Louis C. Wyman

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Wyman, see Wyman (disambiguation).
Louis Wyman
Joseph Oliva Huot
Succeeded byNorman D'Amours
Attorney General of New Hampshire
In office
January 15, 1953 – February 2, 1961
GovernorHugh Gregg
Lane Dwinell
Wesley Powell
Preceded byGordon Tiffany
Succeeded byGardner Turner
Personal details
Born
Louis Crosby Wyman

(1917-03-16)March 16, 1917
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseVirginia E. Markley (m. 1938)
Children2
EducationUniversity of New Hampshire (BS)
Harvard University (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1942–1946
Rank Lieutenant

Louis Crosby Wyman (March 16, 1917 – May 5, 2002) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a

U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. This was one of the shortest tenures in Senate history. He was a member of the Republican Party.[1]

Early life and career

Wyman was born on March 16, 1917, in

Ropes and Gray.[4]

During the

attorney general of New Hampshire from 1953 to 1961; president of the National Association of Attorneys General in 1957; and as legislative counsel to the Governor of New Hampshire in 1961; member and chairman of several state legal and judicial commissions. His attempts to investigate alleged communists as attorney general lead to the Supreme Court case Sweezy v. New Hampshire, which ruled against the state and Wyman on due process grounds.[5]

House of Representatives

He was elected as a

1964
, but regained his seat in 1966 and was reelected three more times.

Wyman was behind an amendment to 1964 automobile safety legislation which prohibited a "seat belt interlock system" in automobiles.[6] The interlock system prevented automobiles from starting unless the driver was wearing a seatbelt.[6] Consumer advocates had advocated for the safety measure, but the measure also provoked much opposition.[6]

Senate election

Main article:
1974 and 1975 United States Senate elections in New Hampshire

Wyman did not run for reelection to his House seat in 1974, opting instead to run for the Senate seat that was due to come open by 20-year incumbent Norris Cotton's retirement. The initial returns showed him defeating Democratic candidate John A. Durkin by 355 votes on election night.[7]

Durkin demanded a recount, which resulted in Durkin winning by ten votes.

Meldrim Thomson then certified Durkin as the winner. However, Wyman demanded another recount in which he prevailed by two votes. Cotton resigned on December 31, 1974; Thomson appointed Wyman to the seat for the balance of the term ending January 3, 1975, to give him a leg up in seniority. This appeared to end the dispute, but Durkin appealed to the full Senate, which is the final arbiter of Senate elections per the Constitution
.

The Senate Rules Committee, which has jurisdiction over the results of Senate elections, then deadlocked on whether to seat Wyman for the 1975–1981 term pending the resolution of the dispute. On January 14, the Senate returned the matter to the Rules Committee, which returned 35 disputed points to the full Senate based on 3,000 questionable ballots. However, the Senate was unable to break a deadlock on even one of the 35 points.

After seven months of wrangling which included six unsuccessful Democratic attempts to seat Durkin, Wyman, having never been seated, proposed that he and Durkin run again in a special election. Durkin agreed, and the Senate declared the seat officially vacant on August 8, 1975, pending the new election. Thomson appointed Cotton to his old seat in the meantime. The special election was held on September 16, and Durkin won handily, defeating Wyman by nearly 28,000 votes—ending what is still the closest Senate election since the people gained the right to directly elect Senators with the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913.

Later life

Wyman served as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court from 1978 to 1987.[8] He was a resident of Manchester, N.H. and West Palm Beach, Florida, until his death due to cancer on May 5, 2002.[7] Wyman's remains were cremated, and the ashes scattered at sea.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Senate: The Election Case of John A. Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman of New Hampshire (1975)".
  2. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Wyble to Wyzanski".
  3. ^ a b c "WYMAN, Louis Crosby - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  4. Manchester Union-Leader
    . p. 14.
  5. ^ Blanchard, Joan M.; Bender, Martin J. (2015). Patriots, Pirates, Politicians and Profit Seekers: New Hampshire Cases and the United States Supreme Court (2nd ed.). New Hampshire Bar Association. pp. 84–86.
  6. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    .
  7. ^
    The Associated Press
    . 9 May 2002. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  8. ^ "In Memoriam - Louis C. Wyman". New Hampshire Bar Association. 17 May 2002. Retrieved 13 December 2017.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of New Hampshire
1953–1961 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Chester Earl Merrow
 Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district

1963–1965 		Succeeded by
Joseph Oliva Huot
Preceded by
Joseph Oliva Huot
 Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district

1967–1974 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
1974, 1975
 Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 3) from New Hampshire
1974–1975
Served alongside: Thomas McIntyre 		Succeeded by
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