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Thomas Rust Underwood
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office March 19, 1951 – November 4, 1952
Appointed by	Lawrence Wetherby
Preceded by	Virgil Chapman
Succeeded by	John Sherman Cooper
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 6th district
In office January 3, 1949 – March 17, 1951
Preceded by	Virgil Chapman
Succeeded by	John C. Watts
Personal details
Born	(1898-03-03)March 3, 1898 Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	June 29, 1956(1956-06-29) (aged 58) Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting place	Lexington Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Kentucky

Thomas Rust Underwood (March 3, 1898 – June 29, 1956) was an American politician who served Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.

Early life

Thomas Rust Underwood was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on March 3, 1891. He attended public schools and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1917. During World War I, Underwood served in the Students Army Training Corps at the University of Kentucky.

Career

Underwood worked as the general manager of the Lexington Herald from 1931 to 1935 and editor from 1935 to 1936. He was a member of the Kentucky state planning board from 1931 to 1935 and secretary of the state racing commission from 1931 to 1943 and 1947 to 1947. He was secretary of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners from 1934 to 1948. He then served as the assistant to the director of the Office of Economic Stabilization in 1943.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first Congress; he was reelected to the Eighty-second Congress and served from January 3, 1949, until his resignation on March 17, 1951.

Underwood was appointed on March 19, 1951, to the United States Senate as a Democrat to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1955, caused by the death of Virgil Chapman and served from March 19, 1951, to November 4, 1952. He sought to retain the seat in the 1952 special election but lost to John Sherman Cooper.

After his stint in the Senate, Underwood went back to his editorial duties with the Lexington Herald.

Death

Underwood died in Lexington, Kentucky on June 29, 1956. He was interred at Lexington Cemetery.

References

1. ^ "Underwood, Thomas Rust". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 24, 2021.

v t e United States senators from Kentucky
Class 2	Brown Thruston Clay Bibb Walker Barry Hardin Crittenden Johnson Bibb Crittenden Morehead J. Underwood Thompson Powell Guthrie McCreery Stevenson Beck Carlisle Lindsay Blackburn Paynter James Martin Stanley Sackett Robsion Williamson M. Logan Chandler Stanfill Cooper Chapman T. Underwood Cooper Barkley Humphreys Cooper Huddleston McConnell
Class 3	Edwards Marshall J. Breckinridge Adair Clay Pope Bledsoe Talbot W. Logan Talbot Rowan Clay Crittenden Metcalfe Clay Meriwether Dixon Crittenden J. C. Breckinridge Davis Machen McCreery Williams Blackburn Deboe McCreary Bradley Camden Beckham Ernst Barkley Withers Clements Morton Cook Ford Bunning Paul

• 1898 births
• 1956 deaths
• People from Hopkinsville, Kentucky
• University of Kentucky alumni
• American people of English descent
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky
• Democratic Party United States senators from Kentucky
• Politicians from Lexington, Kentucky
• 20th-century Kentucky politicians
• Burials at Lexington Cemetery
• Phi Delta Theta members
• 20th-century United States senators
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives