Ben Hugh Guill (September 8, 1909 – January 15, 1994) was a short-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Texas's 18th congressional district Texas's 18th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes much of inner city Houston and the surrounding area. It has been the Downtown Houston district since 1972. The current Representative from the 18th dis ...

, which then encompassed the Panhandle counties. He won a special election and served the remaining eight months in office.

Early life and education

Guill was born in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

in Rutherford County in central

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He graduated in 1933 from

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

, Texas, then known as West Texas State College.

Career

Guill worked as an educator before becoming a business executive, and a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

agent. From 1942 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Guill won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to the Eighty-first Congress to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Representative

Eugene Worley Francis Eugene Worley (October 10, 1908 – December 17, 1974) was a United States representative from Texas and later an United States federal judge, Associate Judge and Chief Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Ed ...

. Guill served the remaining term from May 6, 1950 to January 3, 1951. In the November 1950

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, he was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection to a full term in the Eighty-second Congress, losing to the Democratic candidate. Guill was a delegate to the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president and ...

, which met in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to nominate the

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

. From 1953 to 1955, Guill served as the executive assistant in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, to

Arthur Summerfield Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield (March 17, 1899 – April 26, 1972) was a U.S. political figure who served as the 54th Postmaster General of the United States from 1953 to 1961. As Postmaster General, he was an ardent opponent of obscenity. Early ...

, the

United States Postmaster General The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

. From 1955 to 1959, he was a member of the

United States Federal Maritime Board The United States Federal Maritime Board was an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for certain aspects of merchant shipping between 1950 and 1961. History The agency was established in 1950 when the U.S. Maritime Commission ...

in the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

. Guill died on January 15, 1994, in

Pampa The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...

, Texas, and is interred there at Fairview Cemetery. The next Republican to hold the Panhandle U.S. House seat was Bob Price, also from Pampa. He was elected to four terms beginning in 1966.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guill, Ben Hugh 1909 births 1994 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II West Texas A&M University alumni Businesspeople from Texas People from Smyrna, Tennessee People from Pampa, Texas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians