Editing Lester C. Hunt (section)

===United States Senator===
{{main|1948 United States Senate election in Wyoming}}

Hunt was elected to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in 1948 to a term beginning January 3, 1949, defeating incumbent Republican [[Edward V. Robertson|E.V. Robertson]] by a comfortable margin.<ref>''New York Times'': [https://www.nytimes.com/1963/04/17/archives/ev-robertson-ex-gopsenator-former-wyoming-rancher-diesserved-194349.html E.V. Robertson, Ex-G.O.P. Senator," April 17, 1963], accessed February 24, 2011; Larson, ''History'', 510</ref> His political positions combined fiscal conservatism and opposition to big government with support for public housing and increased federal aid to education.<ref>Larson, ''History'', 510</ref> During his tenure in the Senate, Hunt became a bitter enemy of Wisconsin senator [[Joseph R. McCarthy]], and his criticism of McCarthy's tactics marked him as a prime target in the 1954 election.<ref name=CST>{{cite news|url=http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/11/01/news/wyoming/8cf263f85d4be99387256f3e0020f92f.txt|title=A senator's suicide|publisher=[[Casper Star Tribune]]|date=October 31, 2004|access-date=February 25, 2011}}</ref> For example, he campaigned for a law to restrict [[Speech or Debate Clause|Congressional immunity]] by allowing individuals to sue members of Congress for slanderous statements.<ref name=nytobit /> He called for reform of Senate rules: "If situations confront the Congress in which it can no longer control its members by the rules of society, justice and fair play, then Congress has, I feel, a moral obligation to take drastic steps to remedy those situations."<ref name=nytobit />

In 1949, he recommended that the [[American Medical Association]] (AMA) and the [[American Dental Association]] (ADA) consider endorsing a plan for the federal government to offer health insurance policies with low deductibles to cover "medical, surgical, hospital, laboratory, nursing and dental services." He told an ADA convention:<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1949/10/19/archives/senator-urges-u-s-sell-health-policy-hunt-at-dental-convention-asks.html | first = Lawrence |last=Daviess | title =Senator Urges U.S. Sell Health Policy | date =October 19, 1949 | access-date = February 24, 2011}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|We cannot preserve the freedom of the practice of dentistry and medicine, we cannot keep dentistry and medicine uncontrolled and unregimented by the Federal Government, we cannot maintain our American free and independent practice in the health services by simply denouncing socialization or by a stand-pat opposition.}}

He served on the Senate [[United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce|Crime Investigating Committee]] (known as the [[Estes Kefauver|Kefauver]] Committee)<ref>See for example {{cite news | newspaper =New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1951/07/08/archives/atlantic-city-seen-as-a-hub-of-crime-senator-hunt-says-gaming-and.html | title =Atlantic City Seen as Hub of Crime | date=July 8, 1951| access-date = February 24, 2011}}</ref> and the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services Committee]].<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news | newspaper=New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1954/06/20/archives/hunt-saw-himself-as-a-progressive-ran-on-a-new-dealfair-deal.html | title = Hunt Saw Himself as Progressive | date =June 20, 1954 | access-date = February 24, 2011}}</ref> He backed foreign aid programs and supported a call for disarmament designed to demonstrate that Russia's peace proposals were not serious.<ref name=nytobit />

Following [[Dwight Eisenhower]]'s landslide victory in the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 election]], Hunt announced that he felt obliged to support the administration's legislative proposals wherever possible. He cited complete agreement with plans for agricultural subsidies, the expansion of [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]], the creation of a [[Fair Employment Practices Commission]], and the abolition of [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]] in the [[District of Columbia]].<ref>{{cite news | newspaper =New York Times | url =https://www.nytimes.com/1952/12/06/archives/hunt-democrat-backs-g-o-p-aims-senator-sees-eisenhower-vote-in.html |title=Hunt, Democrat, Backs G.O.P. Aims | date = December 6, 1952 | access-date = February 24, 2011}}</ref>