Homer Thornberry

Homer Thornberry
Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
In office July 1, 1965 – December 21, 1978
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
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
In office January 3, 1949 – December 20, 1963
Preceded by	Lyndon Johnson
Succeeded by	JJ Pickle
Personal details
Born	January 9, 1909 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 12, 1995 (aged 86) 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 a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

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.

Homer Thornberry grave marker at Texas State Cemetery in his native Austin, Texas

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

• United States Congress. "Homer Thornberry (id: T000237)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "William Thornberry". Texas State Cemetery. Retrieved 20 June 2005.
• THOMAS Jr., ROBERT McG. (December 13, 1995). "Homer Thornberry, Appeals Judge, Dies at 86". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
• "Thornberry". The Alcalde. LIV (V). Austin, Texas: Ex-Students' Association, University of Texas. January 1996. pp. 11–12. Retrieved 2014-03-26. The University of Texas Alumni Magazine
• Ybarra, Bob (2010). My Demons Were Real: Constitutional Lawyer Joseph Calamia's Journey. Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press. p. 20. ISBN 9781558856974. LCCN 2010033240. Retrieved 2014-03-26.

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