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American politician
Benton Franklin Jensen
(December 16, 1892 ? February 5, 1970) served thirteen consecutive terms as a
U.S. Representative
from
Iowa's 7th congressional district
in the southwestern corner of the state. While on the floor of the U.S. House on March 1, 1954, he was one of five Congressmen wounded by gunfire from a Puerto Rican Nationalists
firing from a visitors' gallery
.
Biography
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Born in
Marion, Iowa
, Jensen was the tenth of thirteen children born to Danish immigrant parents. He attended the rural high schools. From 1914 to 1917, he was employed by a
lumber
company as yardman and assistant auditor. He served as a
second lieutenant
in 1918 during
World War I
. Upon his return from the war, he served as manager of a lumber company for nearly twenty years.
In 1938, Jensen was elected as a
Republican
to represent
Iowa's 7th congressional district
in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was re-elected twelve times, serving continuously from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1965. Jensen did not vote on the
Civil Rights Act of 1957
,
[1]
and voted against the
Civil Rights Acts of 1960
and
1964
,
[2]
[3]
but voted in favor of the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
which outlawed the poll tax in all federal-level elections.
[4]
In the
1954 United States Capitol shooting
, Jensen was shot in the back near his right shoulder. The bullet was removed the following day.
[5]
He fully recovered, and served ten more years in Congress. However, during the 1964 Democratic landslide, he was defeated by Democrat
John R. Hansen
. He then returned home to
Exira, Iowa
.
Jensen died in
Washington, D.C.
, on February 5, 1970, and was interred in Exira Cemetery. The papers of Ben F. Jensen were given to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1967.
See also
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References
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External links
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This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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