James P. Kem

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James P. Kem

United States Senator from Missouri
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	Frank P. Briggs
Succeeded by	Stuart Symington
Personal details
Born	James Preston Kem (1890-04-02)April 2, 1890 Macon, Missouri
Died	February 24, 1965(1965-02-24) (aged 74) Charlottesville, Virginia
Political party	Republican

James Preston Kem (April 2, 1890 – February 24, 1965) represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1947 to 1953.

Life and career

James P. Kem was born in Macon, Missouri. He attended Blees Military Academy, then graduated from the University of Missouri in 1910, and Harvard Law School in 1913. He was admitted to the bar in 1913 and commenced practice in Kansas City, Missouri. He entered the U.S. Army infantry in 1917 and was a World War I veteran. In 1920, Kem resumed the general practice of law in Kansas City. He built up a very successful corporate practice over the next two decades. By 1943, he served as President of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City and as chairman of the Jackson County Republican Committee. In 1944, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and began building support for a run for the U.S. Senate. Kem defeated incumbent Frank P. Briggs, who had been appointed to the office in 1945 when Harry S. Truman resigned to become vice president.

During his one term in the Senate, Kem was a staunch opponent of President Truman, characterizing him as a puppet of Tom Pendergast's corrupt political machine in Kansas City. Kem lost his re-election bid in 1952 to Democratic candidate, W. Stuart Symington, a former Emerson Electric CEO who had been Secretary of the Air Force in the Truman administration. Kem retired to a Washington, D.C. law practice and then raised angus cattle in Virginia until his death in 1965 at the age of 74.

References

James P. Kem at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
James P. Kem at Find a Grave

United States Senate
Preceded by Frank P. Briggs	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Missouri 1947–1953 Served alongside: Forrest C. Donnell, Thomas C. Hennings, Jr.	Succeeded by Stuart Symington

v t e United States Senators from Missouri

Class 1	Benton Geyer Polk Henderson Schurz Cockrell Warner Reed Patterson Truman Briggs Kem Symington Danforth Ashcroft Carnahan Talent McCaskill

Class 3	Barton Buckner Linn Atchison Green Johnson Wilson Brown Drake Jewett Blair Bogy Armstrong Shields Vest Stone Wilfley Spencer Williams Hawes Clark Donnell Hennings Long Eagleton Bond Blunt

Persondata
Name	Kem, James P.
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	April 2, 1890
Place of birth	Macon, Missouri
Date of death	February 24, 1965
Place of death	Charlottesville, Virginia

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