This article is about the United States Senator, for other uses, see Charles Brooks (disambiguation).

Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 from 1940 to 1949.http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000874

He was born in West Bureau, Illinois and during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Brooks served as a first lieutenant in the United States Marines from 1917 to 1919; while in combat he was wounded several times.

Wayland Brooks ran for Governor of Illinois

Governor of Illinois

The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....

 in 1936 but was defeated by incumbent Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Henry Horner

Henry Horner

Henry Horner was the 28th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1933 to 1940, when he died in office. Horner was the first Jewish governor of Illinois.- Political biography :...

. In 1940 Brooks was elected to fill the senate vacancy caused by the death of J. Hamilton Lewis

J. Hamilton Lewis

James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...

 by a very narrow margin. Brooks was reelected in 1942 and ran for reelection in 1948 but was defeated by Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Paul Douglas

Paul Douglas

Paul Howard Douglas was an liberal American politician and University of Chicago economist. A war hero, he was elected as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois from in the 1948 landslide, serving until his defeat in 1966...

. He died in Chicago, Illinois.