Charles W. Brooks

This article is about the United States Senator, for other uses, see Charles Brooks (disambiguation).

Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1940 to 1949.[1]

He was born in West Bureau, Illinois and during World War I Brooks served as a first lieutenant in the United States Marines from 1917 to 1919; while in combat he was wounded several times.

Wayland Brooks ran for Governor of Illinois in 1936 but was defeated by incumbent Democrat Henry Horner. In 1940 Brooks was elected to fill the senate vacancy caused by the death of J. Hamilton Lewis by a very narrow margin. Brooks was reelected in 1942 and ran for reelection in 1948 but was defeated by Democrat Paul Douglas. He died in Chicago, Illinois.

Family

Brooks married Mary Elizabeth Thomas Peavey, a widow and daughter of U.S. Senate colleague John W. Thomas of Idaho, in 1945. They remained married to his death. Mary Brooks later became a member of the Idaho Senate and for eight years was Director of the United States Mint during the Nixon and Ford administrations. His step-son, John Peavey, is a Democratic politician in Idaho.