Paul Cunningham (politician)

Paul Cunningham
Paul Cunningham
	Cunningham in 1953
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Iowa's 5th district
	In office; January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1959
Preceded by	Karl M. LeCompte
Succeeded by	Neal Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Iowa's 6th district
	In office; January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943
Preceded by	Robert K. Goodwin
Succeeded by	Fred C. Gilchrist
Personal details
Born	June 15, 1890; Indiana County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	July 16, 1961 (aged 71); Brainerd, Minnesota, U.S
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Michigan
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1917–1919
Rank	First lieutenant
Battles/wars	World War I;

Paul Harvey Cunningham (June 15, 1890 – July 16, 1961) served nine consecutive terms as a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa. First elected in 1940, he was re-elected eight times, and defeated in 1958.

Born on a farm in Indiana County, Pennsylvania near Kent, Cunningham attended the public schools. He graduated from State Teachers College, Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1911, from the literary department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1914, and from its Law School in 1915. He was admitted to the bar in 1915 and commenced practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

During the First World War, from 1917 to 1919, he served as a first lieutenant in the Infantry.

He moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1919 and continued the practice of law. He served as member of the Iowa National Guard from 1920 to 1923. He was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1933, and served until 1937.

On February 4, 1940, Congressman Cassius C. Dowell died, thereby creating a vacancy in Iowa's 6th congressional district. Cunningham fell four votes short of receiving the Republican Party's nomination as its candidate in the March 5, 1940 special election.^[1] Although Robert K. Goodwin received the nomination and won the special election, Cunningham received his party's nomination for the 1940 general election,^[2] where he defeated E. Frank Fox.^[3]

Iowa's districts were reapportioned before the next election to reflect the loss of one Iowa seat, placing Cunningham's home county (Polk) in Iowa's 5th congressional district. In 1942, and in the next eight elections, Cunningham was re-elected to Congress from that district.

In 1958, Cunningham faced a challenge from Neal Smith, then seeking his first term. Two weeks before the election, Cunningham was slightly favored to win, based on a split within the Polk County Democratic Party's organization.^[4] However, Smith defeated Cunningham, winning his first of eighteen terms. Cunningham's congressional service began January 3, 1941, and ended January 3, 1959. Cunningham voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.^[5]

After his defeat, Cunningham resumed the practice of law. He died at his summer home on Gull Lake, Brainerd, Minnesota, on July 16, 1961. He was interred in Masonic Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.

References

^ "Goodwin Choice of Republicans," Oelwein Daily Register, 1940-02-20, at 1.
^ "Cunningham is Nominated," Oelwein Daily Register, 1940-07-26, at 1.
^ "Harrington in Stiff Battle," Mason City Globe-Gazette, 1940-11-06, at 2.
^ "MIDWESTERN BATTLEGROUND: Congressional Fights Tax the G.O.P.," Time Magazine, 1958-10-20.
^ "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.

United States Congress. "Paul Cunningham (id: C000993)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Robert K. Goodwin	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 6th congressional district 1941 – 1943	Succeeded by Fred C. Gilchrist
Preceded by Karl M. LeCompte	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district 1943 – 1959	Succeeded by Neal Smith

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

[1] "Goodwin Choice of Republicans," Oelwein Daily Register, 1940-02-20, at 1.

[2] "Cunningham is Nominated," Oelwein Daily Register, 1940-07-26, at 1.

[3] "Harrington in Stiff Battle," Mason City Globe-Gazette, 1940-11-06, at 2.

[4] "MIDWESTERN BATTLEGROUND: Congressional Fights Tax the G.O.P.," Time Magazine, 1958-10-20.

[5] "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.

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v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa
1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum Finkenauer Hinson Miller-Meeks
2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack Miller-Meeks Hinson
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young Axne Nunn
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle LeCompte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King Feenstra
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston LeCompte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King
6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy
7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle
8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven
9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey
10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist
11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell
AL	Hastings Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

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