Zales Ecton

Zales Nelson Ecton
United States Senator from Montana
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	Burton K. Wheeler
Succeeded by	Mike Mansfield
Personal details
Born	(1898-04-01)April 1, 1898 Weldon, Iowa
Died	Bozeman, Montana
Resting place	Sunset Hills Cemetery
Political party	Republican

Zales Nelson Ecton (April 1, 1898 – March 3, 1961) was a Republican United States senator from Montana, having served from 1947 to 1953.

Ecton was born in Weldon, Decatur County, Iowa. He moved with his family to Gallatin County, Montana, when he was nine years old. He attended the Gallatin County public schools, the then Montana State College (later Montana State University) at Bozeman and the University of Chicago law school. In 1921, he became a rancher and gained interests in grain and livestock.

Entering politics, he was a member of the Montana state House from 1933 to 1937 and the Montana state senate from 1937 to 1946. In 1946, he ran for the Montana United States Senate seat which was being vacated by Democrat Burton K. Wheeler, who had lost the Democratic primary.

As part of the Republican takeover of the Senate in 1946, Ecton defeated Democratic state Supreme Court Justice Leif Erickson by a vote of 54% to 46%. He served in the Senate for one term, having been narrowly defeated for reelection in 1952 by U.S. Representative Mike Mansfield, a Democratic college professor and Far Eastern expert. Ecton resumed his ranching business until his death in Bozeman.

Ecton was the last Republican U.S. senator from Montana until the election in 1988 of Conrad Burns, who served from 1989 to 2007.

References

• Zales Ecton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Further reading

• Zales N. Ecton Papers (1898-1961), Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections Library, Montana State University Collection website

United States Senate
Preceded by Burton K. Wheeler	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Montana 1947-1953 Served alongside: James Edward Murray	Succeeded by Mike Mansfield