Stuart Symington

A Senator from Missouri. Born in Amherst, Hampshire County, Mass. , June 26, 1901. Soon after his birth the family moved to Baltimore, Md. Attended the public schools. Enlisted as a private in the United States Army at seventeen years of age and was discharged as a second lieutenant. Graduated from Yale University in 1923. Reporter on a Baltimore newspaper. Moved to Rochester, N. Y. , and worked as an iron moulder and lathe operator 1923-1926, studying mechanical and electrical engineering at night and by correspondence. Executive with several radio and steel companies 1926-1937. Moved to St. Louis, Mo. , and became president of the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Co. 1938-1945. Chairman, Surplus Property Board 1945. Surplus Property Administrator 1945-1946. Assistant Secretary of War for Air 1946-1947. First Secretary of the Air Force 1947-1950. Chairman of National Security Resources Board 1950-1951. Reconstruction Finance Corporation Administrator 1951-1952, from which office he resigned to run for nomination as United States Senator. Elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1952. Reelected in 1958, 1964 and 1970 and served from January 3, 1953, until his resignation on December 27, 1976. Was not a candidate for reelection in 1976. Unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. Lived in New Canaan, Ct. , until his death, December 14, 1988. Interred in a crypt in Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D. C.