Raymond E. Willis
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Raymond Eugene Willis.jpg
| order =
| caption =
| office1 = United States Senator
from Indiana
| term_start1 = January 3, 1941
| term_end1 = January 3, 1947
| lieutenant1 =
| predecessor1 = Sherman Minton
| successor1 = William E. Jenner
| state_house2 = Indiana
| district2 = LaGrange and Steuben counties
| term_start2 = November 6, 1918
| term_end2 = November 8, 1922
| predecessor2 = Robert William McClaskey
| successor2 = Murdo (Max) C. Murray
| birth_name = Raymond Eugene Willis
| birth_date = August 11, 1875
| birth_place = Waterloo, Indiana
| death_date = March 21, 1956 (aged 80)
| death_place = Angola, Indiana
| spouse =
| party = Republican
| alma_mater = Wabash College
| profession = Publisher
| relations = Mary J. Hornaday (niece)
}}
Raymond Eugene Willis (August 11, 1875{{spaced ndash}}March 21, 1956) was a United States senator from Indiana. Born in Waterloo, Indiana, he attended the public schools and graduated from Wabash College in 1896. He learned the printer's trade in Waterloo and moved to Angola, Indiana, and engaged in the newspaper publishing business in 1898. He was postmaster of Angola from 1910 to 1914 and during the First World War he served as chairman of Steuben County Council of Defense, 1917-1918.
From 1918 to 1922, Willis was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.{{cite web | url=https://www.capitolandwashington.com/politicians/pol/184/ | title=Indiana Politicians by Letter | date=6 March 2015 }} He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate in 1938, losing to moderate incumbent Democrat Frederick Van Nuys by about 5,100 votes; he was elected as a Republican to the Senate in 1940, narrowly unseating Democratic Sherman Minton, and served from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1947. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1946 and resumed the publishing business as president of the Steuben Printing Co., and was also trustee of Tri-State University at Angola. He died in Angola in 1956; interment was in Circle Hill Cemetery.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{CongBio|W000563}}
- [https://archives.isl.lib.in.us/repositories/2/resources/286 Raymond E Willis papers], Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
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{{S-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=James Eli Watson}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Indiana
(Class 3)|years=1938}}
{{S-aft|rows=2|after=William E. Jenner}}
{{S-bef|before=Arthur Raymond Robinson}}
{{S-ttl|title=Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Indiana
(Class 1)|years=1940}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box | state=Indiana | class=3 | before=Sherman Minton | after=William E. Jenner | years=1941–1947 | alongside=Frederick Van Nuys, Samuel D. Jackson, William E. Jenner, Homer E. Capeheart}}
{{S-end}}
{{USSenIN}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Raymond}}
Category:Republican Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives
Category:Trine University people
Category:Wabash College alumni
Category:Republican Party United States senators from Indiana
Category:People from DeKalb County, Indiana
Category:People from Angola, Indiana
Category:Phi Delta Theta members
Category:20th-century United States senators
Category:20th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly