Marion T. Bennett

Marion Tinsley Bennett (June 6, 1914 – September 6, 2000) served as a member of the United States Congress, as a judge of the United States Court of Claims and as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Marion T. Bennett
Bennett in 1990. Collection of US House of Representatives.
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
In office
March 1, 1986 – September 6, 2000
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
In office
October 1, 1982 – March 1, 1986
Appointed byoperation of law
Preceded bySeat established by 96 Stat. 25
Succeeded byHaldane Robert Mayer
Judge of the United States Court of Claims
In office
June 28, 1972 – October 1, 1982
Appointed byRichard Nixon
Preceded byLinton McGee Collins
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 6th district
In office
January 12, 1943 – January 3, 1949
Preceded byPhilip Allen Bennett
Succeeded byGeorge H. Christopher
Personal details
Born
Marion Tinsley Bennett

(1914-06-06)June 6, 1914
Buffalo, Missouri
DiedSeptember 6, 2000(2000-09-06) (aged 86)
Alexandria, Virginia
Political partyRepublican
EducationMissouri State University (AB)
Washington University in St. Louis (JD)

Education and career

Born in Buffalo, Missouri on June 6, 1914 to Philip Allen Bennett and Mary Bertha (Tinsley) Bennett, he received his Artium Baccalaureus degree from Southwest Missouri State College (now Missouri State University) in 1935 and earned a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 1938, after which he entered private practice.[1] While practicing law, he was elected to the Greene County, Missouri Republican Central Committee, and managed his father's two Congressional election campaigns. Additionally, in 1950 he became a United States Air Force Reserve Colonel, a position he held until 1974.[1]

Personal

In 1941 he married June Young of Hurley Missouri; they had two children, Ann and William, plus 4 grandchildren.

Congressman

When his father died in office in early 1943, Bennett was chosen in a special election to complete his father's term in the 78th Congress. He was 28 years old. Winning reelection twice, he served in the 79th and 80th Congresses.[2]

Tour of German concentration camps

Bennett was part of an official ten member Congressional delegation invited by General Dwight D. Eisenhower to follow the United States Third Army into Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany in 1945. The delegation's members toured the United States speaking and reporting on what they had seen of the horrific conditions in the camp. Bennett is quoted in the New York Times on May 6, 1945, "I left Buchenwald convinced that every German must be killed."[3]

Federal judicial service

Following the end of his Congressional service, Bennett was appointed as a Trial Judge (Commissioner) of the United States Court of Claims, in which position he served from 1949 to 1972. He served as Chief of the Trial Division of the Court of Claims from 1964 to 1972.[1]

Bennett was nominated by President Richard Nixon on May 22, 1972, to a seat on the United States Court of Claims vacated by Judge Linton McGee Collins. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 28, 1972, and received his commission on June 28, 1972. He was reassigned by operation of law on October 1, 1982, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 96 Stat. 25. He assumed senior status on March 1, 1986, and took inactive senior status in 1997. His service terminated on September 6, 2000, due to his death.[1]

Death and burial

Bennett died in Alexandria, Virginia, on September 6, 2000, and is buried at Hazelwood Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri.[2]

Bibliography
  • American immigration policies : a history by Marion T. Bennett. Washington : Public Affairs Press, c1963.
  • Private claims act and congressional references [by Marion T. Bennett]. Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1968.
  • The United States Court of Claims : a history, pt. 1. The judges, 1855-1976, by Marion T. Bennett / pt. 2. Origin, development, jurisdiction, 1855-1978, W. Cowen, P. Nichols, M.T. Bennett. Washington, D.C. : Committee on the Bicentennial of Independence and the Constitution of the Judicial Conference of the United States, 1976 i.e. 1977-1978. 2 vol.

References
  1. Marion Tinsley Bennett at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. United States Congress. "Marion T. Bennett (id: B000379)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  3. "BENNETT TELLS OF HORROR; Representative Favors Leaving Germany in Ruins". The New York Times. 6 May 1945.
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