James P. Kem was born in
Macon, Missouri. He attended
Blees Military Academy, then graduated from the
University of Missouri in 1910, and
Harvard Law School in 1913. He was admitted to the bar in 1913 and commenced practice in
Kansas City, Missouri. He entered the
U.S. Army infantry in 1917 and was a
World War I veteran. In 1920, Kem resumed the general practice of law in Kansas City. He built up a very successful corporate practice over the next two decades. By 1943, he served as President of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City and as chairman of the
Jackson County Republican Committee. In 1944, he served as a delegate to the
Republican National Convention and began building support for a run for the U.S. Senate. Kem
defeated incumbent
Frank P. Briggs, who had been appointed to the office in 1945 when
Harry S. Truman resigned to become
vice president. During his one term in the Senate, Kem was a staunch opponent of President Truman, characterizing him as a puppet of
Tom Pendergast's corrupt political machine in Kansas City. Kem lost his
re-election bid in 1952 to
Democratic candidate,
Stuart Symington, a former
Emerson Electric CEO who had been
United States Secretary of the Air Force in the Truman administration. Kem retired to a
Washington, D.C. law practice and then raised
Angus cattle in
Virginia until his death in 1965 at the age of 74. ==References==