page_title: Henry F. Ashurst
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Henry F. Ashurst / Political career
caption_attribution_description: Elizabeth McEvoy Reno Ashurst(1874?-1939), wife of U.S. Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst
context_page_description: Henry Fountain Ashurst was an American Democratic politician and one of the first two Senators from Arizona. Largely self-educated, he served as a district attorney and member of the Arizona Territorial legislature before fulfilling his childhood ambition of joining the United States Senate. During his time in the Senate, Ashurst was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Judiciary Committee.
  Called "the longest U.S. theatrical engagement on record" by Time,
  Ashurst's political career was noted for a self-contradictory voting record, the use of a sesquipedalian vocabulary, and for a love of public speaking that earned him a reputation as one of the Senate's greatest orators. Among the sobriquets assigned to him were "the Dean of Inconsistency", "Five-Syllable Henry", and the "Silver-Tongued Sunbeam of the Painted Desert".
context_section_description: Ashurst was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1897. He was re-elected in 1899, and became the territory's youngest speaker. In 1902, he was elected to the Territorial Senate. He served as district attorney of Coconino County from 1905 to 1908, when he moved to Prescott, Arizona.
  In 1911, Ashurst presided over Arizona's constitutional convention. During the convention, he positioned himself for a U.S. Senate seat by avoiding the political fighting over various clauses in the constitution which damaged his rivals.
  With the admission of Arizona as a state in 1912, Ashurst was elected by the Arizona legislature as one of the state's two Senators, taking office on April 2 alongside Marcus A. Smith. He was easily re-elected in 1916 (by popular vote), and again in 1922, 1928, and 1934, serving for almost 29 years. He sought re-election in 1940 but was defeated in the Democratic primary.
  During his early years in the Senate, Ashurst was a supporter of the Woodrow Wilson administration and served as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs between 1914 and 1919. The Democrats lost control of the Senate in 1918, and the presidency in 1920. Ashurst became a critic of Republican leaders and policy. The Democrats regained control in 1932, and Ashurst became chairman of the Judiciary Committee, serving until he left the Senate in 1941.
  While in office, Ashurst focused on the interests of his constituents. He described this focus with the statement: "You (the people of Arizona) send me to Washington to represent you in the Senate. But you do not send me here because you are interested in grave questions of international policy. When I come back to Arizona, you never ask me questions about such policies; instead, you ask me, 'What about my pension?' or 'What about that job for my sons?'" While he routinely read correspondence from his home state, letters and telegrams from other states were normally ignored.
  During re-election campaigns, Ashurst employed one of his favorite quotations, "Praise undeserved is scandal in disguise." To this end, his normal technique was to confess his faults and shortcomings to the voters while at the same time praising his opponent. During the 1934 elections he even told his constituents "If you don't send me back to the Senate, you'll have an old broken down politician on your hands, and you don't want that." Ashurst was popular with Arizona voters; only in the Republican landslide year of 1928 was his margin less than 10%, and in 1934 he won by 46%.
  But after five terms in the Senate, Ashurst was defeated in the 1940 Democratic primary by Ernest McFarland. After his defeat, he gave a farewell address to the Senate. The Senate chamber was crowded with fellow Senators and also many U.S. Representatives. Ashurst reflected on the experience of defeat. He said,
  The first half-hour, you imagine that the earth has slipped from beneath your feet and that the stars above your head have paled and faded, and in your heart you wonder how the Senate will do without you, and how the country will get along without you. But, within another hour, there comes a peace and joy to be envied by the world's greatest philosopher.
caption: Elizabeth McEvoy Reno Ashurst, wife of Senator Ashurst
exif: {}