Preceded by James P. Pope Nationality United States Succeeded by Henry Dworshak Party Democratic Party | Preceded by Thomas Coffin Spouse Virgil Irwin (m. 1926) Succeeded by Glen H. Taylor Name David Clark | |
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Born April 2, 1902
Idaho Falls, Idaho ( 1902-04-02 ) Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery,
Culver City, California Role Former United States Senator Died June 19, 1955, Los Angeles, California, United States Residence Pocatello, Idaho, United States Education Harvard University, Harvard Law School, University of Notre Dame | ||
Previous office Senator (ID) 1939–1945 | ||
David Worth Clark, aka D. Worth Clark (April 2, 1902 – June 19, 1955), was a Democratic congressman and United States Senator from Idaho.
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Early years
According to the Idaho State Historical Society, Clark attended public schools in Idaho Falls and graduated from Idaho Falls High School. He attended Columbia University in Portland, Oregon, and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1922. Clark graduated from Harvard Law School in 1925 and was admitted to the bar that year. He commenced practice in Idaho at Pocatello, and was the state's assistant attorney general from 1933 to 1935.
Clark was a member of a prominent Idaho political family; his uncles Barzilla W. Clark and Chase A. Clark both served as governor of Idaho. His cousin Bethine, Chase Clark's daughter, married future U.S. Senator Frank Church in 1947.
House
D. Worth Clark was elected to the U.S. House from the 2nd district of Idaho in 1934. The seat had been vacant for several months, since the untimely death of Thomas Coffin in June. Clark was re-elected in 1936, defeating his successor, newspaper publisher Henry Dworshak of Burley.
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Senate
In 1938, Clark ran for the United States Senate. He defeated the incumbent, James Pope of Boise, in the Democratic primary in August, a setback for New Deal supporters. Clark defeated Republican Donald Callahan of Wallace in the general election. Clark himself was defeated for renomination in the 1944 Democratic primary by Glen H. Taylor of Pocatello. Clark ran to recover his Senate seat in 1950 and defeated Taylor in the primary, as Taylor became the third consecutive incumbent of that Senate seat to lose in the Democratic primary. In the general election in November, Clark lost to Republican Herman Welker of Payette, as all four congressional seats (two House, two Senate) went to Republicans. Welker aligned himself in the Senate with the infamous Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and lost his re-election bid in 1956 to 32 year-old Frank Church of Boise, who served four terms.
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After Congress
After losing to Welker, Clark resumed the practice of law in Boise and Washington, D.C.. He moved to Los Angeles in 1954 and held financial interests in radio stations in Van Nuys, San Francisco, and Honolulu, and a bank in Las Vegas. While watching television with his wife and youngest daughter, Clark died of a heart attack at his southern California home at age 53 on June 19, 1955, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.