Warren Magnuson

Warren Grant Magnuson (April 12, 1905 – May 20, 1989) was an American lawyer and politician who represented the state of Washington in Congress for 44 years, first as a representative from 1937 to 1944, and then as a senator from 1944 to 1981. Magnuson was a member of the Democratic Party. He was Washington state's longest-serving senator, serving over 36 years. During his final two years in office, he was the most senior senator and president pro tempore. Magnuson was the longest-serving member of Congress to end his career by being defeated for reelection.

Early life and education Warren Magnuson was born in Moorhead, Minnesota. His birthdate is supposedly April 12, 1905, but the actual records of his birth are sealed. According to various sources, he never knew his birth parents; they may have died within a month of his birth, or his unmarried mother may have put him up for adoption. William Grant and Emma (née Anderson) Magnuson adopted Warren, and gave him their name. The Magnusons were second-generation Scandinavian immigrants who operated a bar in Moorhead, and adopted a daughter, Clara, a year after adopting Warren. His adoptive father left the family in 1921. He was a leading supporter of repealing state Prohibition laws and establishing the state Liquor Control Board. He was reelected in 1938, 1940, and 1942. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Magnuson staunchly supported the U.S. war effort.

Magnuson served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was aboard the aircraft carrier for several months, seeing heavy combat in the Pacific Theater until Roosevelt ordered all congressmen on active duty to return home in 1942.

Magnuson was reelected in 1950, 1956, 1962, 1968, and 1974. He served on the Senate Commerce Committee throughout his tenure in the Senate. In his last years in the Senate, he gave up his chairmanship of the Commerce Committee to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee, as a result of the death of Senator John L. McClellan. Magnuson served most of his Senate tenure alongside his friend and colleague from Washington state, Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson. Republican State Attorney General Slade Gorton defeated Magnuson in the 1980 election.

In 1948, Magnuson called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Magnuson was responsible for special legislation in 1949 that allowed Poon Lim, a Chinese sailor who in 1942 survived 133 days alone at sea as a castaway, to immigrate to the U.S. and become a citizen.

In August 1950, Magnuson proposed voluntary enlistment for the Japanese in the American armed forces and sent a cable request to General Douglas MacArthur on the practicality of the proposal.

President John F. Kennedy (seated) prepares to sign the S-610 Act, establishing the United States Travel Service within the Department of Commerce, June 29, 1961. Leaning over his shoulder is Magnuson.

In November 1961, President John F. Kennedy visited Seattle and was an honored guest at a celebration honoring Magnuson's first 25 years in Congress. Nearly 3,000 people paid $100 each to attend the dinner.

The bill that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was referred to the Committee on Commerce. Magnuson played a key role in getting it to the floor and enacted into law despite vigorous opposition by Senator William Fulbright and other segregationists.

Magnuson (standing) dines with Washington Governor Albert Rosellini and his wife Ethel at the Seattle Space Needle restaurant on opening day, April 21, 1962.

At the end of August 1966, after President Lyndon Johnson announced the nominations of Charles F. Luce for Undersecretary of the Interior, John A. Carver for Federal Power Commission membership, and David S. Black for BPA administrator, Magnuson announced the Senate Commerce committee would hold hearings on Carver's nomination on September 1. He called Luce "one of the most able, dedicated, productive public servants I know."

On November 7, 1967, Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, citing Magnuson as one of the members of Congress to "have been part of the team that has brought this measure to the White House to make it the law of our land."

Magnuson attended the May 5, 1978, dedication ceremony for Riverfront Park in Spokane. Shortly after that, during a town hall meeting, President Jimmy Carter said, "No one could be in a better political position than to be preceded and introduced by men like Tom Foley and Senator Warren Magnuson. I know of no one in the Congress than these two men who are more respected, more dedicated to serving their own people well, but who have also reached, because of their experience and knowledge, sound judgment and commitment, a position of national and even international renown and leadership."

Legacy At least four important pieces of legislation bear Magnuson's name: the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act (Magnuson Act of 1943), the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the Magnuson Act of 1950 . He was also instrumental in keeping supertankers out of Puget Sound, by attaching an amendment to a routine funding reauthorization bill on the Senate and House consent calendars.

Later years and death After his defeat for reelection, Magnuson kept active in politics. He had been part of a U.N.-sponsored organization to study nuclear proliferation and lobbied the legislature to pass a flat tax for schools.

In his later years, Magnuson was beset by health problems. In 1982, he underwent surgery due to a diabetic condition, which saw several of the toes on his left foot amputated. As the decade progressed, Magnuson's public presence dwindled appreciably. He and his wife are interred in Acacia Memorial Park in Lake Forest Park, north of Seattle.

Personal life In 1928, Magnuson married Eleanor Peggy "Peggins" Maddieux, crowned Miss Seattle the previous year. Magnuson dated several glamorous women, including heiress and cover girl June Millarde and actress Carole Parker. holds an annual Magnuson awards dinner (sometimes referred to as the Maggies, per his nickname). The Intercollegiate College of Nursing building in Spokane on Fort George Wright Drive near Spokane Falls Community College is named after him.

Notes and references

Related reading Scates, Shelby Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997)