Carl T. Curtis

(1905-2000) born at Minden, Kearney County. Educator, attorney, served as U.S. Congressman from 1939 to 1954, and U.S. Senator from 1955 to 1979 for a combined total of 40 years as a politician, authored a measure to force the federal government to go on a pay-as-you-go basis in the absence of war or grave national emergency; his ideas to extend Social Security to school teachers, college professors, county, state and municipal employees and self-employed persons, including farmers and businessmen, were incorporated into the 1950 Social Security Act. Consult Current Biography (1954) 223-225 and George Douth, Leaders In Profile: The United States Senate (Sperr & Douth, 1972) 252-255 and Omaha World Herald obituary, January 26, 2000, pp. 1, 3 and American National Biography, Sup 1 (2002) 142-144.

Back to Public Affairs
Back to Categories