Roman Hruska

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Roman Lee Hruska, Sr.

In office
November 8, 1954 – December 27, 1976
Preceded by Samuel W. Reynolds
Succeeded by Edward Zorinsky
U.S. Representative from Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District
In office
January 3, 1953 – November 8, 1954
Preceded by Howard Homan Buffett
(father of financial mogul Warren Buffett)
Succeeded by Jackson B. Chase
Born August 16, 1904
David City, Nebraska
Died April 25, 1999 (aged 94)
Omaha, Butler County
Nebraska
Resting place Bohemian Cemetery in Omaha
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Victoria Kuncl Hruska
Children Jana Hruska
Quenton Hruska
Roman Hruska, Jr.
Alma mater University of Nebraska-Omaha

University of Chicago
Creighton University Law School

Occupation Attorney
Religion Unitarian[1]

Roman Lee Hruska, Sr. (pronounced HUH ROOSKA) (August 16, 1904 – April 25, 1999) was a Republican member of the United States Senate for his native Nebraska. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the most vocal conservatives in the upper chamber.

Hruska co-founded the Nebraska-based Douglas Theatre Company, the 38th largest cinema chain in North America.

Background

Hruska was one of eleven children born in David City in Butler County in east central Nebraska, to Czech immigrant parents. In 1917, his family moved to Omaha in Douglas County, at which he graduated from high school and attended the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the University of Chicago Law School. He graduated in 1929 from the Creighton University Law School, a Jesuit Roman Catholic institution in downtown Omaha. He returned to Omaha to practice law.[2]

Political career

Hruska's political career began In 1944, when he accepted a seat on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners to succeed a friend who had resigned the post. He served as a regular member from 1944 to 1945 and as chairman from 1945 to 1952.[2] During his time on the board of commissioners, Hruska also sat on the advisory committee of the Nebraska Board of Control from 1947 to 1952.[3] He was president of the Nebraska Association of County Officials from 1950 to 1951 and vice president of the National Association of County Officials from 1951 to 1952.[3]

Hruska was elected in 1952 to the Omaha-dominated 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.[4] He served only part of one term and instead ran for the Senate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Hugh Alfred Butler (1878–1954).[2] Hruska won,[5] and was reelected in 1958,[6] 1964,[7] and 1970[8] and served in the Senate until his retirement in 1977. His opponent in 1958 and 1970 was the Democrat Frank Brenner Morrison (1905–2004), the governor of Nebraska from 1961 to 1967. Hruska did not run for reelection to a fourth Senate term in 1976 and was succeeded by the Republican-turned-Democrat Edward Zorinsky, who had also followed Hruska in the U.S. House in 1954.

Among his earlier Senate votes was to back the censure of his Wisconsin Republican colleague Joseph R. McCarthy,[9] who investigated and exposed communist infiltration of the United States Army and the Department of State.

A strong conservative, Hruska authored legislation to curb excessive violence and pornography in films, supported maintaining criminal penalties for marijuana, and led the Senate effort in 1974 to restore the death penalty for federal crimes.[10] He was also pro-civil rights, voting for the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[11] 1960,[12] the 24th Amendment to the Constitution,[13] the Civil Rights Act of 1964,[14] the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[15] and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.[16]

Even after the resignation of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, Hruska persisted in defending him and claimed that Watergate was a partisan effort to hammer him.[17]

Hruska is remember for his statement that "even the mediocre need a little representation too" during the Senate defeat of the confirmation of Judge George Harrold Carswell (1919–1992) to the United States Supreme Court. Carswell was a former segregationist from Georgia and Florida. His Senate critics had called Carswell "mediocre." The seat then went to the liberal Harry Blackmun of Minnesota, the principal author of Roe v. Wade. The complete quote is "Even if he (Carswell) were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters, and Cardozos."[18] Hruska's remarks did not prevent his reelection to the Senate in November 1970, seven months after his "mediocre" statement.

Named in his honor are the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center in Clay County and the Roman L. Hruska Federal Courthouse in Omaha.[19][20]

Reference

  1. ↑ Howlett to Hubay. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Richard Pearson (April 27, 1999). Sen. Roman Hruska Dies at 94. The Washington Post. Retrieved on July 6, 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hruska, Roman Lee (1904–1999). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. U.S. Congress. Retrieved on July 6, 2021.
  4. ↑ NE District 2 Race - Nov 04, 1952. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  5. ↑ NE US Senate Special Race - Nov 02, 1954. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  6. ↑ NE US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1958. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  7. ↑ NE US Senate Race - Nov 03, 1964. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  8. ↑ NE US Senate Race - Nov 03, 1970. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  9. ↑ S. RES. 301. PASSAGE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ Honan, William H. (August 27, 1999). Roman L. Hruska Dies at 94; Leading Senate Conservative. The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  11. ↑ HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  12. ↑ HR. 8601. PASSAGE OF AMENDED BILL.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  13. ↑ S.J. RES. 29. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION BANNING THE POLL TAX AS PREREQUISITE FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  14. ↑ HR. 7152. PASSAGE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  15. ↑ TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  16. ↑ TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  17. ↑ Hruska dead at 94. The Columbus Telegram (April 26, 1999). Retrieved on April 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ McCain's "Hruskaism:" The Mediocre People of America Deserve Representation! | HuffPost, accessed July 6, 2021.
  19. ↑ Roman Lee Hruska (1904-1999) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 6, 2021
  20. ↑ Roman L. Hruska United States Courthouse. U.S. General Services Administration. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
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