Voting Station

Thomas Kuchel

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U.S. Senator

The Resume

    (August 15, 1910-November 21, 1994)
    Born in Anaheim, California
    Middle name was Henry
    United States Senator from California (January 2, 1953 – January 3, 1969)
    Controller of California (February 11, 1946 – January 2, 1953)
    Member of the California Senate from the 35th district (January 6, 1941 - February 11, 1946)
    Republican

Why he might be annoying:

    He was appointed to the Senate seat left vacant after Tricky Dick left to be Vice President.
    He refused calls from moderate Republicans to run against Ronald Reagan for Governor in 1966.
    He instead issued a negative statement calling the conservative movement: 'A fanatical neo-fascist political cult of right-wingers in the GOP, driven by a strange mixture of corrosive hatred and sickening fear that is recklessly determined to control our party or destroy it!'
    He lost his bid for a third full term (1968).
    He was beaten in the Republican primary by right-wing educator Max Rafferty, who was then defeated by Democrat Alan Cranston in the general election.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a protege of progressive Republican Earl Warren.
    His father, a publisher whose newspaper fought the Ku Klux Klan, went blind when Thomas a child.
    He was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II.
    He was an active supporter of civil rights legislation as Senate Minority Whip.
    He brought the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 onto the floor as co-manager.
    Leon Panetta called him 'a tremendous role model.'
    While head of his high school's debating team, he beat out a rival school's star debater: future political rival Richard Nixon.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying