ultimately retired from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of major general. His military decorations included the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and the Air Medal (three awards). Career in Las Vegas In 1946 Cannon established law offices in Las Vegas. In 1949 he was elected Las Vegas City Attorney, and he served four consecutive terms. U.S. Senate Elections In 1956, Cannon ran for the U.S. House of Representatives to succeed Republican incumbent C. Clifton Young, who ran for the U.S. Senate, but lost the Democratic primary to former Congressman Walter Baring, who then won the general election. In 1958, he was elected to the United States senate, unseating Republican Senator George W. Malone with 58% of the vote. Cannon was nearly defeated in his first re-election bid in 1964, holding off Republican Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt in one of the closest Senate elections ever. On election night, one of the networks actually projected that Cannon had lost, but several precincts did not report in until the next morning and gave Cannon enough votes to secure a second term. Ultimately, Cannon only won by 48 votes. He likely would have lost without Lyndon Johnson's presence atop the ticket. Johnson easily carried the state as part of his 44-state landslide that year. Cannon was re-elected with far less difficulty in 1970 by defeating Washoe County District Attorney William Raggio. He also won re-election easily over former Representative David Towell in 1976. In the early 1980s, Cannon was ensnared in a scandal when Teamsters President Roy Lee Williams was indicted by federal prosecutors for attempting to bribe Cannon in exchange for using his influence to block the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, a bill deregulating the trucking industry. He testified that he did not know Williams or his associates and denied being offered a bribe, but other witnesses corroborated the story, and Williams was convicted. Cannon was challenged in the 1982 Democratic primary by U.S. Representative Jim Santini and won winning by about 4,500 votes but lost the general election to Republican nominee Chic Hecht, a former state senator and businessman. Tenure In 1964, Cannon voted for the Civil Rights Act. He also helped increase funding for Nellis Air Force Base, turning Nellis into one of the most important military facilities worldwide. Cannon also introduced the Airline Deregulation Act, a bill signed in 1978 by