24 Facts About Clinton Anderson

Clinton Presba Anderson was an American politician who represented New Mexico in the United States Senate from 1949 until 1973.

Clinton Anderson's parents were Andrew Jay and Hattie Belle Anderson.

Clinton Anderson was educated in the public school system of South Dakota and attended Dakota Wesleyan University and the University of Michigan but did not receive a degree from either institution.

Clinton Anderson worked for several months for a newspaper in Mitchell, South Dakota, until he became seriously ill with tuberculosis.

Clinton Anderson was not aware of his illness until he attempted to join the US military in 1917 upon America's entrance into World War I Doctors gave him six months to live.

Clinton Anderson promptly did so, and while recovering there, he occasionally wrote for the Albuquerque Herald.

Some ideas eventually became state law, and Clinton Anderson began a lifelong association with the Democratic Party.

Clinton Anderson returned to public life, becoming chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party in 1928 and state treasurer of New Mexico in 1933.

Party members convinced Clinton Anderson to run for the seat, which he won by using his many business and political contacts throughout the state.

Clinton Anderson became known for his thorough investigative work, and during his three terms in the House of Representatives, he was assigned to several special committees, including the chairmanship of the Special Committee to Investigate Food Shortages in 1945.

Shortly after Harry S Truman became president in 1945, he selected Anderson to serve as his Secretary of Agriculture.

Clinton Anderson addressed issues such as price controls, shortages, and subsidies, and he played an important role in developing postwar agricultural policies.

Clinton Anderson made two controversial moves to change the drastic problems.

US food production and worldwide distribution was stabilized by 1948, and Clinton Anderson decided to retire from the Cabinet.

However, state Democrats, led by retiring Senator Carl Hatch, convinced Anderson to run for Hatch's seat against the formidable and distinguished diplomat Patrick J Hurley.

Clinton Anderson prevailed, with the Democrats regaining control of the Senate, and went on to be re-elected by wide margins in 1960 and 1966.

Clinton Anderson is known for the Price-Clinton Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, as well as for forcing cancellation of the 1954 Dixon-Yates contract with the AEC for power from the TVA for the city of Memphis.

Clinton Anderson was instrumental in gaining funding for the program while chairing the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences from 1963 to 1973.

In 1967, Clinton Anderson chaired the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences that investigated the NASA Apollo 1 accident.

On June 22,1921, Clinton Anderson married the former Henrietta McCartney, and the couple returned home to Albuquerque.

On January 3,1973, due to his age and growing health problems, Clinton Anderson retired after having served four terms in the US Senate.

On November 11,1975, just two years later, Clinton Anderson died at his home in Albuquerque from a massive stroke, at the age of 80.

Clinton Anderson was buried at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque.

In 1977, Clinton Anderson was posthumously inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.