Rush Dew HOLT, Congress, WV (1905-1955)

HOLT Rush Dew , a Senator from West Virginia; born in Weston, Lewis County, W.Va., June 19, 1905; attended the public schools and West Virginia University at Morgantown; graduated from Salem (W.Va.) College in 1924; became a high school teacher and athletic coach; instructor at Salem (W.Va.) College and Glenville (W.Va.) State Teachers' College; member, State house of delegates 1931-1935; member of the United States delegation to the Interparliamentary Conference, Oslo, Norway, in 1939; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on November 6, 1934, for the term beginning January 3, 1935, but not having reached the age qualification required by the Constitution did not take his seat until June 21, 1935, and served until January 3, 1941; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1940; elected to the State house of delegates in 1942, 1944, 1946, and 1948; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1944 and for the 1948 Democratic nomination for United States Senator; engaged in research work; changed party affiliation in 1949 and was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to the Eighty-second Congress in 1950, and for election as Governor in 1952; elected to the State house of delegates in 1954 and served until his death; died in Bethesda, Md., February 8, 1955; interment in Macpelah Cemetery, Weston, W.Va.

Bibliography

Coffey, William. "Rush Dew Holt, The Boy Senator from West Virginia." Ph.D. dissertation, West Virginia University, 1970; Coode, Thomas H., and Agnes H. Riggs. "The Private Papers of West Virginia's Boy Senator, Rush Drew Holt." West Virginia History 35 (July 1974): 296-318.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present