Morse, Wayne

Morse, Wayne (Lyman)

(1900–74) U.S. senator; born in Madison, Wis. Dean of the University of Oregon law school, he won fame as a labor arbitrator before being elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Ore.; 1945–69). Renowned for his support of human rights, education, progressive farm policies, and environmentalism, he found himself at odds with the Republican Party, declared himself an independent in 1953, and won reelection in 1956 as a Democrat. His leadership of a Senate subcommittee on Latin America influenced President John Kennedy's creation of the Alliance for Progress. He was one of two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964, and remained a resolute opponent of the war in Vietnam for the remainder of his career. Defeated for reelection in 1968, he was making a new bid for the Senate when he died.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.