Sheridan Downey

(March 9, 1884-October 25, 1961). Downey was a lawyer with roots in both Wyoming and California. He was born in Laramie, Wyoming and was District Attorney for Albany County, Wyoming, from 1909-1912. He moved to California and became an advocate of the Townsend Plan. In 1934, he ran for Lieutenant Governor of California and two years later, for the U.S. House of Representatives. These two false starts led to his successful election as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1938. He remained in the Senate until he resigned in 1950. Downey is remembered for his reform efforts and battles against utilities. He was the author of They Would Rule the Valley (1948), Truth About the Tidelands, and Highways to Prosperity.

William Fife Knowland

(June 265, 1908-February 23, 1974). Bill Knowland grew up in the newspaper business and Republican politics. His father, Joseph R. Knowland, was a Republican U.S. Representative from California from 1904 to 1915. He was also the President and Publisher of the Oakland Tribune, a post his son was to later inherit. Bill was successfively a member of the California State Assembly, State Senate, and the Republican National Committee. A recognized power in local politics, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hiram W. Johnson, August 14, 1945. He was subsequently elected and re-elected (holding the posts of Majority Leader, 1953-1955, and Minority Leader, 1955-1959) until he decided to run for Governor of California in 1958, forcing the incumbent Republican to step aside. He was defeated in that election and returned to the newspaper business. In 1974, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Richard Milhous Nixon

(January 9, 1913-April 22, 1994). Dick Nixon occupied center stage on the U.S. Political scene for half a century. Elected as a Republican Congressman from California in 1946, he achieved early fame for his strong anti-Communist advocacy. By 1950, he was prominent enough to seek the U.S. Senate in a tough race against the Democratic candidate--and his House colleague--Helen Gahagan Douglas. Surprisingly, another Nixon colleague in the House, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, thought highly enough of Nixon that he made a financial contribution to his campaign! Nixon went on to become Senator, Vice President (1953-1961), Republican Presidential candidate (1960), and President (1969-1974). He brought an end to the Vietnam War. Caught up in the swirling controversy around the Watergate break-in and cover-up, he became the first President to resign from office in August, 1974. That dark cloud lifted in his later years, as he became an acknowledged leader in American foreign policy development.

Thomas Henry Kuchel

(August 15, 1910-Alive). Tom Kuchel came up through the ranks. As Republican member of the California State Assembly from 1936-1939 and a State Senator from 1940-1945, he established himself as an outstanding legislator. After WWII, he was elected State Controller, serving from 1947-1953. When Richard Nixon was elected Vice President, Kuchel was appointed to fill his vacancy in the U.S. Senate, January 2, 1953. He remained in the Senate until January 3, 1969, having lost his effort at renomination in the 1968 Republican Primary. He was Republican Senate Whip from 1959 to 1969.

Clair Engle

(September 21, 1911-July 30, 1964). Clair Engle had just been elected to the California State Senate when a vacancy occurred in his Congressional district through the death of Harry Englebright. Engle decided to seek the slot. He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House and served from 1953 to 1959. In 1958, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, remaining there until his death on July 30, 1964.

Pierre Emil George

(June 14, 1925-October 16, 2004, Le Thor, France). Commander of a subchaser in WWII, Pierre Salinger returned to a journalism career after the war. He was west coast editor for Collier's when he jointed the U.S. Senate Select Committee to Investigate Improper Activities in Labor-Management Relations, where he first met Senator John F. Kennedy. In 1959, he moved to Kennedy's personal staff and became Press Secretary to JFK during the 1960 campaign. With Kennedy's victory, he was promoted to Press Secretary to the President, serving from 1961 to March 19, 1964, when he resigned to run fo the U.S. Senate from California. During the summer of 1964, Clair Engle resigned from the Senate and Salinger was appointed to fill the vacancy. In November, he lost his effort to be elected in his own right and resigned from the Senate on December 31, 1964. He returned to journalism and became a correspondent for a French news magazine, L'Express, and bureau chief of ABC News in Paris.

George Lloyd Murphy

(July 4, 1902-May 3, 1992). George Murphy was a well-known celebrity long before he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Most people remember him as a "song-and-dance" man who made 45 movies in a respectable, if less-than-spectacular, career that included two stints as President of the Screen Actors Guild. After leaving the movies, he became Vice President of Desilu Studios, 1958-1961, and Technicolor Corporation, 1961-1964. Long active in the Republican Party, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1964, defeating the incumbent, Pierre Salinger. He served a single term and returned to private life in 1971.