Thomas R. Underwood

Thomas Rust Underwood
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office March 19, 1951 – November 4, 1952
Preceded by	Virgil Chapman
Succeeded by	John S. Cooper
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 6th district
In office January 3, 1949 – March 17, 1951
Preceded by	Virgil Chapman
Succeeded by	John C. Watts
Personal details
Born	(1898-03-03)March 3, 1898 Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Died	June 29, 1956(1956-06-29) (aged 58) Lexington, Kentucky
Political party	Democratic

Thomas Rust Underwood (March 3, 1898 – June 29, 1956) served Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.

Underwood was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He worked at the Lexington newspaper and in various state government and horse racing jobs until he was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first Congress; he was reelected to the Eighty-second Congress and served from January 3, 1949, until his resignation on March 17, 1951.

Underwood was appointed on March 19, 1951, to the United States Senate as a Democrat to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1955, caused by the death of Virgil Chapman and served from March 19, 1951, to November 4, 1952. He sought to retain the seat in the 1952 special election but lost to John Sherman Cooper.

After his stint in the Senate, Underwood went back to his editorial duties with the Lexington Herald. He died in Lexington, Kentucky and was interred at Lexington Cemetery.