Stuart Symington

Stuart Symington
United States Senator from Missouri
In office January 3, 1953 – December 27, 1976
Preceded by	James P. Kem
Succeeded by	John Danforth
1st United States Secretary of the Air Force
In office September 18, 1947 – April 24, 1950
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Thomas K. Finletter
Personal details
Born	William Stuart Symington III (1901-06-26)June 26, 1901 Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	December 14, 1988(1988-12-14) (aged 87) New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Evelyn Wadsworth ​ ​ (m. 1924; died 1972)​ Ann Hemingway Watson ​ ​ (m. 1978)​
Relatives	Symington family
Education	Baltimore City College Yale University (BA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1918–1919
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	84th Division
Battles/wars	World War I

William Stuart Symington III (/ˈsaɪmɪŋtən/ SY-ming-tən; June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988) was an American businessman and Democratic politician from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a United States Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.

Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Symington worked as an executive in his uncle's iron products company and for other companies before becoming president of Emerson Electric. He resigned from Emerson in 1945 to take various positions in the administration of President Harry S. Truman, becoming the first Secretary of the Air Force in 1947. He was elected to the Senate in 1952, defeating incumbent Republican Senator James P. Kem. He joined the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and emerged as a prominent critic of McCarthyism.

Symington sought the Democratic nomination in the 1960 presidential election with the backing of former President Truman, but the nomination went to John F. Kennedy. After the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, Symington threatened to revoke Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption, which in turn encouraged the formation of the Kansas City Royals. Symington declined to seek re-election in 1976 and was succeeded by John Danforth.