Homer S. Ferguson
Homer S. Ferguson | |
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United States Senator from Michigan |
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In office January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1955 |
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Preceded by | Prentiss M. Brown |
Succeeded by | Patrick V. McNamara |
Personal details | |
Born | Homer Samuel Ferguson February 25, 1889 Harrison City, Pennsylvania |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Grosse Pointe, Michigan |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh University of Michigan |
Homer Samuel Ferguson (February 25, 1889 – December 17, 1982) was a United States Senator from Michigan. He was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Harrison City, Pennsylvania to parents Samuel Ferguson (Oct. 1857 in Pennsylvania – 1933) and Margaret Bush (Nov. 1857 in Pennsylvania – 1940).
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Education and early career
Ferguson attended public schools and the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1913, was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Detroit, Michigan. He was judge of the circuit court for Wayne County, Michigan from 1929–1942 and also professor of law at Detroit College of Law (now part of Michigan State University) from 1929 to 1939.
United States Senator
Ferguson was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1942 and was reelected in 1948, serving from January 3, 1943, to January 3, 1955. Ferguson successfully was re-elected in 1948, a year dominated by the Democratic party's upset wins. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1954, defeated by Democrat Patrick V. McNamara.
While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the 83rd United States Congress.
In 1948, he served as chairman of the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments, which held hearings on such matters as export control violations, for which Soviet spy William Remington was called in to testify; the trial of Nazi war criminal Ilse Koch; and the Mississippi Democratic Party's sale of postal jobs, which Mississippians from rural areas attested to purchasing.
He introduced the Senate version of the bill that inserted "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. Michigan's 17th congressional district United States House of Representatives Republican Charles G. Oakman had previously introduced a House version. The bill became law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.
Also in 1954, Ferguson proposed several amendments to the Bricker Amendment.
Post-senate life
Ferguson served as United States Ambassador to the Philippines from 1955 to 1956 and was judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals at Washington, D.C. from 1956 to 1971.
He served as senior judge on the United States Court of Military Appeals from 1971 to 1976.
In 1976, he retired and moved back to Michigan and resided in Grosse Pointe until his death. He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, in Detroit.
Ferguson's behind the scenes involvement in influencing the failed investigation, trial, and slander of Preston Tucker by the Securities and Exchange Commission has long been speculated. Lloyd Bridges portrayed Senator Ferguson in the 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, in which Tucker was played by his son Jeff Bridges.
Sources
- Homer S. Ferguson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- The Political Graveyard
External links
- Homer Ferguson Papers 1939-1976, collection maintained by University of Michigan
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Tucker: The Man and His Dream at IMDb
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Homer Ferguson" is available at the Internet Archive
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Sen. Homer Ferguson (October 12, 1951)" is available at the Internet Archive
United States Senate | ||
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Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 2) from Michigan 1943–1955 Served alongside: Arthur H. Vandenberg, A. E. Blair Moody, Charles E. Potter |
Succeeded by Patrick V. McNamara |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines 1955–1956 |
Succeeded by Albert F. Nufer |
- Articles with Internet Archive links
- 1889 births
- 1982 deaths
- People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
- Michigan Republicans
- United States Senators from Michigan
- Michigan lawyers
- Michigan state court judges
- Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
- Detroit College of Law faculty
- University of Michigan alumni
- Ambassadors of the United States to the Philippines
- United States federal judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Republican Party United States Senators