Preceded by Hugh Ike Shott Political party Republican Party Republican Party Succeeded by Robert Byrd Education University of Virginia | Name W. Revercomb Succeeded by Matthew M. Neely Religion Presbyterianism | |
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Full Name William Chapman Revercomb Born July 20, 1895
Covington, Virginia ( 1895-07-20 ) Role Former United States Senator Died October 6, 1979, Charleston, West Virginia, United States Previous offices Senator (WV) 1956–1959, Senator (WV) 1943–1949 | ||
Preceded by William R. Laird, III | ||
William Chapman Revercomb (July 20, 1895 – October 6, 1979) was an American politician and lawyer in the state of West Virginia. He served two separate terms in the United States Senate.
Life and career
Revercomb was born in Covington, Virginia, the son of Elizabeth Forrer (Chapman) and George Anderson Revercomb. He attended Washington and Lee University before entering the United States Army in World War I where he served as a corporal. Returning from the war, he transferred to the law school at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1919. He practiced law in Covington for few years before moving to Charleston, West Virginia in 1922.
He was elected to the Senate in 1942. There he championed opposition to the foreign and domestic policies of the administration of Harry S. Truman and was a stalwart supporter of civil rights. In 1945, Revercomb was among the seven senators who opposed full United States entry into the United Nations. Revercomb was defeated for re-election in 1948 and for the state's other Senate seat in 1952. In both races, his support of the national Republican party's civil rights policies were major issues.
In 1956, he won a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Harley M. Kilgore, his Democratic opponent in the 1952 election. He re-entered the Senate and served through the end of 1958.
In 1958, he lost to Congressman Robert Byrd in his re-election bid in another racially charged election (Byrd held the seat until his death in 2010, becoming the first U.S. senator to serve uninterrupted for more than 50 years). He then lost the Republican nomination for governor in 1960 and retired from politics. He practiced law in Charleston until his death in 1979.
Revercomb was the last Republican to represent West Virginia in the Senate (his 1956-59 term) until the election of Shelley Moore Capito in 2014 ended a 58- year streak of Democratic Senate victories in the state.