Henry Fountain Ashurst (September 13, 1874 – May 31, 1962) was an American Democratic politician and one of the first two Senators from
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. Largely self-educated, he served as a district attorney and member of the Arizona Territorial legislature before fulfilling his childhood ambition of joining the United States Senate. During his time in the Senate, Ashurst was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Judiciary Committee.
Called "the longest U.S. theatrical engagement on record" by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'',
Ashurst's political career was noted for a self-contradictory voting record, the use of a
sesquipedalian {{Short pages monitor
* His four votes on veteran's bonuses, two for and two against, which generated the comment "What of it? At least I was fifty per cent right, which is a pretty good record for a politician."
Even his speaking skills could contribute to his inconsistency, as was the case on January 21, 1914. Ashurst gave a three-hour speech in support of the Nineteenth Amendment (for
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
), which exhausted the time available to vote on it, and delayed its passage.
Retirement and death
During his farewell speech in the Senate, Ashurst indicated his intention to retire to Arizona, saying, "When you are here worrying about patronage, worrying about committee assignments, worrying about bills, I shall possibly be enjoying the ecstasy of the starry stillness of an Arizona desert night, or enjoying the scarlet glory of her blossoming
cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...
, and possibly I may be wandering through the
Petrified Forest
Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of '' fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ' ...
in Arizona." But instead of going home, he accepted a position on the U.S.
Board of Immigration Appeals
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is an administrative appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice responsible for reviewing decisions of the U.S. immigration courts and cert ...
, serving from April 8, 1941 until his retirement on February 28, 1943.
After his retirement, Ashurst lived in Washington, D.C., devoting his time to classical poetry and public speaking. He also made several public appearances. Ashurst was a contestant on the television game show ''
The $64,000 Question
''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...
''; he missed a question, but received a Cadillac car as a consolation prize. He also made a cameo appearance in the film ''
Advise and Consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...
'', in the role of "Senator McCafferty". Ashurst suffered a stroke on May 15, 1962 and was admitted to
Georgetown University Hospital
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...
where he died on May 31, 1962.
Ashurst kept a journal from June 1910 to July 27, 1937 which contains pen portraits of several fellow senators. The journal was edited by George F. Sparks and published in 1962 under the title ''A Many Colored Toga''.
See also
*
List of United States senators from Arizona
Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912. U.S. senators from Arizona belong to Class 1 and Class 3 and are popularly elected for a six-year term beginning January 3. Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. The stat ...