John Stennis (CVN 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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■»•:■ »•- John ( inicliiis Slcmiis w as born 3 Aiiiiiisl h)()l in ihc Kiiilingcomiiuinily. ahoLilcighl miles soLilh of DcKalb. Mississippi. I Ic came from a lorn: line of colhiIia cloclors. ihouLih his fallKM was a lai-mcraiKl merchant in DeKalh. His lalher taught him responsibility anti hare! work at an caiiy aiie. tenets he would later incoiporale into his per- sonal code and practice in e ery aspect of! ile. John ( ' . Stennis put iircat stock in ediiea- tion. He attended Mississippi Slate L ' nix ersit) and graduated in 1 )23. Aftei- graduation he went on to the l ' ni ersit of Virginia in l -)24 and con- inced the Dean ofliie law school to accept him w ilhoul e er filing an a|ip!ication. His education iheie was mterrunled. howexer. w hen his lather win u the Dniled States Con- stitution. On Christmas i: e of 1 )2 ). he married Coy Hines. a natixeol ' New Albany. Mississippi, w ho w as ser ing at the lime as the Kemper county home demonstration agent. They built and moved into a while Irame house just south of DcKalb. In I ). 2. John C. Stennis w as elected dis- trict prosecuting altorne . People throughout the district came to know him as a hard-woik- ing prosecutor who stood lor what was right and unvieldiiTJ in the lace oladNersilx ' . dice! and he relurned to his lamil} larm. During this inleri ' uplion ol his studies at Vij-ginia. : Stennis ' Iriendsand neighbors urged him lo seek an open sealin the .Mississippi House orRcpresenlali es. He was elecied Lind look the oalh of olTice of in Januarx h)2S. beginning a careei ' in public scrx ice liial would span more than 60 xears w ilhoul a lireak. i lilica! historians be- • e a ret Slate Represcni; e I nix eisiix of Virg lish law school. 1 le nialix e Slennis back lo I92X lo : . acUi-

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.- -In 1 -). . .K ' lin C. Sleniiis was apjX)inted :ill the seal of a circuit judge who had died, or the next ten years. Judge Slennis gained the pect of all and his reputation spread far be- nd his district. When U. S. Senator Theodore G. Bilho fc o ffice in 1947. Judge Slennis entered or his seat. It was a grass roots cani- gn in which Stennis promised t( plow a aight furrow right dow n to ihe end of my w. He was elected against formidable op- jsilion and began to build on a national repu- rion as the junior Senator from Mississippi. :i .J, LiialuMi for iniegrit spread quickls ion r;His colleaiiues. who learned the could .i,,MY.T,sh hat John C. Stennis said. Time and again during his 41 sears .of ser- vice, the Senate turned to Senator Stennis for guid- ance w hen ils membei-s w ere under suspicion, and when an impartial and fair assessment seemed i- tal. From the McCarth era lo W ' atergale. SenaU r Slennis applied the judicial skills and lemperamenl he acquired during his len eais on the bench in Mississippi. Senator Stennis unselfish achie emenls dur- ing his long ears ol hard w (irk did not come w iih- out great ad ersil . In 197.V he was shot iwice during a holdup altempl in his front ard in norlh- west Washington. Allhough doclois al first did not gi e much hopei)f Senator Slennis 11 ing. ihen laler ofe er walking again, he suipi-ised practical l e - er i)ne and recmered alnn sl complclel . John C. Stennis relircLl from ihe Senate in 19SS and returned home to leach al Mississippi Stale l ' ni ersil .