Harry P. Cain

Harry Pulliam Cain (January 10, 1906 – March 3, 1979) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington who served as a Republican from 1946 to 1953. Cain is mainly remembered for his conservative and often highly-controversial views as a member of the Senate and as a friend and supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Prior to his term in the Senate, he had served as the 23rd mayor of Tacoma, Washington. Following his Senate term he was widely recognized as a defender of the civil liberties of individuals accused of being security risks during the Eisenhower Administration and as a community activist and moderate Republican until his death in 1979. In a 1972 interview, Cain described himself as being, "...basically a political pragmatist – from time to time and for different reasons a conservative, militant, liberal, moderate, purist, radical and now and again what some call a populist." Acknowledging that his career had been known for its inconsistencies, he said, "The record consists of doing the best I could when confronted by any situation demanding action." Early life and education Harry Pulliam Cain and his twin brother were born in Nashville, Tennessee. Both parents were of Scots-Irish descent who had moved from Virginia, Alabama, and Kentucky. Their boys were taught a strong appreciation for their southern heritage and family history. The family moved to Tacoma in 1911. Both parents were accomplished writers. His mother suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1917. Shortly after her death, Cain suffered an attack of Bell's palsy, crippling his ability to speak. He eventually regained his speech. Cain attended the Tacoma public schools and then, in 1920, enrolled at Hill Military Academy in Portland, Oregon, where he was a star athlete and edited the school newspaper. He spent 1924 and 1925 working as a reporter for the now-defunct Portland News-Telegram. He attending the Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, graduating in 1929. His intellectual hero was the eighteenth-century British philosopher and statesman, Edmund Burke. Upon graduation he received an offer of work from The New York Times.