Orrice Abram "Abe" Murdock Jr. (July 18, 1893September 15, 1979) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of both chambers of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

for

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. From 1947 to 1957, he served as a member of the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

Early life and education

Born in

Austin, Nevada Austin is an unincorporated small town in, and former county seat of, Lander County, Nevada, United States. In 2020, the census-designated place of Austin had a population of 167. It is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an ...

, he moved with his parents to

Beaver, Utah Beaver is a city in, and county seat of, Beaver County in southwestern Utah, United States. The population was 3,112 at the 2010 census. History Indigenous peoples lived in this area for thousands of years, as shown by archeological evidence ...

, in 1898. Murdock attended the public schools and Murdock Academy in Beaver, and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Career

Murdock studied law and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1922. He was a member of the Beaver

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

in 1920 and 1921 and was county attorney in 1923–1924, 1927–1928, and 1931–1932. He served city attorney of Beaver from 1926 to 1933, and was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for the fifth Utah district in 1928. Murdock was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress and was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1941. Instead of running for reelection in 1940, he challenged incumbent Senator

William H. King William Henry King (June 3, 1863November 27, 1949) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Salt Lake City, Utah. As a Democrat, King represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1917 until 1941. Life King was born in Fillmore, U ...

for the Democratic nomination. King had opposed President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's proposal to expand the Supreme Court and Roosevelt's candidacy for an unprecedented third term, while Murdock was a "100%

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

er" who strongly supported Roosevelt. Murdock defeated King for the nomination and was elected as a Democrat to the Senate, serving from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1947. Murdock was defeated by Republican

Arthur Vivian Watkins Arthur Vivian Watkins (December 18, 1886September 1, 1973) was a Republican U.S. Senator from Utah, serving two terms from 1947 to 1959. He was influential as a proponent of terminating federal recognition of American Indian tribes, in the be ...

in his bid for reelection in 1946. After his defeat, he resumed the practice of law and engaged in agricultural pursuits and livestock raising. From 1947 to 1957, he was a member of the

and in 1960 was a member of the Atomic Energy Labor-Management Relations Panel.

Personal life

Murdock died of natural causes in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, in 1979, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Beaver, Utah.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Orrice Abram, Jr. 1893 births 1979 deaths People from Lander County, Nevada American people of Scottish descent Latter Day Saints from Utah Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah Democratic Party United States senators from Utah National Labor Relations Board officials Utah city council members 20th-century American politicians People from Beaver, Utah Utah lawyers University of Utah alumni Truman administration personnel Eisenhower administration personnel