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Walter Dee Huddleston
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	John Sherman Cooper
Succeeded by	Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader of the Kentucky Senate
In office January 1970 – December 1972
Preceded by	Richard L. Frymire
Succeeded by	Tom Garrett
Member of the Kentucky Senate from the 10th district
In office January 4, 1966 – December 1972
Preceded by	Paul Fuqua
Succeeded by	Joe Prather
Personal details
Born	Walter Darlington Huddleston (1926-04-15)April 15, 1926 Burkesville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	October 16, 2018(2018-10-16) (aged 92) Warsaw, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Martha Jean Pearce ​ ​(m. 1947; died 2003)​
Children	2
Education	University of Kentucky (BA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1944–1946
Battles/wars	World War II

Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston (April 15, 1926 – October 16, 2018) was an American commercial broadcaster and politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served two terms as a member of the United States Senate from 1973 to 1985. He was defeated for re-election in 1984 by Mitch McConnell by 5,269 votes.

Early life

Huddleston was born on April 15, 1926 in the town of Burkesville, Kentucky. He was one of the nine children of Walter Franklin Huddleston and Lottie Belle Russell. His father was a Methodist preacher. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a tank gunner in Europe during and after World War II from 1944 to 1946. He then attended the University of Kentucky with support from the G.I. Bill, and he then graduated in 1949. On December 20, 1947, Huddleston married the former Martha Jean Pearce at Duncan Memorial Chapel in Oldham County, Kentucky. Together, they had two sons, Stephen Huddleston and Philip Huddleston (died April 10, 2022). Martha Jean Huddleston died on August 18, 2003.

After graduating from college, Huddleston worked as the sports and program director for WKCT in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In 1952, he became the general manager of WIEL in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He later became president of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association.

Career

Huddleston entered politics in 1964 when he was elected to the Kentucky State Senate. He was elected as a state senator in 1965, serving until 1972; for a time, he was the body's majority leader. On June 15, 1972, Huddleston was one of 20 Democratic senators that voted for Kentucky to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

U.S. Senate

In 1972, Huddleston ran for the United States Senate seat which was being vacated by retiring Republican John Sherman Cooper. He narrowly defeated Republican Louie Nunn, a recent former governor, receiving a 51% to 48% margin. Huddleston ran the camapaign by repeatedly faulting Nunn for raising the sales tax when was governor. Huddleston was reelected in 1978 with 61 percent of the vote over the former Republican state Representative Louie R. Guenthner Jr., of Louisville, Kentucky.

During his Senate Career, Huddleston supported the Equal Rights Amendment to prohibit sex discrimination, but was critical of abortion rights. He endorsed voluntary school prayers and Kentucky products like tobacco, bourbon and coal. He supported price control through shifting some of the price to the farmers. He also voiced opposition to excessive drinking labels. He supported the 1977 treaty which ceded the canal to Panama and wished to limit covert intelligence operations.

1984 campaign vs. Mitch McConnell

In 1984, Huddleston's Republican opponent was Jefferson County (Louisville) Judge-Executive Mitch McConnell. McConnell gained political traction with a series of television campaign ads mocking Huddleston's attendance record in the Senate. McConnell accused him of putting "his private speaking engagements ahead of his Senate responsibilities." Despite these ads, the race was very close, with McConnell only defeating Huddleston when the last returns came in (49.9% to 49.5%).

Post-Senate career

As was typical of party members from Kentucky, Huddleston was known as a member of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.

After his retirement, Huddleston returned to Elizabethtown, Kentucky and began working as a lobbyist for railroad, tobacco and agricultural clients. He also lobbied in behalf of Louisville-based health insurance company Humana and Capitol Holding, a parent of Commonwealth Life Insurance.

In the late 1980s, Huddleston served on the National Board of Advisors of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigration group advocating for a lower rate of legal immigration.

In 2012, Huddleston announced he was stepping down as chairman of First Financial Service Corporation.

Death

In the last year of his life, Huddleston lived in Warsaw, Kentucky, at the home of his son, Stephen Huddleston; where he died in his sleep on October 16, 2018, age 92. Mitch McConnell, who had since risen to the highest ranks in the Senate leadership, released a statement paying tribute to Huddleston's "tenacity," and stated that both he and his wife, Elaine Chao, were "saddened" when they heard of his passing. He was interred at Elizabetown Cemetery in the town of Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

References

1. Kentucky General Assembly Membership 1900-2005; Vol. II 1950 - 2005 (PDF). Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 2005. p. 11. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
2. ^ "Walter 'Dee' Huddleston, who lost Senate seat to Mitch McConnell, dies". Courier-Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
3. ^ Roberts, Sam (October 17, 2018). "Walter Huddleston, Senator Toppled by Mitch McConnell, Dies at 92" – via NYTimes.com.
4. ^ "Former U.S. Sen. Walter 'Dee' Huddleston dies at 92". Kentucky. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
5. ^ Sheroan, Ben (October 16, 2018). "Broadcaster turned legislator, Dee Huddleston impacted area". The News-Enterprise. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
6. "Nov 02, 1947, page 22 - The Courier-Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
7. "Walter 'Dee' Huddleston, former U.S. Senator, dies at age 92 at son's home in Warsaw". Kentucky Forward. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
8. ^ "Former Kentucky U.S. Senator Walter 'Dee' Huddleston has died". WDRB. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
9. Pardue, Anne (June 16, 1972). "Kentucky becomes 19th to ratify equal rights for women amendment". The Courier Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. 1.
10. "Former US Sen. Walter 'Dee' Huddleston dies at 92". Herald Mail Media. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
11. "Nixon sweeps to landslide victory". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 8, 1972. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
12. "KY US Senate". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
13. "Walter Huddleston, Kentucky Senator Who Preceded Mitch McConnell, Dead at 92". RollCall. October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
14. Mayer, Jane (February 15, 2012). "Who Let the Attack-Ad Dogs Out?". New Yorker. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
15. Mark R. Chellgren (November 7, 1984). "Dee upset by McConnell in close race". Williamson Daily News. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
16. "Former US Sen. Walter 'Dee' Huddleston dies at 92". Finger Lake Times. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
17. "Former Kentucky senator Dee Huddleston dead at 92". The Hill. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
18. "CEO of First Financial in Kentucky Stepping Down for Health Reasons". Americanbanker.com. February 10, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
19. "Former KY US Sen. Walter "Dee" Huddleston dies". wymt.com. October 16, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2021.

External links

• United States Congress. "Walter Dee Huddleston (id: H000905)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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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

• 1926 births
• 2018 deaths
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• American radio executives
• Democratic Party United States senators from Kentucky
• Democratic Party Kentucky state senators
• Military personnel from Kentucky
• People from Burkesville, Kentucky
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• United States Army soldiers
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• Members of Congress who became lobbyists
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