Bourke B. Hickenlooper

Born in 1896 in Blockton, Iowa, to Nathan O. and Margaret A. Hickenlooper. His college education at Iowa State College in Ames was interrupted by his service in the U.S. Army. In 1927, he married Verna Eilene Bensch and had two children. World War I He served as a Second Lieutenant of the 339th Field Artillery Regiment of the 85th Infantry Division in France during World War I. He served from May 1917 to March 1919. Higher education After his military service, Hickenlooper finished his education at Iowa State, graduating in 1919, and then went on to the University of Iowa College of Law, where he received a law degree in 1922. He was admitted to the bar in 1922 and started practicing law in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Religion Hickenlooper was a Methodist. == Political career ==

Local office Hickenlooper was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1934, serving from 1935 to 1939. but along with fellow conservative Barry Goldwater, voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also voted in favor of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Hickenlooper won reelection to his Senate seat in 1950, 1956, and 1962. He did not run for reelection in 1968, and was succeeded by Democratic Governor Harold E. Hughes. Legislation The 1962 Hickenlooper Amendment to the foreign aid bill cuts off aid to any country expropriating U.S. property. The amendment was aimed at Castro's Cuba, which had expropriated U.S.-owned and U.S.-controlled sugar plantations and refineries. USS Liberty incident Senator Hickenlooper was outraged by the 1967 USS Liberty incident and was one of the few Congressmen to call for an investigation. He was openly skeptical of Israel's mistaken identity explanation:"From what I have read I can't tolerate for one minute that this was an accident. I think it was a deliberate assault on this ship. I think they had ample opportunity to identify it as an American ship. … What have we done about the Liberty? Have we become so placid, so far as Israel is concerned or so far as that area is concerned, that we will take the killing of 37 [sic] American boys and the wounding of a lot more and the attack of an American ship in the open sea in good weather? We have seemed to say: 'Oh, well, boys will be boys.' What are you going to do about it? It is most offensive to me…It is inconceivable to me that the ship could not have been identified. According to everything I saw, the American flag was flying on this ship. It had a particular configuration. Even a landlubber could look at it and see that it has no characteristic configuration comparable to the so-called Egyptian ship they now try to say they mistook it for. It just doesn't add up to me. It is not at all satisfactory." == Death ==

On September 4, 1971, Hickenlooper died at the age of 75 while visiting friends in Shelter Island, New York, after suffering a heart attack. He was buried at the Cedar Memorial Park cemetery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His wife had died the year before in 1970. == References ==