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.
Member of the Socialist Party and active in the Populist movement. Reporter for the Los Angeles Record, editor of EPIC News, and a commissioner on the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.