Wallace Foster Bennett was a Republican Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 representing the U.S. state of Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 (1951–1974).

Life and career

Bennett was born in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

 on November 13, 1898, the son of Rosetta (née Wallace) and John Foster Bennett. He served as an infantry officer in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He graduated from the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 in 1919. He became a high school principal and then a paint manufacturer. He was first elected to the Senate in 1950, defeating 18-year incumbent Elbert D. Thomas

Elbert D. Thomas

Elbert Duncan Thomas was a Democratic Party politician from Utah. He represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1951.-Biography:...

. Bennett served four terms before retiring in 1974. He resigned shortly before the end of his final term, and his already elected successor, Republican Jake Garn

Jake Garn

Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and served as a U.S. Senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993...

, was appointed to fill his seat.

Bennett lived to see his son Bob elected to his former Senate seat when Garn retired in 1992. Bennett died on December 19, 1993 in Salt Lake City. He was buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery

Salt Lake City Cemetery

thumb|The northern section of the cemetery at night, looking towards Salt Lake CityThe Salt Lake City Cemetery is in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approximately 120,000 persons are buried in the cemetery. Many religious leaders and politicians, particularly many leaders of The...

.

Bennett was also a hymnwriter. He wrote the words to God of Power, God of Right which is hymn #20 in the 1985 Latter-day Saints Hymnal

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

.

Further reading

• Bennett, Wallace F. Faith and Freedom: The Pillars of American Democracy, New York: Scribner, 1950.
• Bennett, Wallace F. Why I Am A Mormon, New York: T. Nelson, 1958.

External links