Luke Lea (April 12, 1879November 18, 1945) was an American attorney, politician and newspaper publisher. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1911 to 1917. Lea was the longtime publisher of The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, and a United States Army veteran of World War I. In 1919 he led an unauthorized and unsuccessful attempt to kidnap the recently exiled German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Early life Lea was the son of John Overton and Ella ( Cocke) Lea. He was born into a political family after Reconstruction and named for a paternal great-grandfather, Luke Lea, who was a two-term Congressman from Tennessee in the 1830s. Initially an ardent supporter of Democrat Andrew Jackson, the elder Lea later became a member of the Whig Party. One of Lea's maternal great-grandfathers was William Cocke, who served in the U.S. Senate from Tennessee from 1796 to 1797, and again from 1799 to 1805. Lea received his early education from tutors at home. He attended University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1899. He received a master's degree in 1900. Lea was the manager of the "Iron Men" of the 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team, and was credited with organizing their schedule of games. The Tigers won five road games in six days, and outscored opponents 322 to 10. A documentary film about that team and Luke Lea's role was released in 2022 called Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899. He attended Columbia Law School in New York City, from which he graduated in 1903. Lea was admitted to the bar the same year, and began to practice in Nashville. Early career In addition to practicing law, Lea formed a company to purchase the Nashville American newspaper. Reorganized as the Nashville Tennessean, Lea served as its first editor and publisher. He later merged the Tennessean with the Nashville Democrat, and his newspaper was a leading proponent of Prohibition. One of Lea's associates at the American and later the Tennessean was Edward W. Carmack. Lea became involved in Democratic Party politics as a member of the faction led by Carmack. In 1908, Carmack was shot and killed by Duncan Brown Cooper, a former editor of the American, and Cooper's son Robin. Carmack wounded Robin Cooper with return fire. The Coopers were part of the Democratic Party faction led by Malcolm R. Patterson,