Clyde M. Reed

Clyde M. Reed
United States Senator from Kansas
In office January 3, 1939 – November 8, 1949
Preceded by	George McGill
Succeeded by	Harry Darby
24th Governor of Kansas
In office January 14, 1929 – January 12, 1931
Lieutenant	Jacob W. Graybill
Preceded by	Benjamin S. Paulen
Succeeded by	Harry H. Woodring
Personal details
Born	October 19, 1871 Champaign County, Illinois
Died	November 8, 1949 (aged 78) Parsons, Kansas
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Minnie E. Hart
Profession	teacher, postman, newspaper editor
Religion	Methodist

Clyde Martin Reed (October 19, 1871 – November 8, 1949) was an American politician from Kansas who served as both the 24th Governor of Kansas and U.S. Senator from that state.

Biography

Born in Champaign County, Illinois, Reed moved to Kansas with his family when he was four years old. After completing a basic education, he taught school for a single year then began work as a federal employee. He served in different capacities for the next thirty years. He first worked for the railroad mail carrier service, rising to be superintendent of several areas throughout the Midwest and then to the Railway Adjustment Division, Post Office Department superintendent. He married Minnie E. Hart in 1891 and they had ten children.^[1]

Career

In 1919, Reed became personal secretary to Governor Henry J. Allen in Topeka, who was also owner and publisher of the "Wichita Beacon". Four years later, he purchased controlling interest in the "Parsons Sun" newspaper of Parsons, Kansas and continued as publisher until his death in 1949.^[2] He served on the Kansas Industrial Court from 1920 to 1921, and was a member of the Public Utilities Commission from 1921 to 1924.^[3]

Reed was elected Governor of Kansas in 1929, after becoming known as a candidate for being extremely progressive. Shortly after he moved into the governor's mansion, the Great Depression began. Reed called an extra session of the state legislature to combat the troubles faced by Kansans dealing with the depression.

Reed decided not to run for re-election, and returned to newspaper editing. When the anti-Semitic preacher Gerald B. Winrod ran for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 1938 and seemed likely to win it, Reed was recruited by the mainstream political establishment as a popular figure who could prevent Winrod's election. Reed won the nomination and the election, and was re-elected in 1944, and served in that office until his death.^[4] While in the Senate, his fellow Kansas Senator was also a former governor, Arthur Capper. Reed attempted to obtain the 1942 Republican nomination for governor of Kansas but failed.

Death

Reed died in 1949 while on a visit home from the Senate. The papers from his Senate years are said to have been destroyed. He in interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Parsons.^[5]

References

1. "Clyde M. Reed". National Governors Association. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
2. "Clyde M. Reed". Parsons Sun.com. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
3. "Clyde M. Reed". National Governors Association. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
4. "Clyde M. Reed". Biographical directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
5. "Clyde M. Reed". Find A Grave. Retrieved 2 October 2012.

External links

• Governor's Mansion Bio

• United States Congress. "Clyde M. Reed (id: R000112)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Find-A-Grave profile for Clyde M. Reed
• Parsons Sun.com
• National Governors Association