Guy Mark Gillette

Guy Gillette (1879-1973) was a Democratic Congressman and, later, US Senator from Iowa. He was president of a Zionist pressure group called the American League for a Free Palestine in 1945-1948. On 13 September 1945, he made public the fact that, on 31 August 1945, President Truman had written to Prime Minister Clement Attlee of Britain that the issuance of 100,000 certificates of immigration to Palestine would help to alleviate the Jewish refugee situation in Europe.

Gillette was born in Cherokee, Cherokee County, Iowa, February 3, 1879; attended the public schools; graduated from the law department of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, in 1900; admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Cherokee; during the Spanish-American War served as a sergeant in the Fifty-second Iowa Regiment, United States Army 1898; engaged in agricultural pursuits; city attorney of Cherokee 1906-1907; prosecuting attorney of Cherokee County 1907-1909; member, State senate 1912-1916; during the First World War served as a captain in the United States Army 1917-1919; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress; reelected to the Seventy-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1933, until his resignation on November 3, 1936, having been elected to the United States Senate; elected on November 3, 1936, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Richard Louis Murphy during the term ending January 3, 1939; reelected in 1938 and served from November 4, 1936, to January 3, 1945; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944; chairman of the Surplus Property Board 1945; president of the American League for a Free Palestine 1945-1948; again elected to the United States Senate and served from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1955; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1954; counsel with the Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee 1955-1956; counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee 1956-1961; retired and resided in Cherokee, Iowa, until his death there March 3, 1973; interment in Oak Knoll Cemetery.