Vance Hartke
Rupert Vance Hartke (May 31, 1919 – July 27, 2003) was an American politician who served as a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana from 1959 until 1977. Hartke won election to the Senate after serving as the mayor of Evansville, Indiana. In the Senate, he supported the Great Society and became a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War. Hartke ran for president in the 1972 Democratic primaries but withdrew after the first set of primaries. He left the Senate after being defeated in his 1976 re-election campaign by Richard Lugar.
Vance Hartke
Office created
Henry O. Roberts
J. William Davidson
July 27, 2003 (aged 84)
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Martha Hartke
7
Attorney
1942–1946
Lieutenant
Early life, education, military service[edit]
Hartke was born on May 31, 1919, in Stendal, Indiana, the son of Ida Mary (Egbert), an organist, and Hugo Leonard Hartke, a teacher.[1] His paternal grandparents were German, as were all of his maternal great-grandparents.[2] He attended public schools in Stendal. He graduated from Evansville College (now the University of Evansville) in 1940, and from 1942 until 1946 Hartke served in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, rising from seaman to lieutenant. Hartke graduated from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 1948.
Legal and political career[edit]
After joining the Indiana State Bar in 1948, Hartke began practicing law in Evansville. He also worked as deputy prosecuting attorney of Vanderburgh County (1950–1951) and Mayor of Evansville (1956–1958) and integrated the city swimming pools before being elected to the United States Senate in 1958 and reelected in 1964 and 1970 (1959–1977).
Personal life and death[edit]
Hartke and his wife, Martha, had seven children.[5] Their daughter, Anita Hartke, was the 2008 Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the 7th congressional district of Virginia. She lost to the Republican incumbent, Eric Cantor.
Hartke died at a hospital in Fairfax, Virginia on July 27, 2003, aged 84.[5]
Posthumous award[edit]
In 2009 the JFK Club of Vanderburgh County awarded the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Posthumous Award to Senator Vance Hartke. To carry forward the legacy and principles of President John F. Kennedy by supporting legislation and government officials or candidates that promote social justice and equality, in order to build a better community and society for all.