S.J. RES. 29. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION BANNING THE POLL TAX AS PREREQUISITE FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78|title=TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.}}</ref> and the confirmation of [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/s176|title=CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> Curtis was loyal to the Republican Party, particularly supporting its [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] stances and fiscal [[conservatism]], which included opposition to social programs such as the New Deal and the [[Great Society]].

During the 1963 investigation of bribery allegations against Democratic Party organizer [[Bobby Baker|Robert Baker]], Curtis supposedly leaked a secret memorandum to advance his own positions.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Phillips|first1=Cabell|title=Baker Case Causes Senate Floor Fight|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/17/baker-case-causes-senate-floor-fight.html|access-date=9 October 2014|work=New York Times|date=17 March 1964}}</ref>

A close ally of both [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[Richard Nixon]], Curtis served as floor leader during the [[1964 Republican National Convention]], when Goldwater won the nomination.

During the early 1970s, Curtis supported President [[Richard Nixon]]'s [[Vietnam War]] escalation policy, and remained loyal to him throughout the [[Watergate Scandal]]. On August 6, 1974, two days before [[Resignation of Richard Nixon|Nixon resigned]], he implored Congress not to panic. He warned that the United States would become like a "banana republic" if Nixon was ousted in favor of Vice President Ford, who in turn would then select someone to fill the vice presidential slot. He said "this would mean both Ford and the new Vice President would be men who hadn't been elected to their high office, but merely nominated by a President under procedures for filling the vice presidency when it is vacant."<ref>{{cite news| title=Resignation Urged By GOP Senators| last=Rich| first=Spencer| newspaper=Washington Post| date=August 7, 1974| url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2017131%20to%2017456/Watergate%2017417.pdf| access-date=November 17, 2019| via=The Weisberg Collection, [[Hood College]], Frederick, Maryland}}</ref>

Curtis served as chairman of the [[Senate Republican Conference]] from 1975 to 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Senate: Republican Conference Chairpersons|url=https://www.senate.gov/senators/republican-conference-chairpersons.htm|access-date=2021-04-28|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref>

==Later life==

Following his retirement, Curtis moved to [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], where he practiced law, served as an officer of the conservative lobby the [[American Freedom Coalition]], and gave occasional interviews to the media.

Curtis died in Lincoln on January 24, 2000, and is interred at Minden Cemetery in Minden, his longtime hometown. Following his death, he was praised on the floor by [[Strom Thurmond]], a contemporary who had also been first elected to the Senate in 1954.

==Notes and references==

{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|C001006}}
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NE/odd-fellows.html The Political Graveyard]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Gustav Binderup]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Nebraska|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Nebraska's 4th congressional district]]|years=1939–1943}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur L. Miller]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Oren S. Copeland]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Nebraska|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Nebraska's 1st congressional district]]|years=1943–1954}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Phillip Hart Weaver]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Daniel Akaka]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Nebraska]]<br />([[Classes of United States senators|Class 2]])|years=[[1954 United States Senate election in Nebraska|1954]], [[1960 United States Senate election in Nebraska|1960]], [[1966 United States Senate election in Nebraska|1966]], [[1972 United States Senate election in Nebraska|1972]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Donald Shasteen]]}}
|-
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Senate Republican Steering Committee|years=1974–1975}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jim McClure (politician)|Jim McClure]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Norris Cotton]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Senate Republican Conference]]|years=1975–1979}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bob Packwood]]}}
|-
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hazel Abel]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States senators from Nebraska|U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Nebraska]]|years=1955–1979|alongside=[[Roman Hruska]], [[Edward Zorinsky]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[J. James Exon]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Margaret Chase Smith]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences|Senate Space Committee]]|years=1971–1973}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Barry Goldwater]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Jack Miller (politician)|Jack Miller]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry|Senate Agriculture Committee]]|years=1973–1975}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bob Dole]]}}
|-
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jennings Randolph]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Most senior living U.S. representative<br>(Sitting or Former)|years=1998–2000}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edwin Arthur Hall]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{US Senate Republican Conference Chairs}}
{{USSenNE}}
{{NebraskaUSRepresentatives}}
{{USCongRep-start |congresses=76th–95th [[United States Congress]] |state=[[United States congressional delegations from Nebraska|Nebraska]]}}
{{USCongRep/NE/76}}
{{USCongRep/NE/77}}
{{USCongRep/NE/78}}
{{USCongRep/NE/79}}
{{USCongRep/NE/80}}
{{USCongRep/NE/81}}
{{USCongRep/NE/82}}
{{USCongRep/NE/83}}
{{USCongRep/NE/84}}
{{USCongRep/NE/85}}
{{USCongRep/NE/86}}
{{USCongRep/NE/87}}
{{USCongRep/NE/88}}
{{USCongRep/NE/89}}
{{USCongRep/NE/90}}
{{USCongRep/NE/91}}
{{USCongRep/NE/92}}
{{USCongRep/NE/93}}
{{USCongRep/NE/94}}
{{USCongRep/NE/95}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Carl}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:Nebraska lawyers]]
[[Category:Nebraska Wesleyan University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Kearney County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Minden, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Nebraska]]