Bennett Champ Clark

Joel Bennett Clark (January 8, 1890 – July 13, 1954), better known as Bennett Champ Clark, was a Democratic United States senator from Missouri from 1933 until 1945, and was later a circuit judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. He was a leading isolationist in foreign policy. In domestic policy he was an anti-New Deal Conservative Democrat who helped organize the bipartisan Conservative coalition. Education and start of career Clark was born into a political family; his father was Champ Clark, who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. His mother was Genevieve Davis (Bennett) Clark. Clark's sister, Genevieve Clark Thomson was also active in politics as a women's suffrage activist. Clark was born in Bowling Green, Missouri, and was raised and educated in Bowling Green and Washington, D.C. He was a graduate of Washington, D.C.'s Eastern High School. Clark graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1914, he graduated from the George Washington University Law School with a Bachelor of Laws. In addition to Phi Beta Kappa, Clark's other academic affiliations included Order of the Coif, Delta Sigma Rho, Delta Tau Delta, and Phi Delta Phi.