Frank Church

Frank Forrester Church III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, from 1957 to 1981 he served as a U.S. Senator from Idaho, and is currently the last Democrat to do so. He was the longest serving Democratic senator from the state and the only Democrat from the state who served more than two terms in the Senate. He was a prominent figure in American foreign policy and established a reputation as a member of the party's liberal wing. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, he enrolled at Stanford University in 1942 but left to enlist in the Army, where he served as a military intelligence officer in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. Following the end of the war, he completed his law degree from Stanford Law School and returned to Boise to practice law. Church became an active Democrat in Idaho and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state legislature in 1952. In 1956, he was elected to the United States Senate, defeating former Senator Glen Taylor in a closely contested primary election and incumbent Herman Welker in the general election.