Otha Wearin

Otha Wearin
Otha Wearin, c. 1937
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 7th district
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939
Preceded by	Cassius C. Dowell
Succeeded by	Ben F. Jensen
Personal details
Born	(1903-01-10)January 10, 1903 Hastings, Iowa, United States
Died	April 3, 1990(1990-04-03) (aged 87) Glenwood, Iowa, United States
Resting place	Malvern, Iowa, United States
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Grinnell College
Occupation	Writer, cattleman

Otha Donner Wearin (January 10, 1903 – April 3, 1990) was a writer and politician. Elected as the youngest member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "New Deal" Congress, his political career stalled in 1938 when he gave up his seat at Roosevelt's urging to run for a U.S. Senate seat held by another Democrat, Guy M. Gillette, but primary voters rallied behind Gillette. He became a prolific writer, which led to his election to the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Wearin was born on a farm near Hastings, Iowa in Mills County and graduated from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. While returning to Mills County to farm, the reputation he developed as a writer helped to jump-start his political career. He travelled to Europe to inspect their farming methods, which he described in articles printed in rural Iowa newspapers and published in his first book, "An Iowa Farmer Abroad." By age 25, a newspaper reported that he had already "gained prominence as a farm bureau speaker and writer in the past few years." Later that year he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives as a Democrat, even though his home county was a traditional Republican stronghold and the influence of native-son presidential candidate Herbert Hoover at the top of the Republican ticket led to Republican gains throughout Iowa. He served two terms in the Iowa House, winning re-election in 1930.

In 1932, he became the first Democrat ever to win election to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 7th congressional district. As a twenty-nine-year-old, he was Congress's youngest member. Congressman Wearin was known for his progressive ideals. He was re-elected in 1934 and in 1936, but by increasingly narrow margins in the general elections. In 1938 he sought the Democratic nomination for U. S. Senator, having the support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was trying to purge Senator Guy M. Gillette, but he lost in the primary.