Wayne Morse
Encyclopedia
Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon
, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War
on constitutional grounds.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin
, and educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota Law School
, Morse moved to Oregon in 1930 and began teaching at the University of Oregon School of Law
. During World War II
he was elected to the United States Senate
as a Republican
; he became an Independent
after Dwight D. Eisenhower
's election to the presidency in 1952. While an independent, he set a record for performing the longest one-person filibuster
in the history of the Senate. Morse joined the Democratic Party
in 1955, and was reelected twice while a member of that party.
Morse made a brief run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1960. A few years later, Morse was one of only two Senators who opposed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
, which authorized the president to take military action in Vietnam without a declaration of war. He continued to speak out against the war in the ensuing years, and lost his 1968 bid for reelection to Bob Packwood
, who criticized his strong opposition to the war. Morse made two more bids for reelection to the Senate before his death in 1974.
, home of his maternal grandparents, Myron and Flora White. Morse's parents, Wayne Lyman Morse and Jessie Elnora Morse, farmed a 320 acres (129.5 ha) plot near Verona
, a small community 11 miles (17.7 km) west-southwest of Madison. Morse grew up on this farm, where the family raised Devon cattle for beef, Percheron
and Hackney
horses, dairy cows, hogs, sheep, poultry, and feed crops for the animals. The family eventually included five children: Mabel, seven years older than Morse; twin brothers Harry and Grant, four years older; Morse; and Caryl, fourteen years younger.
Encouraged by Jessie, the Morse family held relatively formal nightly discussions about crops, animals, education, religion, and most frequently about politics. Like many of their neighbors, the family was Progressive
and discussed ideas championed by Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
, a leader of the Progressive movement who served as Wisconsin's governor from 1900 to 1906 and thereafter as a member of the U.S. Senate. During these family discussions, Morse developed debating skills and strong opinions about political corruption, corporate domination, labor rights, women's suffrage
, education, and, on a personal level, hard work and sobriety.
Morse and his siblings began their education in a one-room school near Verona. However, the Morse parents, particularly Jessie, shared the Progressive belief that improvement of self and society came through good education, and they admired the schools in Madison. After Morse finished second grade, his parents enrolled him in Longfellow School in Madison, to which Morse commuted 22 miles (35.4 km) round-trip daily by riding relay on three of the family's smaller horses. After eighth grade, Morse attended Madison High School, where he became class president and debating club president, and placed academically among the top 10 in his graduating class. In high school, he developed his relationship with Mildred "Midge" Downie, whom he had known since third grade, and who was class valedictorian
and class vice-president the same year Morse was president.
Morse received his bachelor's degree
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1923 and his master's
, in speech, from the same college the next year. He married Downie in the same year. He taught speech at the University of Minnesota Law School
, and earned a law degree
there in 1928. He held a reserve commission as second lieutenant
, Field Artillery, United States Army, from 1923 to 1929. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha
fraternity.
Morse became an assistant professor of law at the University of Oregon School of Law
in 1929. Within nine months, he became an associate professor and then dean of the law school. At age 31, this made him the youngest dean of any law school accredited by the American Bar Association
.
He became full professor of law in 1931. He completed his doctorate in law at Columbia Law School
in 1932. He served on many public commissions over the following years, including a Roosevelt
appointment to settle labor disputes that threatened to halt production of Navy ships during World War II
.
, and then the general election that November. Once in Washington, D.C.
, he revealed his progressive
roots, to the consternation of his more conservative Republican peers. He was outspoken in his opposition to the Taft-Hartley Act
of 1947, which concerned labor relations.
Morse was reelected in 1950. In protest of Dwight Eisenhower's selection of Richard Nixon
as his running mate, Morse left the Republican Party in 1952. The 1952 election produced an almost evenly-divided Senate; Morse brought a folding chair when the session convened, intending to position himself in the aisle between the Democrats and Republicans to underscore his lack of party affiliation. Morse expected to retain certain committee memberships but was denied membership on the Labor Committee and others. He used a parliamentary procedure
to force a vote of the entire Senate, but lost his bid. Senator Herbert Lehman offered Morse his seat on the Labor Committee, which Morse ultimately accepted.
Following Morse's defection, Republicans had a 48–47 majority; the deaths of nine other Senators, and the resignation of another, caused many reversals in control of the Senate during that session. In 1955, Democratic leader Lyndon Johnson persuaded Morse to join the Democratic caucus.
Morse was kicked in the head by a horse in 1951. He sustained major injuries: the kick "tore his lips nearly off, fractured his jaw in four places, knocked out most of his upper teeth, and loosened several others."
In 1953, Morse conducted a filibuster for 22 hours and 26 minutes protesting the Tidelands Oil legislation, which at the time was the longest one-person filibuster in U.S. Senate history. After a term as an independent
, during which he campaigned heavily for Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Richard Neuberger
in 1954, Morse switched to the Democratic Party
in 1955. Despite these changes in party allegiance, for which he was branded a maverick, Morse won re-election to the United States Senate
in 1956. He defeated U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former four-term governor Douglas McKay
in a hotly-contested race; campaign expenditures totaled over $600,000 between the primary and general elections, a very high amount by contemporary standards.
