Homer Thornberry
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Homer Thornberry | |
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Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
In office July 1, 1965 – December 21, 1978 |
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Appointed by | Lyndon Johnson |
Preceded by | Joseph Hutcheson |
Succeeded by | Reynaldo Garza |
Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas | |
In office December 17, 1963 – July 1, 1965 |
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Appointed by | John Kennedy |
Preceded by | Ewing Thomason |
Succeeded by | Jack Roberts |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 10th district |
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In office January 3, 1949 – December 20, 1963 |
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Preceded by | Lyndon Johnson |
Succeeded by | JJ Pickle |
Personal details | |
Born | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
January 9, 1909
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | University of Texas, Austin |
William Homer Thornberry (January 9, 1909 – December 12, 1995) was a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1949 to 1963, and then was a federal judge.
Biography
Thornberry was born in Austin, Texas. His parents were teachers in the State School for the Deaf and were themselves deaf. He attended public schools in Austin, graduating from Austin High School in 1927. He received a BBA in 1932, and his law degree in 1936 from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Acacia Fraternity.
Thornberry served as a Member of the Texas Legislature, a District Attorney in Travis County, Texas, a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy during World War II and a member of the Austin City Council.
He was elected in 1948 to the 81st Session of the United States Congress as Representative of the 10th Congressional District of Texas. In winning the seat, he replaced its former occupant, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who had been elected that year for the first time to the United States Senate. Congressman Thornberry was a member of the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives from January, 1955, until his resignation in 1963, when he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He was then appointed and commissioned by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a United States Circuit Judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1965, where he participated in decisions including many civil rights cases of the 1960s and 1970s.
Thornberry was nominated for Abe Fortas' seat on the Supreme Court by Lyndon B. Johnson when Johnson nominated Fortas to replace Earl Warren as Chief Justice. However, once Fortas withdrew his nomination in October 1968, Thornberry's nomination became moot and was withdrawn by the White House without a vote. Thornberry was the last Supreme Court nominee to have served in the United States Congress.
Judge Thornberry died at his home and is interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. He was married to the former Eloise Engle (1919-1989), whom he outlived by six years.
References
- Homer Thornberry at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- "William Thornberry". Texas State Cemetery. Retrieved 20 June 2005.
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- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The University of Texas Alumni Magazine
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External links
- Homer Thornberry at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Homer Thornberry at Find a Grave
United States House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 12th congressional district 1949–1963 |
Succeeded by JJ Pickle |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by | Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas 1963–1965 |
Succeeded by Jack Roberts |
Preceded by | Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 1965–1978 |
Succeeded by Reynaldo Garza |
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
- 1909 births
- 1995 deaths
- 20th-century American lawyers
- American naval personnel of World War II
- American prosecutors
- Austin City Council members
- Austin High School (Austin, Texas) alumni
- Burials at Texas State Cemetery
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Gallaudet University people
- Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Members of the Texas House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
- People from Austin, Texas
- Texas Democrats
- United States court of appeals judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson
- United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy
- United States Navy officers
- University of Texas School of Law alumni
- Withdrawn nominees to the United States Supreme Court
- 20th-century American politicians