Dennis Chavez

• Born: April 8, 1888
• Birthplace: Los Chaves, New Mexico Territory (now New Mexico)
• Died: November 18, 1962
• Place of death: Washington, D. C.

American politician

Following two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Chavez represented New Mexico in the U.S. Senate for twenty-seven years, from 1935 to 1962. He was without question the best-known and most successful Latino politician of his generation.

Areas of achievement: Government and politics

Early Life

Dennis Chavez (CHAH-vehs) was born Dioniso Chavez in Los Chaves, New Mexico Territory, on April 8, 1888. He was the third of eight children born to David and Paz (nee Sanchez) Chavez, both of whom were descendants of families that had long been established in the region.

In 1895, when Chavez was seven years old, the family moved to Albuquerque, where he attended school until he was old enough to get a job. He worked for several years driving a grocery wagon while studying engineering and surveying in the evenings. Eventually, he secured a job with the city engineering department, where he worked until the mid-1910’s. He also resided briefly in Belen, New Mexico, where, among other activities, he edited the local newspaper. It was during his school years that his name was changed from Dionisio to Dennis.

During his youth, Chavez read voraciously with a particular focus on history and politics, and by his early twenties, his passion for politics had become apparent. He worked on the political campaigns of several local Democrats and, in 1916, ran for public office himself for the first time, losing by a small margin in a race for county clerk. Later the same year, his work on the U.S. Senate campaign of Andrieus Jones resulted in Jones securing a position for him as a clerk in the Senate. While living and working in Washington during the years that followed, Chavez also took classes at Georgetown University, where he completed a law degree in 1920. Returning to Albuquerque, he set up a law practice there and was elected to a term in the New Mexico Legislature in 1922.

Life’s Work

With his eyes fixed on national political office, Chavez ran for New Mexico’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1930, successfully unseating the Republicanincumbent Albert Simms. He was reelected in 1932. During his House career, he served on a number of committees and chaired the House Committee on Indian Affairs. In 1934, he was granted his party’s nomination to run for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Bronson Cutting. After he lost by a close margin, Chavez challenged the outcome, claiming fraudulent voting practices by the Republicans. The challenge was still under way when Cutting was killed in a plane crash while traveling to Washington. Democratic Governor Clyde Tingley appointed Chavez to fill the vacant seat. The appointment won the approval of New Mexico voters in 1936 and Chavez remained in the Senate until his death in 1962, winning reelection campaigns in 1940, 1946, 1952, and 1958. He held the distinction of being the first individual of Hispanic descent to be elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate.

As a Democrat in Washington in the midst of the Great Depression, Chavez was an unabashed supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, giving his support to its vast array of social programs. He also was highly successful in bringing jobs and projects from the Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration to his home state, to the extent that the Hatch Bill of 1939 (sponsored by Chavez’s fellow senator from New Mexico, Carl Hatch) was in part directed at the system of patronage that Chavez had established. His strong support for Roosevelt also caused him to sign on to the president’s doomed “court-packing plan” to reorganize the federal judiciary in 1937. Despite these controversies, Chavez’s support among his constituents remained strong. His battle for Indian land rights as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee also was popular with his Native American supporters, although full voting rights were not extended to this group in New Mexico until 1948.

After winning his second Senate term in 1940, Chavez came out briefly as an isolationist in foreign affairs, breaking to some degree with the Roosevelt administration on the issue. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, however, he fully supported the war effort. Among his initiatives during wartime were his efforts to make permanent the Fair Employment Practices Committee that had been started by the president as an emergency measure in 1941. His efforts in this regard, beginning in 1944, opened him up to vicious attacks from southern senators, who eventually managed to derail the legislation. Chavez also was a strong supporter of legislation to assist American prisoners of war during and after the war. He also was an advocate for improved social and economic conditions in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

In the 1950’s, during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency, Chavez served as chair of the powerful Senate

Committee on Public Works and in this capacity played a key role in the creation of the interstate highway system as well as other projects to improve the infrastructure of the country. He also survived a major controversy surrounding his 1952 reelection when his Republican opponent, Patrick Hurley, challenged its outcome. The issue was finally resolved by a vote in the Senate in 1954. As he had been earlier in his career, Chavez remained highly successful during these later years in bringing federal money, especially in the form of defense and technology contracts, to his home state.

Chavez was married to Imelda (nee Espinoza) Chavez for fifty-one years and was the father of three children. He died of a heart attack while still serving in the Senate on November 18, 1962.

Significance

Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for a total of more than thirty years, Chavez was the most successful and influential Latino politician of his generation. His presence in national politics spanned the critical periods of the Great Depression, World War II, and the first seventeen years of the postwar era, and his career broke new ground for minorities in national politics. While he worked hard for the rights of Latino people and other minorities, his service extended far beyond that to what was good for the rest of the nation as well.

Bibliography

Baily, Robert J. “Theodore G. Bilbo and the Fair Practices Controversy: A Senator’s Reactions to a Changing World.” Journal of Mississippi History 42, no. 1 (March, 1980): 27-42. Details Chavez’ struggle to establish a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee and the successful blocking of the effort by Mississippi senator Theodore Bilbo.

Jenkins, Jeffery A. “Partisanship and Contested Election Cases in the Senate, 1789-2002.” Studies in American Political Development 19, no. 1 (April, 2005): 53-74. Includes a detailed discussion of the Chavez-Hurley election dispute in the early 1950’s.

Keleher, William A. Memoirs, Episodes in New Mexico History, 1892-1969. Santa Fe, N. Mex.: Sunstone Press, 2008. Keleher’s memoirs, first published in 1969, include material on Chavez’s role in New Mexico politics during the 1930’s and especially the 1934 senatorial election and its aftermath.

Maurilio, Virgil, and Roy Lujan. “Parallels in the Careers of Two Hispanic U.S. Senators.” Journal of Ethnic Studies 13, no. 4 (1986): 1-20. Compares the Senate careers of Chavez and Joseph Montoya (who represented New Mexico in the Senate from 1964 to 1977). Also a good source of basic information on Chavez’s life and political career.