1. Karl Earl Mundt was an American educator and a Republican member of the United States Congress, representing South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.
23 Facts About Karl Mundt
1. 2.
Karl Mundt was the son of Ferdinand John Mundt and Rose Mundt.
3.
In 1924, Karl Mundt married Mary Elizabeth Moses, a college classmate who taught at Bryant High School.
4.
Karl Mundt headed the speech department and taught psychology and economics, while Mary taught drama and French.
5.
In 1936, Mundt was the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in South Dakota's 1st congressional district, losing in a Democratic year to Fred H Hildebrandt.
6.
Karl Mundt won the seat in the 1938 election, a year more favorable to Republicans, and was re-elected four times.
7.
Karl Mundt resigned his House seat on December 30,1948, having been appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Vera C Bushfield, who had succeeded her husband after his death in September 1948.
8.
Karl Mundt was re-elected to the Senate in 1954,1960, and 1966.
9.
On November 23,1969, Karl Mundt suffered a severe stroke and was unable to attend sessions of Congress, although he received extensive speech and physical therapy.
10.
Karl Mundt was stripped of his committee assignments by the Senate Republican Conference in 1972, but he remained in office through the end of his term on January 3,1973.
11.
Karl Mundt did not seek reelection in 1972, and was succeeded in the Senate by Democrat James G Abourezk.
12.
Karl Mundt died in Washington, DC in 1974 of a heart ailment and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Madison, South Dakota.
13.
Karl Mundt was a key proponent of the Voice of America, which was established as a result of the Smith-Mundt Act, signed into law in 1948.
14.
Karl Mundt was a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee from 1943 to 1948.
15.
Karl Mundt was unsuccessful in attempts to have HUAC continue investigating the Ku Klux Klan.
16.
Karl Mundt introduced a modification to Title 50, criminalizing the passage of certain classified information to foreign nationals.
17.
Karl Mundt voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,1960,1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the US Supreme Court.
18.
Karl Mundt served as the organization's national president from 1932 until 1971.
19.
Karl Mundt was the primary sponsor of the Alexander Hamilton Bicentennial Convention, held in the summer of 1957.
20.
The Karl Mundt Archives including personal papers, congressional correspondence and many personal items are available at Dakota State University in Madison.
21.
The Karl Mundt Library was named in his honor and dedicated by Richard Nixon in 1969.
22.
The Karl Mundt Archives are now one with the library.
23.
One of the principal characters of the Coen brothers' 1991 film Barton Fink is a traveling salesman named Karl Mundt, played by actor John Goodman.