Henry F. Ashurst
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Henry Fountain Ashurst (September 13, 1874–May 31, 1962), a Democrat, was the first Senator from Arizona, from 1912 to 1941. He died in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 1962, and is interred in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.
[edit] Biography
Ashurst was born in Winnemucca, Humboldt County, Nevada on September 13, 1874, but moved to Flagstaff, Arizona a year later. He graduated from Stockton Business College in 1896, then studied law and political economy at the University of Michigan in 1897. Ashurst then served in the Territorial House of Representatives from 1897 to 1899, the Territorial Senate in 1903, and as the district attorney of Coconino County from 1905 to 1908. With the admission of Arizona into the United States in 1912, Ashurst was elected as its first Senator alongside Marcus A. Smith. He served for the next 30 years, when he lost the election to the 77th United States Congress to Ernest W. McFarland, a fellow Democrat.
In addition to his aforementioned political duties, Henry Ashurst served on the Committee on Indian Affairs (63rd–65th Congress), the Committee on Industrial Expositions during the 63rd Congress, the Committee on Investigation of Trespassers Upon Indian Lands during the 66th Congress, and the Committee on the Judiciary (73rd–76th Congress). His final service to the US Government was on the Board of Immigration Appeals, on which he served from April 8, 1941 to February 28, 1943, when he retired.
Ashurst has a funny cameo appearance as an ancient senator caught napping during a quorum call in Otto Preminger's classic political masterpiece "Advise and Consent" (1962).
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: (none) |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Arizona 1912–1941 Served alongside: Marcus A. Smith, Ralph H. Cameron, Carl T. Hayden |
Succeeded by: Ernest W. McFarland |
