John C. Stennis
| John C. Stennis | |
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United States Senator from Mississippi |
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In office November 5, 1947 – January 3, 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Theodore Bilbo |
| Succeeded by | Trent Lott |
| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
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In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1989 |
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| Deputy | George J. Mitchell |
| Preceded by | Strom Thurmond |
| Succeeded by | Robert Byrd |
| Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services | |
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In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Richard Russell |
| Succeeded by | John Tower |
| Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives | |
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In office 1928-1932 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Cornelius Stennis August 3, 1901 Kemper County, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 1995 (aged 93) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Coy Hines |
| Children | John Hampton Stennis Margaret Jane Stennis Womble |
| Alma mater |
Mississippi A&M University University of Virginia |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
John Cornelius Stennis (August 3, 1901 – April 23, 1995) was a U.S. Senator from the state of Mississippi. He was a Democrat who served in the Senate for over 41 years, becoming its most senior member for his last eight years. He retired from the Senate in 1989.
Stennis was the son of Hampton Howell Stennis and Margaret Cornelia Adams. His great-grandfather John Stenhouse emigrated to Greenville, South Carolina from Scotland just before the American Revolution. According to family tradition, the local residents would habitually mispronounce his name, forcing him to legally change it to Stennis.
Born in Kemper County, Mississippi, Stennis received a bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University in Starkville (then Mississippi A&M) in 1923. In 1928, Stennis obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Psi, and Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity. While in law school, he won a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives, in which he served until 1932. Stennis was a prosecutor from 1932 to 1937 and a circuit judge from 1937 to 1947, both for Mississippi's Sixteenth Judicial District.
Stennis married Coy Hines, and together, they had two children, John Hampton and Margaret Jane. His son, John Hampton Stennis (1935–2013), an attorney in Jackson, Mississippi, ran unsuccessfully in 1978 for the United States House of Representatives, defeated by the Republican Jon C. Hinson, then the aide to U.S. Representative Thad Cochran.
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