In 1959, Morse opposed Eisenhower's appointment of Clare Boothe Luce
as ambassador to Brazil
. Morse, who had known Luce for many years, chastised Luce for her criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt
. Although the Senate confirmed Luce's appointment in a 79–11 vote, Luce retaliated against him. In her acceptance speech to the Senate, Luce commented that her troubles with Senator Morse were attributable to the injuries he sustained from being kicked by a horse in 1951. She also remarked that riots in Bolivia
might be dealt with by dividing the country up among its neighbors. An immediate backlash against these remarks from Morse and other Senators, and Luce's refusal to retract the remark about the horse, led to her resignation just three days after her appointment.
, the junior senator from Oregon, deteriorated and led to much public feuding. The two had known each other since 1931, when Morse was dean of the University of Oregon law school, and Neuberger was a 19-year-old freshman. Morse befriended Neuberger and often gave him advice, and he used his rhetorical skill to successfully defend Neuberger against charges of academic cheating. After the charges against him were dropped, Neuberger rejected Morse's advice to leave the university and start fresh elsewhere but instead enrolled in Morse's class in criminal law. Morse gave him a "D" in the course and, when Neuberger complained, changed the grade to an "F".
According to Mason Drukman, one of Morse's biographers, even after the two men had become senators, neither could get past what had happened in 1931. "Whatever his accomplishments," Drukman writes, "Neuberger was to Morse a man flawed in character" while Neuberger "could not forgive Morse either for propelling him out of law school ... or for having had to protect him in the honor proceedings." Morse later helped Neuberger, who won his Senate seat in 1954 by only 2,462 votes out of more than a half-million cast, but he also continued to give Neuberger advice that was not always appreciated. "I don't think you should scold me so much," said Neuberger, as quoted by Drukman, in a letter to Morse during the 1954 campaign.
By 1957, the relationship had deteriorated to the point where, rather than talking face-to-face, the senators exchanged angry letters delivered almost daily by messenger between offices in close proximity. Although the letters were private, the feud quickly became public through letters leaked to the press and comments made to colleagues and other third parties, who often had trouble deciding what the fight was about. Drukman describes the feud as a "classic struggle ... of dominating father and rebellious son locked in the age-old fight for supremacy." The feud ended only with Neuberger's death from a stroke
in 1960.
Morse was a late entry in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 1960. It began unofficially at a 1959 press conference held at the state capitol in Salem by local resident Gary Neal and other Morse supporters. They declared they would put Senator Morse on the ballot by petition. As early as April 1959, Morse told a meeting of the state's Young Democrats that he had no intention of running. The group still voted to advance Senator Morse, after Congresswoman Edith Green
introduced him as a favorite son
.
Gary Neal was persistent and by winter of 1959 was nearing completion of his signature petition to place Morse on the May ballot. Morse soon found himself at a meeting with Neal where they discussed his efforts. Neal said to Morse, “if we [supporters] don’t put your name on the ballot, your enemies will." It was clear the elephant in the room
with Gary Neal and Wayne Morse was the Oregon Republican Party
. Morse shot back about the Oregon Republicans, “I say to the Republican Party, trot out your governor. I’m ready to take him on.”
On December 22, 1959, Wayne Morse announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States of America. He said at his announcement, “Although I would have preferred not to have entered the Oregon race, I shall not run away from a good political fight if it is inevitable.” The Morse for President Oregon Headquarters was located at 353 S.W. Morrison St. Portland, Oregon 97204. The Morse entry into the presidential race did not sit well with many who had anticipated significant campaigning in Oregon from a large field of candidates. Morse was accused of flip-flopping on whether or not he would run.
Morse filed to run in May primaries in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Oregon, in that order. He had solid connections in all three areas. Oregon was his home and where his wife and family lived. He owned a small farm in Poolesville, Maryland
, and had spent fifteen years fighting for D.C. home rule
, sponsoring legislation for that cause. Kennedy did not enter the D.C. primary. Senator Hubert Humphrey
was Morse's main opponent in the D.C. contest, which Humphrey won 7,831 to 5,866.
Morse had known when he entered the Maryland contest that he was climbing an extremely steep hill, and had hoped to offset a potential loss there with a win in the District. John F. Kennedy
was a Catholic and Maryland was the birthplace of the American Catholic church. Morse attempted to generate as much media coverage as possible. The New York Times
caught wind of the Morse campaign and did their best to follow Morse around. Morse made his liberalism a key issue at every campaign stop. His remarks in Cumberland, Maryland
suggest that Kennedy was anything but a liberal:
As Morse had predicted, he lost to Kennedy in Maryland. Morse continued to pursue his liberalism strategy as the campaign moved to his home turf. Oregon Democrats prepared for a showdown between Morse and Kennedy, although five candidates would appear on the Oregon ballot. Humphrey, to this point Kennedy's main challenger in the primaries, had lost badly to Kennedy in West Virginia and had dropped out of the race.
The Kennedy campaign began to focus on Oregon. Its workers repeatedly denied that Morse was a serious candidate, but to make sure of a win, the campaign sent Rose Kennedy
, and Ted Kennedy
to speak in Oregon and outspent Morse $54,000 to $9,000. Morse often found himself responding to Kennedy’s claim that he was not a “serious candidate”, by proclaiming: “I’m a dead serious candidate.” Quietly, Oregon Democrats began to worry about what a loss for Morse would mean in 1962 against possible Republican challenger Governor Mark Hatfield
. Morse would use this to his advantage to help sway undecided Democrats, claiming that if he lost in the primary, it would certainly help Republicans defeat him in 1962. Kennedy brushed off this argument by claiming that regardless of the outcome of the presidential primary, the people of Oregon had a tremendous respect for Wayne Morse and would send him back to the Senate, and that he would even come back to Oregon in 1962 to campaign for him. On Election Day, Morse came up roughly 50,000 votes short of defeating Kennedy. Morse abandoned his presidential race that same week.
Morse largely sat out the rest of the 1960 campaign. He even opted out of going to the 1960 Democratic National Convention
. Instead he sat at home and watched it on television from Eugene.
(Alaska's Ernest Gruening
was the other), which authorized an expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
. His central contention was that the resolution violated Article One of the United States Constitution
, granting the President the ability to take military action in the absence of a formal declaration of war
.
During the following years Morse remained one of the country's most outspoken critics of the war. It was later revealed that the FBI investigated Morse based on his opposition to the war, allegedly at the request of President Johnson in an attempt to find information that could be used politically against Morse. In June 1965, Morse joined Benjamin Spock
, Coretta Scott King
and others in leading a large anti-war march in New York City. After that, Morse "readily joined such protests when he could, and eagerly called upon others to participate."
In the 1966 U.S. Senate election
, he angered many in his own party for supporting Oregon's Republican Governor, Mark Hatfield
, over the Democratic nominee, Congressman Robert Duncan
, in that year's Senate election, due to Duncan's support of the Vietnam War. Hatfield won that race, and Duncan then challenged Morse in the 1968 Democratic Senatorial primary. Morse won renomination, but only by a narrow margin. Morse lost his seat in the 1968 general election to State Representative
Bob Packwood
, who criticized Morse's opposition to continued funding of the war as being reckless, and as distracting him from other issues of importance to the state. Packwood won by a mere 3,500 votes, less than one half of one percent of the total votes cast.
Mark Hatfield, the Republican incumbent whom he had endorsed in 1966 over fellow Democrat Duncan because of Hatfield's shared opposition to the war in Vietnam but which had become for Morse, according to his principal biographer, a "dismissible virtue" in 1972.
In that same year, following the withdrawal of Thomas Eagleton
from the national Democratic ticket, a "mini convention" was called to confirm Sargent Shriver
as George McGovern
's vice presidential running mate. Although most of the delegates voted for Shriver, Oregon cast 4 of its 34 votes for Morse.
On March 19, 1974, Morse, at age 73, filed the paperwork to seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat he had lost six years before. Three other Oregon Democrats filed to run against Morse in the 1974 Democratic primary election
on May 28 and made Morse's age a key campaign issue. His most prominent opponent was Oregon Senate President Jason Boe
. The New York Times said in an editorial that Morse would serve the state with "fierce integrity if elected". Morse managed to defeat Boe in the primary and began preparing for the general election.
On July 21, 1974, Morse was hospitalized at Good Samaritan Hospital
in Portland due to kidney failure and was listed in critical condition. Morse died on July 22, 1974, while attempting to keep a busy campaign schedule. An editorial ran in The New York Times stating that death "has deprived the United States Senate of a superb public servant".
The Oregon Democratic Central Committee met in August and nominated State Senator Betty Roberts
to replace Morse as the Democratic nominee in the Senate race. Roberts lost to the incumbent Bob Packwood in the fall.
Wayne Morse was given a state funeral on July 26, 1974, in the Oregon House of Representatives
. His body lay in state in the Capitol
rotunda before the funeral. More than 600 people attended the July 26 funeral service. Former Senator Eugene McCarthy
, Governor Tom McCall
, Senator Mark Hatfield
and Oregon House Speaker Richard Eymann were all in attendance. Pallbearers included Oregon Congressman Al Ullman
and three candidates for Congress, Democrats Les AuCoin
, Jim Weaver, and Morse's old rival, Robert B. Duncan
, who was running for a seat vacated by Congresswoman Edith Green
.
When Congressman AuCoin sought to unseat Senator Packwood 18 years later, he adopted Morse's slogan, "principle above politics." Since 1996, the U.S. Senate seat Morse filled has been held by Ron Wyden
who as a 19-year-old, drove Morse in the senator's last campaign. Elected in a special election after Packwood's resignation, Wyden won a full term in 1998 and re-election in 2004.
In 2006, the Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse
opened in downtown Eugene
. In addition, he was recognized in the Wayne Morse Commons of the University of Oregon's William W. Knight Law Center. Also housed in the University of Oregon Law Center is the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. The Lane County Courthouse in Eugene renovated and rededicated its adjacent Wayne L. Morse Free Speech Plaza in the spring of 2005, complete with a life size statue and pavers imprinted with quotations.
The Morse family's 27 acres (10.9 ha) Eugene property and home, Edgewood Farm, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as the Wayne Morse Farm
. The City of Eugene, assisted by a nonprofit corporation, operates the historical park formerly known as Morse Ranch. The City of Eugene officially renamed the park Wayne Morse Family Farm in 2008, following a recommendation by the Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation Board and Morse family members. The new name is more historically accurate. Wayne L. Morse is interred at Rest Haven Memorial Park in Eugene
.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
on constitutional grounds.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, and educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
, Morse moved to Oregon in 1930 and began teaching at the University of Oregon School of Law
University of Oregon School of Law
The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, on the corner of 15th and Agate streets,...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was elected to the United States Senate
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...
as 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...
; he became an Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
after Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
's election to the presidency in 1952. While an independent, he set a record for performing the longest one-person filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
in the history of the Senate. Morse joined the Democratic Party
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...
in 1955, and was reelected twice while a member of that party.
Morse made a brief run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1960. A few years later, Morse was one of only two Senators who opposed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was a joint resolution which the United States Congress passed on August 10, 1964 in response to a sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron 10135 and the destroyer on August 2 and an alleged second naval engagement between North Vietnamese boats...
, which authorized the president to take military action in Vietnam without a declaration of war. He continued to speak out against the war in the ensuing years, and lost his 1968 bid for reelection to Bob Packwood
Bob Packwood
Robert William "Bob" Packwood is a U.S. politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and assault of women emerged.-Early life and career:Packwood was born in...
, who criticized his strong opposition to the war. Morse made two more bids for reelection to the Senate before his death in 1974.
Life before politics
Morse was born on October 20, 1900, in the Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, home of his maternal grandparents, Myron and Flora White. Morse's parents, Wayne Lyman Morse and Jessie Elnora Morse, farmed a 320 acres (129.5 ha) plot near Verona
Verona, Wisconsin
Verona is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, in the United States and is a suburb of Madison. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,052. With an estimated 2009 population of 11,486, Verona is among the fastest growing municipalities in the state. The city is located ten miles southwest of...
, a small community 11 miles (17.7 km) west-southwest of Madison. Morse grew up on this farm, where the family raised Devon cattle for beef, Percheron
Percheron
The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Perche valley in northern France. Percherons are usually gray or black in color. They are well-muscled, and known for their intelligence and willingness to work. Although their exact origins are unknown, the ancestors of the breed were...
and Hackney
Hackney (horse)
The Hackney Horse is a recognized breed of horse that was developed in Great Britain. In recent decades, the breeding of the Hackney has been directed toward producing horses that are ideal for carriage driving. They are an elegant high stepping breed of carriage horse that is popular for showing...
horses, dairy cows, hogs, sheep, poultry, and feed crops for the animals. The family eventually included five children: Mabel, seven years older than Morse; twin brothers Harry and Grant, four years older; Morse; and Caryl, fourteen years younger.
Encouraged by Jessie, the Morse family held relatively formal nightly discussions about crops, animals, education, religion, and most frequently about politics. Like many of their neighbors, the family was Progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
and discussed ideas championed by Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
, a leader of the Progressive movement who served as Wisconsin's governor from 1900 to 1906 and thereafter as a member of the U.S. Senate. During these family discussions, Morse developed debating skills and strong opinions about political corruption, corporate domination, labor rights, women's suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
, education, and, on a personal level, hard work and sobriety.
Morse and his siblings began their education in a one-room school near Verona. However, the Morse parents, particularly Jessie, shared the Progressive belief that improvement of self and society came through good education, and they admired the schools in Madison. After Morse finished second grade, his parents enrolled him in Longfellow School in Madison, to which Morse commuted 22 miles (35.4 km) round-trip daily by riding relay on three of the family's smaller horses. After eighth grade, Morse attended Madison High School, where he became class president and debating club president, and placed academically among the top 10 in his graduating class. In high school, he developed his relationship with Mildred "Midge" Downie, whom he had known since third grade, and who was class valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
and class vice-president the same year Morse was president.
Morse received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1923 and his master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, in speech, from the same college the next year. He married Downie in the same year. He taught speech at the University of Minnesota Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
, and earned a law degree
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
there in 1928. He held a reserve commission as second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
, Field Artillery, United States Army, from 1923 to 1929. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha is a Greek social fraternity with over 230 chapters and colonies and over 250,000 lifetime initiates in the United States and Canada.-History:...
fraternity.
