Tom Connally

Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (August 19, 1877 October 28, 1963) was an American politician, who represented Texas in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, as a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the US House of Representative from 1917–1928, and the US Senate from 1929 - 1953.

Professional accomplishments

As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was instrumental in the ratification of the treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He was also a member and vice-chairman to the United Nations Conference on International Organization in 1945 that chartered the United Nations.

Connally was the author of the noted "Connally Reservation," which amended the U.S. ratification of the U.N. charter to bar the International Court of Justice from having jurisdiction over domestic matters '"as determined by the United States"'. The self-defining proviso was and is seen as something of a repudiation of the authority of the world court. From an American perspective, the proviso would protect the U.S. against potential overreach by the international group.

The Connally Hot Oil Act of 1935 bears his name. The bill attempted to circumvent the Supreme Court rejection of a key part of New Deal legislation.

On October 20, 1951, when General Mark Wayne Clark was nominated by President Harry Truman to be the U.S. emissary to the Holy See, Connally protested the decision along with other Protestant groups and...
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