William Ezra Jenner (July 21, 1908 – March 9, 1985) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Indiana. A Republican, Jenner was an Indiana state senator from 1934 to 1942, and a U.S. senator from 1944 to 1945 and again from 1947 to 1959. In the Senate, Jenner was a supporter of McCarthyism. Background Jenner was born in Marengo, Indiana, on July 21, 1908, to L.L. Woody and Jane McDonald Jenner. He attended Lake Placid Preparatory School in New York before attending Indiana University Bloomington, where he graduated in 1930. Jenner worked as elevator operator in the old House Office Building while attending night classes at the George Washington University Law School. Jenner later graduated with a law degree from Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington. Career After law, Jenner practiced law in Paoli and later in Shoals. Indiana Senate Jenner entered politics in 1934, when he was first elected to the Indiana State Senate in 1934. He was minority leader from 1937 to 1939, and then majority leader and president pro tempore from 1939 to 1941. In 1940, Jenner ran for Governor of Indiana, finishing second at the Republican state convention. In 1942, during World War II, Jenner resigned his seat to become a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Jenner was discharged in 1944 at the rank of captain. U.S. Senate One month after his discharge from the Army Air Corps, Jenner was elected to the U.S. Senate seat that had been vacated by the death of Frederick Van Nuys. He served the last few months of Van Nuys's term from November 14, 1944, to January 3, 1945; he was not a candidate for the full six-year term that began in 1945. Jenner was the first veteran of World War II elected to the Senate and the youngest member of the Senate. He ran for the Senate in 1946 defeating Congressman Charles M. La Follette 1,994 to 105 at the Republican state convention. He then won the general election by over 150,000 votes. He ran for governor of Indiana for a second time in 1948, winning a plurality on the first ballot at the Republican state convention. Jenner lost the nomination on the second ballot to Holbart Creighton 885 to 931. Jenner was re-elected to the Senate in 1952. Jenner voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. McCarthyism In