U.S. senator from 1943 to 1955 and 38th district California State Assembly member from 1936 to 1942. Head of the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities ("Tenney Committee") and leader of anti-communist investigations.
President of Paramount Pictures and founder of the W. W. Hodkinson Corporation. Founder of the airplane manufacturing businesses Hodkinson Aviation Corporation and Central American Aviation Corporation/Companía Nacional de Aviación.