Morse, Wayne Lyman (1900-1974), served as United States senator from Oregon, first as a Republican, then as a Democrat. He was elected in 1944 and in 1950 as a Republican. Calling himself an “independent Republican,” Morse withdrew from the Republican Party in 1952 and supported the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson. Morse became a Democrat in 1955, and was reelected to the Senate as a Democrat in 1956 and 1962. He lost bids for reelection in 1968 and 1972. His major interests in the Senate included labor-management relations, Latin-American affairs, and international law. In the 1960’s, Morse became one of the most outspoken critics of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
Morse was born in Madison, Wis. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1923, and earned law degrees at the University of Minnesota and at Columbia University. Morse began teaching law at the University of Oregon in 1929. He served as dean of the university’s law school from 1931 through 1944.
