US Congressman, US Senator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 1915 to March 1919, as a representative from Washington's 5th Congressional District, and in the United States Senate from March 1923 to January 1935. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, he began his early career as a newspaper reporter in Cleveland, Ohio, and as a high school instructor in the cities of Dubuque, Iowa and Spokane, Washington. Admitted to the Washington State Bar Association in 1910, he served as deputy prosecuting attorney in Spokane, Washington from 1911 to 1913, and as a personal secretary to Washington Governor Ernest Lister in 1913. As a member of the United States Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and was a chief sponsor and supporter of the Radio Act of 1927, and the Federal Communications Act of 1934. A close personal friend of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he effectively lobbied the president to authorize the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in 1933. Following the conclusion of his term in the U.S. Senate in January 1935, he worked as a practicing attorney in the nation's capital, and Spokane, Washington. In 1940 he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the office of Washington governor, losing to Republican challenger and Seattle Mayor Arthur B. Langlie. From 1945 to 1948 he served as a member of the Columbia Basin Commission in the state of Washington, and from 1946 to 1953 he served as a special assistant to the United States Attorney General. Following political service he returned to Spokane, where he resumed the private practice of law until his death. He was the author of "How Congress Makes Laws" (1936), and the autobiography "Where Water Falls" published in 1970.

US Congressman, US Senator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 1915 to March 1919, as a representative from Washington's 5th Congressional District, and in the United States Senate from March 1923 to January 1935. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, he began his early career as a newspaper reporter in Cleveland, Ohio, and as a high school instructor in the cities of Dubuque, Iowa and Spokane, Washington. Admitted to the Washington State Bar Association in 1910, he served as deputy prosecuting attorney in Spokane, Washington from 1911 to 1913, and as a personal secretary to Washington Governor Ernest Lister in 1913. As a member of the United States Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and was a chief sponsor and supporter of the Radio Act of 1927, and the Federal Communications Act of 1934. A close personal friend of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he effectively lobbied the president to authorize the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in 1933. Following the conclusion of his term in the U.S. Senate in January 1935, he worked as a practicing attorney in the nation's capital, and Spokane, Washington. In 1940 he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the office of Washington governor, losing to Republican challenger and Seattle Mayor Arthur B. Langlie. From 1945 to 1948 he served as a member of the Columbia Basin Commission in the state of Washington, and from 1946 to 1953 he served as a special assistant to the United States Attorney General. Following political service he returned to Spokane, where he resumed the private practice of law until his death. He was the author of "How Congress Makes Laws" (1936), and the autobiography "Where Water Falls" published in 1970.

Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.