Born on January 9, 1899, in
Meriden,
New Haven County,
Connecticut, Danaher attended the local schools. He received an
Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1920 from
Yale University and then attended
Yale Law School, serving as a lieutenant in the
United States Army in 1918 as a member of the Student's Army Training Corps and in the Officers' Reserve Corps. He was admitted to the bar in 1922. He entered private practice in
Hartford,
Connecticut, and later
Washington, D.C., from 1922 to 1953. He served as an
Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1922 to 1934. He was
Connecticut Secretary of State and a member of the State Board of Finance and Control from 1933 to 1935. He was a
Republican United States Senator from Connecticut from January 3, 1939, to January 3, 1945, and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944. He was counsel to the
National Republican Senatorial Committee from 1946 to 1953. ==Federal judicial service==