University of Oregon School of Law
The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, on the corner of 15th and Agate streets,...
in 1929. Within nine months, he became an associate professor and then dean of the law school. At age 31, this made him the youngest dean of any law school accredited by the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
.
He became full professor of law in 1931. He completed his doctorate in law at Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
in 1932. He served on many public commissions over the following years, including a Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
appointment to settle labor disputes that threatened to halt production of Navy ships during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Election to the U.S. Senate
In 1944 Morse won the Republican primary election for Senator, unseating incumbent Rufus C. HolmanRufus C. Holman
Rufus Cecil Holman was an American politician and businessman in the state of Oregon. A Republican and native Oregonian, he served as United States Senator for a single term during World War II...
, and then the general election that November. Once in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, he revealed his progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
roots, to the consternation of his more conservative Republican peers. He was outspoken in his opposition to the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
of 1947, which concerned labor relations.
Morse was reelected in 1950. In protest of Dwight Eisenhower's selection of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
as his running mate, Morse left the Republican Party in 1952. The 1952 election produced an almost evenly-divided Senate; Morse brought a folding chair when the session convened, intending to position himself in the aisle between the Democrats and Republicans to underscore his lack of party affiliation. Morse expected to retain certain committee memberships but was denied membership on the Labor Committee and others. He used a parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...
to force a vote of the entire Senate, but lost his bid. Senator Herbert Lehman offered Morse his seat on the Labor Committee, which Morse ultimately accepted.
Following Morse's defection, Republicans had a 48–47 majority; the deaths of nine other Senators, and the resignation of another, caused many reversals in control of the Senate during that session. In 1955, Democratic leader Lyndon Johnson persuaded Morse to join the Democratic caucus.
Morse was kicked in the head by a horse in 1951. He sustained major injuries: the kick "tore his lips nearly off, fractured his jaw in four places, knocked out most of his upper teeth, and loosened several others."
In 1953, Morse conducted a filibuster for 22 hours and 26 minutes protesting the Tidelands Oil legislation, which at the time was the longest one-person filibuster in U.S. Senate history. After a term as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
, during which he campaigned heavily for Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Richard Neuberger
Richard L. Neuberger
Richard Lewis Neuberger was a U.S. journalist, author, and politician during the middle of the 20th century. A native of Oregon, he would write for The New York Times before and after a stint in the United States Army during World War II...
in 1954, Morse switched to the Democratic Party
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...
in 1955. Despite these changes in party allegiance, for which he was branded a maverick, Morse won re-election to the United States Senate
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...
in 1956. He defeated U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former four-term governor Douglas McKay
Douglas McKay
James Douglas McKay was an American businessman and politician from Oregon. A native of the state, he served in World War I before he became a successful businessman, mainly as a car dealership owner in the capital city of Salem. A Republican, he served as a city councilor and mayor of Salem...
in a hotly-contested race; campaign expenditures totaled over $600,000 between the primary and general elections, a very high amount by contemporary standards.
In 1959, Morse opposed Eisenhower's appointment of Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and U.S. Congresswoman, representing the state of Connecticut.-Early life:...
as ambassador to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Morse, who had known Luce for many years, chastised Luce for her criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. Although the Senate confirmed Luce's appointment in a 79–11 vote, Luce retaliated against him. In her acceptance speech to the Senate, Luce commented that her troubles with Senator Morse were attributable to the injuries he sustained from being kicked by a horse in 1951. She also remarked that riots in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
might be dealt with by dividing the country up among its neighbors. An immediate backlash against these remarks from Morse and other Senators, and Luce's refusal to retract the remark about the horse, led to her resignation just three days after her appointment.
Feud with Richard Neuberger
Toward the end of 1950s, Morse's relationship with Richard NeubergerRichard L. Neuberger
Richard Lewis Neuberger was a U.S. journalist, author, and politician during the middle of the 20th century. A native of Oregon, he would write for The New York Times before and after a stint in the United States Army during World War II...
, the junior senator from Oregon, deteriorated and led to much public feuding. The two had known each other since 1931, when Morse was dean of the University of Oregon law school, and Neuberger was a 19-year-old freshman. Morse befriended Neuberger and often gave him advice, and he used his rhetorical skill to successfully defend Neuberger against charges of academic cheating. After the charges against him were dropped, Neuberger rejected Morse's advice to leave the university and start fresh elsewhere but instead enrolled in Morse's class in criminal law. Morse gave him a "D" in the course and, when Neuberger complained, changed the grade to an "F".
According to Mason Drukman, one of Morse's biographers, even after the two men had become senators, neither could get past what had happened in 1931. "Whatever his accomplishments," Drukman writes, "Neuberger was to Morse a man flawed in character" while Neuberger "could not forgive Morse either for propelling him out of law school ... or for having had to protect him in the honor proceedings." Morse later helped Neuberger, who won his Senate seat in 1954 by only 2,462 votes out of more than a half-million cast, but he also continued to give Neuberger advice that was not always appreciated. "I don't think you should scold me so much," said Neuberger, as quoted by Drukman, in a letter to Morse during the 1954 campaign.
