Forrest Carl Donnell (August 20, 1884March 3, 1980) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator and the 40th governor of Missouri.

Early life

Donnell was born in

Quitman, Missouri Quitman is an unincorporated community in west central Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 45 at the 2010 census. History Originally it was called Russellville which was first platted in 1856 by R. R. Russell. Later, th ...

. Donnell graduated from Maryville High School in 1900, where his father was once mayor; the Donnells lived in the home that had once belonged to Albert Morehouse, who also served as governor. At the University of Missouri he was a member of the Kappa Sigma and Phi Delta Phi fraternities. He was also elected as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Theta Kappa Nu and

QEBH QEBH is a senior honor society at the University of Missouri. Founded in 1898, it is the oldest of six recognized secret honor societies that participate in the annual tradition of Tap Day on campus. History The society was founded in November 18 ...

societies. He was valedictorian of the 1904 class and received a law degree in 1907. In 1907 he moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. In October 1911 he and future Senator

Selden P. Spencer Selden Palmer Spencer (September 16, 1862May 16, 1925) was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, he was a United States Senator from Missouri. Early life Selden Spencer was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Samuel Selden and Eliza Debor ...

founded the law firm Spencer & Donnell. Donnell married Hilda Hays in 1913. They had two children, Ruth and John Lanier. In 1917 he was president of the Association of Young Republicans of Missouri; in 1918-1920, a member of the executive committee of the Republican State Committee of Missouri; and in 1919, a president of the 28th Ward Republican Club of St. Louis. He was the city attorney for Webster Groves, Missouri, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

southwest of

St. Louis City St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Governor

Donnell was elected governor of Missouri in 1940 and served one term from 1941 to 1945. He was the first Republican governor after the collapse of the Thomas Pendergast political machine and the only major Republican elected statewide in the 1940 election; Democrats delayed seating him for six weeks until being forced to do so by the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

in what was called the "Great Governorship Steal". Donnell had defeated St. Louis politician Lawrence "Larry" McDaniel by 3,613 votes out of nearly 2 million cast, thanks largely to votes from rural areas. Donnell's predecessor

Lloyd C. Stark Lloyd Crow Stark (November 23, 1886September 17, 1972) was an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 39th Governor of the U.S. state of Missouri. He was a member of the Democratic Party (United State ...

had wrested control of federal appointments in the state from the Pendergast machine in 1936. Consequently, there was unease about a Republican taking over the appointments. Within hours of the election, several members of the Democratic party met at the DeSoto Hotel in St. Louis to plan a response. Among those attending were Senator

Bennett Champ Clark Joel Bennett Clark (January 8, 1890 – July 13, 1954), better known as Bennett Champ Clark, was a Democratic United States senator from Missouri from 1933 until 1945, and was later a circuit judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. He was ...

, St. Louis Mayor

Bernard F. Dickmann Bernard Francis Dickmann (September 7, 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri – December 9, 1971 in Collins, Mississippi) was the 34th mayor of St. Louis from 1933 to 1941. Biography Dickmann started work at the age of 16, working for a lumber company in ...

, Democratic Party Chairman

Robert Hannegan Robert Emmet Hannegan (June 30, 1903 – October 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from October 1943 to January 1944. He also served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1944 to 19 ...

, Attorney General

Roy McKittrick Roy McKittrick (August 24, 1888 – January 22, 1961) was an American politician from Salisbury, Missouri, who served as Missouri Attorney General around the time of the World War II from 1933 until 1945. In 1944, he ran for the U.S. Senate, but ...

and state Democratic Chairman C. Marion Hulen. Their strategy was to charge that Republican votes were fraudulently bought. They sought to use a provision of the Missouri Constitution that allowed the speaker of the house to "count – tabulate – the votes and proclaim to the general public who won". Donnell was refused to be seated while the speaker investigated the votes. Governor Stark urged that he be seated. The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately seated him. Donnell was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and was elected grand master of the Missouri chapter during his term as governor. Ironically, Democrat

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

was to imply that Donnell helped Truman win the 1940 Senate election because of their Mason bond. Truman said: :I had a Catholic friend in St. Louis by the name of James E. Wade. He attended a meeting hereDavis made his usual charges. Forrest Donnell, who afterwards became epublicanGovernor and Senator, was speaking from the same platform. Donnell was just behind me in the Grand Lodge line and would be Grand Master in a year or two. :So Jim Wade went up to him ... and asked him if I could be the low sort of fellow that Davis charged and still be Grand Master of Masons of Missouri. Mr. Donnell said: 'No, Jim, he could not.' That ruined Mr. Davis—I won by 276,000 votes.""The Wonderful Wastebasket"
''Time''. March 24, 1952. Donnell's ambitious plans as governor were largely thwarted, despite the Republican party gaining control of the house of representatives and an equal share in the senate in 1942.

Senator

Donnell was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1944. In that race, he defeated state Attorney General

by 1,988 votes out of nearly 1.56 million cas

McKittrick had unseated incumbent U.S. Senator

in the Democratic primary. He served from 1945 to 1951. As senator, Donnell supported the Taft-Hartley Act, other antilabor measures, and lower income taxes. He opposed an excess-profits tax and most foreign aid. He lost to former

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Thomas C. Hennings Jr. Thomas Carey Hennings Jr. (June 25, 1903September 13, 1960) was an American political figure from Missouri. He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives (from 1935 until 1940) and the United States Senate (from 1951 u ...

by 53.6%-to-46.4% in the

United States Senate elections, 1950 The 1950 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Harry S. Truman's second term as president. As with most 20th-century second-term midterms, the party not holding the presidency made significant gains. The Republican opposition m ...

. He returned to practicing law and retired in 1956. Donnell served as president of the University of Missouri Alumni Association and as a trustee of the State Historical Society of Missouri. He died in 1980 at the age of 95 in St. Louis. He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

References

;Specific ;General
Congressional biography

National Governors Association Biography
* Matthew C. Sherman, "'The Most Serious Senator': A Reconsideration of Forrest C. Donnell of Missouri and the North Atlantic Treaty", '' Missouri Historical Review'' 101 (2007): 78-98. {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnell, Forrest C. 1884 births 1980 deaths People from Nodaway County, Missouri Republican Party governors of Missouri People from Webster Groves, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Republican Party United States senators from Missouri Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery 20th-century American politicians