Clair Engle (September 21, 1911July 30, 1964) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from California from 1959 until his death in 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for participating in the vote breaking the filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the U.S. Senate while partially paralyzed and unable to speak, shortly before his death from a brain tumor. Engle previously served in the California State Senate from January to August 1943 and U.S. House of Representatives from August 1943 until January 1959. Early life Engle was born in Bakersfield, to Fred Engle, a rancher who had been a teacher and a lawyer, and his wife, Carita. His parents named him after his aunt, who had assisted in his birth, and his name would become the source of many folksy stories over the years. Like his two brothers, he was active in outdoor activities and attended public schools in Shasta and Tehama Counties. His fellow students at Red Bluff High School elected him their student body president. In 1928, he enrolled at Chico State Teachers College, and he graduated in 1930. He then attended University of California Hastings College of the Law, and graduated in 1933. Although Engle had a reputation for straight-laced religiosity at both institutions, he eloped to marry his first wife, Hazel. They divorced in 1948 and Engle married his second wife, Lucretia Caldwell, a congressional secretary from San Jose. Early career Admitted to the California bar in 1933, Engle set up a practice in Corning and soon ran for District Attorney of Tehama County. Just 23 years old at the time of his victory, he would hold that office from 1934 to 1942. In 1942, he won election to the California Senate, representing Tehama, Glenn and Colusa Counties but ended up serving in that body for little more than a few months. His main accomplishment was passing a law to allow the conversion of unused fairgrounds in order to house migrant farmworkers and ease a severe labor shortage. U.S. Representative On August 31, 1943, Engle was elected as a Democrat to represent California's 2nd congressional district in the 78th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Harry Lane Englebright. Although the district had more Republican than Democratic voters, Englebright's widow and another candidate split the Republican vote. Engle was elected to