By 1957, the relationship had deteriorated to the point where, rather than talking face-to-face, the senators exchanged angry letters delivered almost daily by messenger between offices in close proximity. Although the letters were private, the feud quickly became public through letters leaked to the press and comments made to colleagues and other third parties, who often had trouble deciding what the fight was about. Drukman describes the feud as a "classic struggle ... of dominating father and rebellious son locked in the age-old fight for supremacy." The feud ended only with Neuberger's death from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1960.
1960 run for President
Morse was a late entry in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 1960. It began unofficially at a 1959 press conference held at the state capitol in Salem by local resident Gary Neal and other Morse supporters. They declared they would put Senator Morse on the ballot by petition. As early as April 1959, Morse told a meeting of the state's Young Democrats that he had no intention of running. The group still voted to advance Senator Morse, after Congresswoman Edith Green
Edith Green
Edith Louise Starrett Green was an American politician and educator in the state of Oregon. A native of South Dakota, she was raised in Oregon and completed her education at the University of Oregon and Stanford University...
introduced him as a favorite son
Favorite son
A favorite son is a political term.*At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates and votes for a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate...
.
Gary Neal was persistent and by winter of 1959 was nearing completion of his signature petition to place Morse on the May ballot. Morse soon found himself at a meeting with Neal where they discussed his efforts. Neal said to Morse, “if we [supporters] don’t put your name on the ballot, your enemies will." It was clear the elephant in the room
Elephant in the room
"Elephant in the room" is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss....
with Gary Neal and Wayne Morse was the Oregon Republican Party
Oregon Republican Party
The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Lake Oswego. The first state party convention was held in Salem on April 21, 1859, and its first nominee for Congress, Portland attorney David Logan...
. Morse shot back about the Oregon Republicans, “I say to the Republican Party, trot out your governor. I’m ready to take him on.”
On December 22, 1959, Wayne Morse announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States of America. He said at his announcement, “Although I would have preferred not to have entered the Oregon race, I shall not run away from a good political fight if it is inevitable.” The Morse for President Oregon Headquarters was located at 353 S.W. Morrison St. Portland, Oregon 97204. The Morse entry into the presidential race did not sit well with many who had anticipated significant campaigning in Oregon from a large field of candidates. Morse was accused of flip-flopping on whether or not he would run.
Morse filed to run in May primaries in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Oregon, in that order. He had solid connections in all three areas. Oregon was his home and where his wife and family lived. He owned a small farm in Poolesville, Maryland
Poolesville, Maryland
Poolesville is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland United States with a population of approximately 5000 people. It is surrounded by the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, and is considered a distant bedroom community for commuters to Washington, DC.The name of the town comes from the...
, and had spent fifteen years fighting for D.C. home rule
District of Columbia home rule
District of Columbia home rule is a term to describe the various means by which residents of the District of Columbia are able to govern their local affairs...
, sponsoring legislation for that cause. Kennedy did not enter the D.C. primary. Senator Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
was Morse's main opponent in the D.C. contest, which Humphrey won 7,831 to 5,866.
Morse had known when he entered the Maryland contest that he was climbing an extremely steep hill, and had hoped to offset a potential loss there with a win in the District. John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
was a Catholic and Maryland was the birthplace of the American Catholic church. Morse attempted to generate as much media coverage as possible. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
caught wind of the Morse campaign and did their best to follow Morse around. Morse made his liberalism a key issue at every campaign stop. His remarks in Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...
suggest that Kennedy was anything but a liberal:
"When the Eisenhower Administration took office one of its first objectives was to riddle the tax code with favors for big business and it did so with the help of the Senator from Massachusetts. We need a candidate who will reverse the big money and big business domination of government. We need a courageous candidate who will stand up and fight the necessary political battle for the welfare of the average American. Kennedy has never been willing to do that."
As Morse had predicted, he lost to Kennedy in Maryland. Morse continued to pursue his liberalism strategy as the campaign moved to his home turf. Oregon Democrats prepared for a showdown between Morse and Kennedy, although five candidates would appear on the Oregon ballot. Humphrey, to this point Kennedy's main challenger in the primaries, had lost badly to Kennedy in West Virginia and had dropped out of the race.
The Kennedy campaign began to focus on Oregon. Its workers repeatedly denied that Morse was a serious candidate, but to make sure of a win, the campaign sent Rose Kennedy
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
Rose Elizabeth Kennedy was the wife of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and the mother of nine children, among them United States President John F. Kennedy, United States Senator Robert F...
, and Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
to speak in Oregon and outspent Morse $54,000 to $9,000. Morse often found himself responding to Kennedy’s claim that he was not a “serious candidate”, by proclaiming: “I’m a dead serious candidate.” Quietly, Oregon Democrats began to worry about what a loss for Morse would mean in 1962 against possible Republican challenger Governor Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...
