Editing Stuart Symington (section)

==U.S. Senator==
[[File:Stuart Symington.jpg|thumb|left|Symington while in the Senate.]]

===Election===
At the urging of his father-in-law [[James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr.]], a former [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Speaker of the [[New York State Assembly]] and U.S. Senator from New York, Symington decided to run for the U.S. Senate.

In [[United States Senate elections, 1952|1952]], he was elected Senator from Missouri, taking the seat previously held by Truman and scoring a win for the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] in a year otherwise favorable to the Republicans. He was re-elected in [[United States Senate elections, 1958|1958]], [[United States Senate elections, 1964|1964]], and [[United States Senate elections, 1970|1970]].

===Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees===
As a member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services]] and [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|Foreign Relations committees]], Symington specialized in military affairs and became known as an advocate for a strong national defense. He was also a strong supporter of the Air Force Academy.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

In 1954, he charged that the Department of Defense had wasted millions of dollars on outdated weapons. He became a leading critic of U.S. involvement in the [[Vietnam War]] (1957–1975).{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} During 1966, he was thoroughly briefed on the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-run [[covert operation]]s of the [[Laotian Civil War]]. At one point, he was a guest of CIA [[Chief of Station]] [[Ted Shackley]] while touring the [[Kingdom of Laos]]. In the early 1970s, when his committee held hearings on the subject, Symington professed shocked outrage at the CIA's audacity.<ref name ="Conboy">{{cite book | title =Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos | author =Kenneth Conboy | author2 =Paladin Press | author2-link =Paladin Press | pages =375 | isbn =978-1-58160-535-8 | year =1995| publisher =Paladin Press }}</ref>

===Opponent of Joseph McCarthy===
Symington was an especially vocal opponent of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], to the vexation of the latter, who nicknamed him "Sanctimonious Stu". He involved himself in the case of [[Annie Lee Moss]], who had been brought before McCarthy's committee under the accusation that she was a Communist spy. Evidence supporting this claim was given by an undercover FBI agent who could not be cross-examined by Mrs. Moss or her counsel. As it appeared that Moss had been mistakenly identified, Symington proclaimed before the packed audience that he believed she was not a Communist and had never been, receiving thunderous applause from those present. Later that year, Symington took a lead role in censuring McCarthy during the [[Army–McCarthy hearings]], capitalizing upon his prominence and expertise as a former Secretary of the Air Force.

===Presidential candidacy===
In 1959, Symington, then Chairman of the [[National Security Resources Board]] in Washington, D.C., was preparing to run in the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]] and won the backing of former President and fellow Missourian [[Harry Truman]], but eventually lost the nomination to Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. On July 2, 1960, Truman announced that he would not be attending the [[1960 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] in Los Angeles. Truman was miffed that the convention was being controlled by the "overzealous" supporters of Kennedy. Announcing his decision, Truman restated his support for the candidacy of Symington and added, "I have no second choice".<ref>Truman Charges Kennedy Backers Run Convention, Janson, Donald, New York Times, July 2, 1960</ref>

Symington, unlike Kennedy or [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], refused to speak to segregated audiences in the southern United States and this hurt his chances.  Additionally, having concluded that the nomination would be determined by party bosses at the convention, Symington declined to enter any of the Democratic primaries, clearing the way for Kennedy to win enough primaries to be the frontrunner and probable nominee as the convention opened.  He was Kennedy's first choice for Vice President, but was dropped in favor of Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. He advised President Kennedy as a member of [[EXCOMM]] during the October 1962 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].

===Other issues===
Symington was also committed to constituent services, answering letters from Missouri citizens both important, trivial, and sometimes even zany. As an example, Symington once formally requested a report from military sources regarding the [[Hollow Earth|possible existence of subterranean superhumans]], which one of his constituents had become concerned about after reading a fiction book and mistaking it for non-fiction.{{Citation needed|reason=Western Historical Manuscripts Collection source needed|date=June 2012}} In 2002, this and Symington's other senatorial correspondence and papers were donated to the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection of the [[University of Missouri]] and are now available to the general public.

In 1967 when [[Major League Baseball]] owners approved the move of the [[Kansas City Athletics]] to [[Oakland, California]], he threatened legislation to revoke the league's antitrust exemption and vowed to support lawsuits challenging the legality of the [[reserve clause]]. Kansas City was awarded an expansion team, the [[Kansas City Royals]], which was scheduled to begin play in 1971. Symington, saying Kansas City should not wait, continued to threaten the league, and the team began play in 1969. An indirect consequence of this was that [[Sick's Stadium]] (the home of the other American League expansion team, the [[Seattle Pilots]]) was unable to be renovated in time for the season, its resulting poor quality being a leading reason for the team's bankruptcy and subsequent move to [[Milwaukee]] as the [[Milwaukee Brewers|Brewers]] after just one season.

Symington did not sign the 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]], and voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s284|title=HR. 8601. PASSAGE OF AMENDED BILL.}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s409|title=HR. 7152. PASSAGE.}}</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1968|1968]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1968/s346|title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.}}</ref> as well as the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/s226|title=S.J. RES. 29. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION BANNING THE POLL TAX AS PREREQUISITE FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref> the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78|title=TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.}}</ref> and the confirmation of [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/s176|title=CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

===Resignation===
In 1976, Symington did not seek a fifth term and resigned on December 27, a week before the end of his final term, so that his Republican successor, [[John Danforth]], would gain a [[seniority]] advantage in the Senate.