Andrew Jackson Houston (June 21, 1854 – June 26, 1941) was an American
politician. He was a son of the famous
Texas hero and statesman
Sam Houston and his wife
Margaret Lea Houston, and was named for his father's mentor
Andrew Jackson. He served briefly as a
United States senator in 1941, appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime Senator
Morris Sheppard.
During the
Spanish–American War Houston raised and organized a cavalry troop which was mustered into service as part of the
Rough Riders. In 1910 and 1912 he was a
Prohibition Party candidate for Governor.[9]
A longtime resident of
La Porte,[10] in 1918 he retired to study and write history. From 1924 until his Senate appointment he held a
sinecure as Superintendent of the state park at the
San Jacinto battleground, where his father had won the battle which led to the independence of Texas from
Mexico.[11]
United States senator
Houston's semi-retirement ended in 1941, when Morris Sheppard died while representing Texas in the
United States Senate.[12]
Texas GovernorW. Lee O'Daniel desired to serve in the Senate, but knew it would be politically unpopular to name himself as the interim appointee pending
a special election for the remainder of Sheppard's term. Certain that the 86-year-old Houston would not run in the special election, O'Daniel appointed him to temporarily fill the vacancy.[13] At the time of his swearing in, 82 years after his father had served in the same seat, Houston was the oldest man to enter the Senate.[14] (The oldest person overall was
Rebecca Latimer Felton).[15]
Houston joined the Senate as a
Democrat, and filled the seat from April 21, 1941, until his death. The early June trip from Texas to
Washington, D.C., to begin his duties had a negative effect on Houston's health, and he attended only one committee meeting as a senator, afterwards spending most of his time hospitalized.[16]
Houston is one of 4 Senators (the others being
William Johnson,
Edmund Pettus and
Strom Thurmond) to be the oldest living U.S. senator while serving and he is the only Senator subsequent to the second U.S. Congress to become the oldest living Senator upon entering office.
Family
Houston was married twice; his first wife was Carrie Glenn Purnell of
Austin, who died in 1884.[14] His second wife, Elizabeth Hart Goode of
Dallas died in 1907.[14] Houston was the father of three daughters, Ariadne, Marguerite, and Josephine;[14][21] Ariadne and Marguerite largely devoted their adult lives to caring for their father.[14] Both Ariadne and Marguerite traveled with him to Washington after his Senate appointment, and they were with him when he died.[14]