. Morse would use this to his advantage to help sway undecided Democrats, claiming that if he lost in the primary, it would certainly help Republicans defeat him in 1962. Kennedy brushed off this argument by claiming that regardless of the outcome of the presidential primary, the people of Oregon had a tremendous respect for Wayne Morse and would send him back to the Senate, and that he would even come back to Oregon in 1962 to campaign for him. On Election Day, Morse came up roughly 50,000 votes short of defeating Kennedy. Morse abandoned his presidential race that same week.
Morse largely sat out the rest of the 1960 campaign. He even opted out of going to the 1960 Democratic National Convention
1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...
. Instead he sat at home and watched it on television from Eugene.
Senate career 1960–68
In 1964, Morse, who had won re-election in 1962, was one of only two United States Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionGulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was a joint resolution which the United States Congress passed on August 10, 1964 in response to a sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron 10135 and the destroyer on August 2 and an alleged second naval engagement between North Vietnamese boats...
(Alaska's Ernest Gruening
Ernest Gruening
Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and Democrat who was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.-Early life:...
was the other), which authorized an expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. His central contention was that the resolution violated Article One of the United States Constitution
Article One of the United States Constitution
Article One of the United States Constitution describes the powers of Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. The Article establishes the powers of and limitations on the Congress, consisting of a House of Representatives composed of Representatives, with each state gaining or...
, granting the President the ability to take military action in the absence of a formal declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
.
During the following years Morse remained one of the country's most outspoken critics of the war. It was later revealed that the FBI investigated Morse based on his opposition to the war, allegedly at the request of President Johnson in an attempt to find information that could be used politically against Morse. In June 1965, Morse joined Benjamin Spock
Benjamin Spock
Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand...
, Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...
and others in leading a large anti-war march in New York City. After that, Morse "readily joined such protests when he could, and eagerly called upon others to participate."
In the 1966 U.S. Senate election
United States Senate election in Oregon, 1966
The 1966 Oregon United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1966 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Oregon. Incumbent Senator Maurine Brown Neuberger did not seek re-election...
, he angered many in his own party for supporting Oregon's Republican Governor, Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...
, over the Democratic nominee, Congressman Robert Duncan
Robert B. Duncan
Robert Blackford Duncan was an American politician from the state of Oregon. A Democrat, he served multiple terms in the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as a U.S. congressman from Oregon. In the Oregon House of Representatives he served as speaker for four years, and in the U.S. House he...
, in that year's Senate election, due to Duncan's support of the Vietnam War. Hatfield won that race, and Duncan then challenged Morse in the 1968 Democratic Senatorial primary. Morse won renomination, but only by a narrow margin. Morse lost his seat in the 1968 general election to State Representative
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....
Bob Packwood
Bob Packwood
Robert William "Bob" Packwood is a U.S. politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and assault of women emerged.-Early life and career:Packwood was born in...
, who criticized Morse's opposition to continued funding of the war as being reckless, and as distracting him from other issues of importance to the state. Packwood won by a mere 3,500 votes, less than one half of one percent of the total votes cast.
Post-Senate career
Morse spent most of the remaining years of his life attempting to regain his membership in the U.S. Senate. His first attempt since being defeated in 1968 was in 1972. He won the Democratic primary against his old foe, Robert Duncan. In the general election, he lost to the incumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Mark Hatfield, the Republican incumbent whom he had endorsed in 1966 over fellow Democrat Duncan because of Hatfield's shared opposition to the war in Vietnam but which had become for Morse, according to his principal biographer, a "dismissible virtue" in 1972.
In that same year, following the withdrawal of Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Francis Eagleton was a United States Senator from Missouri, serving from 1968–1987. He is best remembered for briefly being the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972...
from the national Democratic ticket, a "mini convention" was called to confirm Sargent Shriver
Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., known as Sargent Shriver, R. Sargent Shriver, or, from childhood, Sarge, was an American statesman and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family, serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations...
as George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
's vice presidential running mate. Although most of the delegates voted for Shriver, Oregon cast 4 of its 34 votes for Morse.
On March 19, 1974, Morse, at age 73, filed the paperwork to seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat he had lost six years before. Three other Oregon Democrats filed to run against Morse in the 1974 Democratic primary election
United States Senate election in Oregon, 1974
The 1974 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 5, 1974.Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Packwood won re-election to a second term. Roberts was chosen to replace former U.S. Senator Wayne Morse, who won the Democratic primary but died before the general...
on May 28 and made Morse's age a key campaign issue. His most prominent opponent was Oregon Senate President Jason Boe
Jason Boe
Jason Boe was American optometrist from Oregon. A native of California, he served as the forty-seventh president of the Oregon State Senate. Prior to serving in the Senate he was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives-Early life:...
. The New York Times said in an editorial that Morse would serve the state with "fierce integrity if elected". Morse managed to defeat Boe in the primary and began preparing for the general election.
