John Jennings Jr. (June 6, 1880 – February 27, 1956) was an American Republican, and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

from 1939 to 1951.

Biography

Jennings was born in

Jacksboro, Tennessee Jacksboro is a town in Campbell County, Tennessee, Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,306 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Campbell County. History Jacksboro was founded in 1806 as a permanent county seat ...

, on June 6, 1880. He attended public schools and American Temperance University in Harriman before graduating from U.S. Grant University in

Athens, Tennessee Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville a ...

, in 1906. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1903, and entered the practice of law in Jellico in his native

Campbell County, Tennessee Campbell County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the state's northern border in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 39,272. Its county seat is Jacksboro. Campbell County is included in the Kno ...

Career

In Campbell County, Jennings served as county

superintendent of public instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or U.S. territory, territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistan ...

in 1903 and 1904, and county attorney from 1911 to 1918. In 1918 he became special assistant to the

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the second

chancery division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

of Tennessee. He resigned the judgeship on July 1, 1923, and moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, where he continued the practice of law. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

s in 1912, 1936, and 1944. In 1939, Jennings was elected to Congress as a Republican, filling the vacancy caused by the death of J. Will Taylor. He took office on December 30, 1939. He won a full term in 1940, and was re-elected four more times. In 1950, Howard Baker Sr. defeated him in his bid for renomination, so he ended his Congressional service on January 3, 1951. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law.

Death

Jennings died in Knoxville on February 27, 1956, and is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at Highland Memorial Cemetery. Jennings, John, Jr., (1880–1956)
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, John 1880 births 1956 deaths People from Jacksboro, Tennessee Tennessee state court judges Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 20th-century Tennessee state court judges People from Jellico, Tennessee 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives