Editing Lester C. Hunt (section)

{{Short description|American politician (1892–1954)}}
{{redirect|Senator Hunt}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image        = Lester Hunt.jpg
|jr/sr        = United States Senator
|state        = [[Wyoming]]
|term_start   = January 3, 1949
|term_end     = June 19, 1954
|predecessor  = [[Edward V. Robertson]]
|successor    = [[Edward D. Crippa]]
|order1       = Chair of the [[National Governors Association]]
|term_start1  = June 13, 1948
|term_end1    = January 3, 1949
|predecessor1 = [[Horace Hildreth]]
|successor1   = [[William Preston Lane Jr.]]
|order2       = 19th [[List of governors of Wyoming|Governor of Wyoming]]
|term_start2  = January 4, 1943
|term_end2    = January 3, 1949
|predecessor2 = [[Nels H. Smith]]
|successor2   = [[Arthur G. Crane]]
|office3      = 9th [[Secretary of State of Wyoming]]
|governor3    = [[Leslie A. Miller]]<br />[[Nels H. Smith]]
|term_start3  = January 7, 1935
|term_end3    = January 4, 1943
|predecessor3 = [[Alonzo M. Clark]]
|successor3   = Mart Christensen
|birth_name   = Lester Callaway Hunt
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1892|7|8}}
|birth_place  = [[Isabel, Illinois]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1954|6|19|1892|7|8}}
|death_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse       = {{marriage|Nathelle Higby|1920}}
|children     = 2
|education    = [[Illinois Wesleyan University]] (attended)<br />[[St. Louis University]] ([[Doctor of Dental Surgery|DDS]])
|allegiance   = {{flag|United States|1912}}
|branch       = {{army|United States}}
|unit         = [[United States Army Dental Corps]]
|serviceyears = 1917–1919 (Active)<br />1919–1954 ([[United States Army Reserve|Reserve]])
|rank         = [[First lieutenant#U.S. Army.2C U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force|First Lieutenant]] (Active)<br />[[Major (United States)|Major]] (Reserve)
|battles      = [[World War I]]
}}
'''Lester Callaway Hunt, Sr.''' (July 8, 1892{{spaced ndash}}June 19, 1954), was an American [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician from the state of [[Wyoming]]. Hunt was the first to be elected to two consecutive terms as Wyoming's governor, serving as its [[List of governors of Wyoming|19th governor]] from January 4, 1943, to January 3, 1949. In [[1948 United States Senate election in Wyoming|1948]], he was elected by a decisive margin to the [[U.S. Senate]], and began his term on January 3, 1949.

Hunt supported a number of federal social programs and advocated for federal support of low-cost health and dental insurance policies. He also supported a variety of programs proposed by the Eisenhower administration following the Republican landslide in the 1952 elections, including the abolition of racial segregation in the District of Columbia, and the expansion of Social Security.

An outspoken opponent of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]'s anti-Communist campaign, Hunt challenged McCarthy and his senatorial allies by championing a proposed law restricting [[Speech or Debate Clause|Congressional immunity]] and allowing individuals to sue members of Congress for slanderous statements. In June 1953, Hunt's son was arrested in Washington, D.C., on charges of soliciting sex from an undercover male police officer (homosexual acts were [[Sodomy laws in the United States#District of Columbia|prohibited by law]] at the time). Some Republican senators, including McCarthy, threatened Hunt with prosecution of his son and wide publication of the event unless he abandoned plans to run for re-election and resigned immediately, which Hunt refused to do. His son was convicted and fined on October 6, 1953. On April 15, 1954, Hunt announced his intention to run for re-election. He changed his mind, however, after McCarthy renewed the threat to use his son's arrest against him. On June 19, <!--1954,-->Hunt died by [[suicide]] in his Senate office; his death dealt a serious blow to McCarthy's image and was one of the factors that led to his [[censure]] by the Senate later in 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senator_Lester_Hunts_Decision.htm |title=Senator Lester Hunt's Decision |website=Senate.gov |publisher=Historian of the United States Senate |location=Washington, DC |access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>