Senator Clair Engle (D-Calif.) Is Dead

July 30, 1964 - Senator Clair Engle (pictured in 1958), Democrat of California, died in his sleep just after 3 a.m. today after an illness of 11 months. He was 52 years old.

There was speculation in Washington that Governor Edmund Brown of California would appoint Pierre Salinger, former White House Press Secretary, to complete Senator Engle’s unexpired term.

Salinger won the Democratic nomination for Engle’s seat in the June primaries. It is thought that an interim appointment would give him added prestige in his campaign against the Republican candidate, George Murphy, the former actor.

Senator Engle, who was elected to the Senate in 1958, had previously served in the House of Representatives for 15 years from California’s Second District, the largest Congressional district in the country.

The Senator had undergone two brain operations within the last year. After the first, on Aug. 24, 1963, paralysis of the right side of his body set in, and his speech was impaired.

Despite his operation, Engle had announced plans to run for reelection this year, but he withdrew following a dramatic episode in the Senate on April 13 in which he tried to introduce a resolution and could not speak.

The Senator rose to his feet, assisted by two aides, stood silently for a minute, and then uttered an unintelligible sound.

Senator Pat McNamara of Michigan offered to introduce the resolution for him. The California Senator nodded assent. After sitting in his chair for a few minutes, Engle was virtually carried from the chamber by his aides.

On April 24, a craniotomy was performed to relieve pressure. Four days later, he renounced his candidacy for reelection.

Despite his condition, Engle appeared to cast his ayes in two historic votes. On June 19, after a trip to the Senate by ambulance, he was wheeled into the chamber and feebly raised his arm in support of the motion to end debate on the civil rights bill. Again on June 19, he was wheeled in to vote for final passage of the bill.

Today, President Johnson said the death of the Senator was “a very deep personal loss for me.”

Recalling Engle’s work in the fields of conservation and irrigation, the President said he “was set apart by qualities of intelligence, compassion, and integrity which made him an unusual person and an exceptional public servant.”

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