On July 21, 1974, Morse was hospitalized at Good Samaritan Hospital
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center
Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center is a hospital in northwest Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1875 by the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, it is a part of the Legacy Health System...
in Portland due to kidney failure and was listed in critical condition. Morse died on July 22, 1974, while attempting to keep a busy campaign schedule. An editorial ran in The New York Times stating that death "has deprived the United States Senate of a superb public servant".
The Oregon Democratic Central Committee met in August and nominated State Senator Betty Roberts
Betty Roberts
Betty Cantrell Roberts was a politician and judge in the U.S. state of Oregon. She was the 83rd Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, the highest state court in Oregon. She was the first woman on the Oregon Supreme Court, and had also been the first woman on the Oregon Court of Appeals...
to replace Morse as the Democratic nominee in the Senate race. Roberts lost to the incumbent Bob Packwood in the fall.
Legacy
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....
. His body lay in state in the Capitol
Oregon State Capitol
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. The current building, constructed from 1936 to 1938, and expanded in 1977, is the third...
rotunda before the funeral. More than 600 people attended the July 26 funeral service. Former Senator Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, Governor Tom McCall
Tom McCall
Thomas Lawson McCall was an American politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the 30th Governor of Oregon from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, he grew up there and in Central Oregon before attending the University of Oregon...
, Senator Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...
and Oregon House Speaker Richard Eymann were all in attendance. Pallbearers included Oregon Congressman Al Ullman
Al Ullman
Albert Conrad "Al" Ullman , was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented from 1957 to 1981...
and three candidates for Congress, Democrats Les AuCoin
Les AuCoin
Walter Leslie "Les" AuCoin , is an American politician and the first Democrat elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from since it was formed in 1882. The seat has been held by a Democrat ever since....
, Jim Weaver, and Morse's old rival, Robert B. Duncan
Robert B. Duncan
Robert Blackford Duncan was an American politician from the state of Oregon. A Democrat, he served multiple terms in the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as a U.S. congressman from Oregon. In the Oregon House of Representatives he served as speaker for four years, and in the U.S. House he...
, who was running for a seat vacated by Congresswoman Edith Green
Edith Green
Edith Louise Starrett Green was an American politician and educator in the state of Oregon. A native of South Dakota, she was raised in Oregon and completed her education at the University of Oregon and Stanford University...
.
When Congressman AuCoin sought to unseat Senator Packwood 18 years later, he adopted Morse's slogan, "principle above politics." Since 1996, the U.S. Senate seat Morse filled has been held by Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden
Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....
who as a 19-year-old, drove Morse in the senator's last campaign. Elected in a special election after Packwood's resignation, Wyden won a full term in 1998 and re-election in 2004.
In 2006, the Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse
Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse
The Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse located in Eugene, Oregon. Completed in 2006, it serves the District of Oregon as part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The courthouse is named in honor of former U.S. Senator Wayne Morse who represented Oregon for 24 years in the...
opened in downtown Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
. In addition, he was recognized in the Wayne Morse Commons of the University of Oregon's William W. Knight Law Center. Also housed in the University of Oregon Law Center is the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. The Lane County Courthouse in Eugene renovated and rededicated its adjacent Wayne L. Morse Free Speech Plaza in the spring of 2005, complete with a life size statue and pavers imprinted with quotations.
The Morse family's 27 acres (10.9 ha) Eugene property and home, Edgewood Farm, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as the Wayne Morse Farm
Wayne Morse Farm
The Wayne Morse Family Farm was the home of Oregon’s long-time United States Senator, Wayne Morse. It is located in Eugene, Oregon. The site was originally a working farm called Edgewood Farm by the Morse family. It includes the Morse home, a natural wooded area, and open meadow...
. The City of Eugene, assisted by a nonprofit corporation, operates the historical park formerly known as Morse Ranch. The City of Eugene officially renamed the park Wayne Morse Family Farm in 2008, following a recommendation by the Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation Board and Morse family members. The new name is more historically accurate. Wayne L. Morse is interred at Rest Haven Memorial Park in Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
.
Documentary films
- The Last Angry Man: The Story of America's Most Controversial Senator, documentary film by Christopher Houser and Robert MillisRobert MillisRobert Millis is an American online media producer.He was raised in Portland, Oregon. He moved to New York City in 1993 to attend Eugene Lang College at The New School, and has lived there since....
. - Clip from War Made Easy, a 2007 documentary film.
External links
- Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics
- Guide to the Wayne Morse papers at the University of Oregon
- Wayne Morse video from "War Made Easy"
- Audio of various Wayne Morse radio commercials
- News coverage from the night Wayne Morse was hospitalized in 1974
- Transcript: The Gulf of Tonkin and Wayne Morse October 13, 1999
- Pacifica Radio's Wayne Morse 1968 DNC audio clips
- Phone call #1 between Morse and President Johnson
- Phone call #2 between Morse and President Johnson on an education bill
- Morse, Fullbright, and LBJ speak about Vietnam
- Morse speaks on giving authority to Make WAR
- Wayne Morse interviewed by Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
on The Mike Wallace Interview May 26, 1957