Louis C. Wyman Explained

Louis Wyman
Jr/Sr:United States Senator
State:New Hampshire
Appointer:Meldrim Thomson Jr.
Term Start:December 31, 1974
Term End:January 3, 1975
Predecessor:Norris Cotton
Successor:Norris Cotton
State1:New Hampshire
Term Start1:January 3, 1963
Term End1:January 3, 1965
Predecessor1:Charles Earl Merrow
Successor1:Joseph Oliva Huot
Term Start2:January 3, 1967
Term End2:December 31, 1974
Predecessor2:Joseph Oliva Huot
Successor2:Norman D'Amours
Office3:Attorney General of New Hampshire
Governor3:Hugh Gregg
Lane Dwinell
Wesley Powell
Term Start3:January 15, 1953
Term End3:February 2, 1961
Predecessor3:Gordon Tiffany
Successor3:Gardner Turner
Birth Name:Louis Crosby Wyman
Birth Date:16 March 1917
Birth Place:Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.
Death Place:West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Party:Republican
Children:2
Education:University of New Hampshire (BS)
Harvard University (LLB)
Allegiance: United States
Serviceyears:1942–1946
Rank: Lieutenant

Louis Crosby Wyman (March 16, 1917 – May 5, 2002) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a U.S. Representative and, for three days, a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. This was one of the shortest tenures in Senate history. He was a member of the Republican Party.[1]

Early life and career

Wyman was born on March 16, 1917, in Manchester, New Hampshire, the son of Alice Sibley (Crosby) and Louis Eliot Wyman.[2] He graduated from the University of New Hampshire at Durham in 1938 and from Harvard Law School in 1941.[3] He was admitted to the bars of Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1941, and of Florida in 1957, and commenced the practice of law in Boston, Massachusetts,[3] at Ropes and Gray.[4]

During the Second World War, he served in the Alaskan Theater as a lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946. He also served as general counsel to a United States Senate committee in 1946; secretary to Senator Styles Bridges in 1947; counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation from 1948 to 1949; attorney general of New Hampshire from 1953 to 1961; president of the National Association of Attorneys General in 1957; and as legislative counsel to the Governor of New Hampshire in 1961; member and chairman of several state legal and judicial commissions. His attempts to investigate alleged communists as attorney general lead to the Supreme Court case Sweezy v. New Hampshire, which ruled against the state and Wyman on due process grounds.[5]

House of Representatives

He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House from in 1962. He was swept out in the Democratic landslide of 1964, but regained his seat in 1966 and was reelected three more times.

Wyman was behind an amendment to 1964 automobile safety legislation which prohibited a "seat belt interlock system" in automobiles.[6] The interlock system prevented automobiles from starting unless the driver was wearing a seatbelt. Consumer advocates had advocated for the safety measure, but the measure also provoked much opposition.

Senate election

See main article: 1974 and 1975 United States Senate elections in New Hampshire. Wyman did not run for reelection to his House seat in 1974, opting instead to run for the Senate seat that was due to come open by 20-year incumbent Norris Cotton's retirement. The initial returns showed him defeating Democratic candidate John A. Durkin by 355 votes on election night.[7]

Durkin demanded a recount, which resulted in Durkin winning by ten votes.[7] Governor Meldrim Thomson then certified Durkin as the winner. However, Wyman demanded another recount in which he prevailed by two votes. Cotton resigned on December 31, 1974; Thomson appointed Wyman to the seat for the balance of the term ending January 3, 1975, to give him a leg up in seniority. This appeared to end the dispute, but Durkin appealed to the full Senate, which is the final arbiter of Senate elections per the Constitution.

The Senate Rules Committee, which has jurisdiction over the results of Senate elections, then deadlocked on whether to seat Wyman for the 1975–1981 term pending the resolution of the dispute. On January 14, the Senate returned the matter to the Rules Committee, which returned 35 disputed points to the full Senate based on 3,000 questionable ballots. However, the Senate was unable to break a deadlock on even one of the 35 points.

After seven months of wrangling which included six unsuccessful Democratic attempts to seat Durkin, Wyman, having never been seated, proposed that he and Durkin run again in a special election. Durkin agreed, and the Senate declared the seat officially vacant on August 8, 1975, pending the new election. Thomson appointed Cotton to his old seat in the meantime. The special election was held on September 16, and Durkin won handily, defeating Wyman by nearly 28,000 votes—ending what is still the closest Senate election since the people gained the right to directly elect Senators with the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913.

Later life

Wyman served as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court from 1978 to 1987.[8] He was a resident of Manchester, N.H. and West Palm Beach, Florida, until his death due to cancer on May 5, 2002.[7] Wyman's remains were cremated, and the ashes scattered at sea.[3]

See also

References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-01-25

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: U.S. Senate: The Election Case of John A. Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman of New Hampshire (1975) .
  2. Web site: The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Wyble to Wyzanski.
  3. Web site: WYMAN, Louis Crosby - Biographical Information. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 13 December 2017.
  4. News: Wyman Slated To Take Over as Attorney General . O'Neil . D. Frank . January 10, 1953 . . 14 . en-US.
  5. Book: Patriots, Pirates, Politicians and Profit Seekers: New Hampshire Cases and the United States Supreme Court . Blanchard . Joan M. . Bender . Martin J. . New Hampshire Bar Association . 2015 . 2nd . 84–86.
  6. News: Times . Walter Rugaber Special to The New York . 1974-10-16 . Congress Clears Auto Safety Measure Eliminating Seat Belt Interlock System . en-US . The New York Times . 0362-4331.
  7. News: Louis C. Wyman, 85; Served 5 Terms in House. 13 December 2017. The New York Times. The Associated Press. 9 May 2002.
  8. Web site: In Memoriam - Louis C. Wyman. New Hampshire Bar Association. 13 December 2017. 17 May 2002.