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David Worth Clark (April 2, 1902 – June 19, 1955) was a Democratic congressman and United States Senator from Idaho, its first U.S. Senator born in the state.
D. Worth Clark | |
|---|---|
Clark in 1939 | |
| United States Senator from Idaho | |
| In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945 | |
| Preceded by | James P. Pope |
| Succeeded by | Glen H. Taylor |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Idaho's 2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Coffin |
| Succeeded by | Henry Dworshak |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 2, 1902 Idaho Falls, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | June 19, 1955 (aged 53) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Virgil Irwin (m. 1926) |
| Children | 3, including Nancy |
| Residence | Pocatello |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame (A.B. 1922) Harvard Law School, 1925 |
| Profession | Attorney |
Clark was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho and attended public schools there.[2] He attended Columbia University in Portland, Oregon,[3] and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1922.[2]
Clark graduated from Harvard Law School in 1925 and was admitted to the bar that year. He commenced practice in Idaho at Pocatello, and was the state's assistant attorney general from 1933 to 1935.
Clark was elected to the U.S. House from the 2nd district of Idaho in 1934. The seat had been vacant for several months, since the untimely death of Thomas Coffin in June. Clark was re-elected in 1936, easily defeating his successor, newspaper publisher Henry Dworshak of Burley.
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | D. Worth Clark | 57,547 | 60.7% | Heber Q. Hale | 37,200 | 39.3% | ||
| 1936 | D. Worth Clark (inc.) | 67,238 | 60.5% | Henry Dworshak | 43,834 | 39.5% |
Clark ran for the U.S. Senate in 1938 and narrowly won the Democratic primary in August over incumbent James Pope of Boise, a setback for New Deal supporters.[5] In the general election, Clark defeated Republican former state Representative Donald Callahan of Wallace. Six years later, he was defeated for renomination in the 1944 Democratic primary by Glen H. Taylor of Pocatello.
Clark vied to reclaim his Senate seat in 1950 and defeated Taylor in the primary, as Taylor became the third consecutive incumbent of that Senate seat to lose in the Democratic primary. In the general election in November, Clark lost to Republican state Senator Herman Welker of Payette, as all four congressional seats (two House, two Senate) went to Republicans.[6] Welker aligned himself in the Senate with the infamous Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and lost his re-election bid in 1956 to 32 year-old Frank Church of Boise (husband of Clark's cousin, Bethine), who served four terms.
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | D. Worth Clark | 99,801 | 54.7% | Donald Callahan | 81,939 | 44.9% | V.A. Verbei | Progressive | 845 | 0.46% | |||
| 1950 | D. Worth Clark | 77,180 | 38.3% | Herman Welker | 124,237 | 61.7% | |||||||
After losing to Welker, Clark resumed the practice of law in Boise and Washington, D.C. He moved to Los Angeles in 1954 and held financial interests in radio stations in Van Nuys, San Francisco, and Honolulu, and a bank in Las Vegas.
While watching television with his wife and youngest daughter, Clark died of a heart attack at his southern California home at age 53 on June 19, 1955,[7][8] and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[9]
Clark was a member of a prominent Idaho political family; his uncles Barzilla Clark and Chase Clark both served as governor of Idaho. His cousin Bethine, Chase Clark's daughter, married future U.S. Senator Frank Church in 1947.
Clark's wife Virgil (1901–1991) was a sister-in-law of Robert Smylie; the three-term (1955–1967) Republican governor of Idaho married her younger sister Lucile.[7]
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