Benjamin Muse | |
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Member of the Virginia Senate from the 8th district | |
In office January 8, 1936 – September 11, 1936 | |
Preceded by | Robert Gilliam Jr. |
Succeeded by | Morton G. Goode |
Personal details | |
Born | Benjamin Muse April 17, 1898 Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
Died | May 4, 1986 Reston, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 88)
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 1936) |
Spouse | Beatriz de Regil |
Alma mater | Trinity College George Washington University |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom United States |
Branch/service | British Army United States Army |
Years of service | 1917–1919 1942–1944 |
Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
Unit | King's Royal Rifle Corps Adjutant General's Corps |
Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
Benjamin Muse (April 17, 1898 – May 4, 1986) was an American lawyer, soldier, diplomat, farmer, newspaper publisher, author and politician. He briefly served as a member of the Virginia Senate (switching allegiances from the Democratic to the Republican Party and was defeated when he ran as an Independent for the Petersburg, Virginia seat; he resigned as a result of that switch). In 1941 Muse, running as the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia, lost overwhelmingly to Democrat Colgate Darden, a member of the state's Byrd Organization. Later, Muse lived in Manassas, Virginia, from where he opposed and chronicled the Massive Resistance crisis fostered by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd and Richmond newspaperman James J. Kilpatrick as they fomented opposition to the United States Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education which overturned racial segregation in public schools.[1][2]