Victor Murdock

Victor Murdock (March 18, 1871 – July 8, 1945) was an American politician and newspaper editor who served as a U.S. Representative from Kansas.

Victor Murdock
Murdock, 1905–1945
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas
In office May 26, 1903 – March 4, 1915
Preceded by	Chester I. Long
Succeeded by	William Augustus Ayres
Constituency	7th district (1903–07) 8th district (1907–15)
Personal details
Born	(1871-03-18)March 18, 1871 Burlingame, Kansas, U.S.
Died	July 8, 1945(1945-07-08) (aged 74) Wichita, Kansas
Party	Republican
Other political affiliations	Progressive Party
Spouse	Mary Pearl Allen
Children	2
Parents	Marshall Murdock (father) Victoria Mayberry Murdock (mother)

Life

Victor Murdock was born in Burlingame, Kansas to Marshall Murdock – editor of the Osage County Chronicle, and Victoria Mayberry Murdock. In 1872, the family moved to Wichita, where Victor Murdock received his common school education and began learning the printing trade. At the age of 15, Victor Murdock became a reporter. In 1890, he married Mary Pearl Allen and spent some time in Chicago where he worked on the Inter-Ocean. Later in 1894, he became the Managing Editor of the Wichita Eagle until the year 1903.^[1] In 1892, he reported on the Representative and future president William McKinley's campaign for governor of Ohio.^[2]

Murdock was covering the Kansas legislature when he decided to run for a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives and was elected to follow Chester I. Long, who had resigned to take a Senate seat on May 26, 1903. He took office on November 9, 1903.^[3] During the 1912 United States presidential election, he left the Republican Party to support and join former President Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party and was the party's choice for Speaker of the House in 1912. Murdock served in Congress until March 3, 1915.

He was elected as chairman of the Progressive Party in 1914 and 1916.^[4][5] In 1916, when Theodore Roosevelt refused to run, the Progressive Party nominated Murdock for president, but he did not appear on the ballot. Murdock worked as a war correspondent in 1916 and in 1917, he was appointed to the Federal Trade Commission by President Woodrow Wilson. Murdock served to that role until his resignation in 1924 to become the editor for The Wichita Eagle, until his death in Wichita on July 8, 1945.^[6]