- Paul G. Hatfield
Infobox_Senator | name=Paul Gerhart Hatfield
nationality=american
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Montana
party=Democratic
term=January 22 ,1978 –December 12 ,1978
preceded=Lee Metcalf
succeeded=Max Baucus
date of birth=April 29 ,1928
place of birth=Great Falls, Montana
date of death=July 3 ,2000
place of death=Great Falls, Montana
spouse=
religion=Roman Catholic Paul Gerhart Hatfield, (
April 29 ,1928 –July 3 ,2000 ) was an Americanpolitician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served briefly asUnited States Senator fromMontana in 1978.Born in
Great Falls, Montana , he attended the College of Great Falls (nowUniversity of Great Falls ) and served in theUnited States Army from 1951 to 1953. He graduated fromUniversity of Montana Law School,Missoula, Montana in 1955, and was admitted to the Montana bar that same year and commenced his practice in Great Falls. He was chief deputy countyattorney forCascade County from 1959 to 1960 and served as judge of the Eighth Judicial District from 1961 to 1976. He was appointedchief justice of theMontana Supreme Court in 1977 and served until 1978. OnJanuary 22 ,1978 Montana GovernorThomas Lee Judge appointed Hatfield to theUnited States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofLee Metcalf for the term endingJanuary 3 ,1979 . He served fromJanuary 22 ,1978 , until his resignationDecember 14 ,1978 . He was defeated for renomination in the Democratic primary by CongressmanMax Baucus . Shortly after his primary defeat, PresidentJimmy Carter nominated Hatfield to serve as United Statesfederal judge for the District of Montana where he served with distinction until the end of his life. Hatfield was a resident ofGreat Falls, Montana from 1979 until his death onJuly 3 ,2000 . Intermittently, he lived inRiverside Memorial Park inSpokane, Washington .Hatfield was highly regarded as a courageous U.S. Senator (whose primary election defeat in 1978 is widely-regarded as a consequence of his unpopular, but principled and decisive vote in favor of the 1977Panama Canal Treaty ) and as the most outstanding jurist in Montana history. A deeply devout Catholic, Judge Hatfield attended daily mass nearly every day of his tenure on the federal bench.External links
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