John C. Stennis
Politician
Politician and member of the Democratic party who was a U.S. Senator from the state of Mississippi for over 41 years. He was the most senior member of the Senate for the last eight years of his tenure.
He was a prosecuting attorney and later a circuit judge in his home state, when he decided to enter a special election for a vacated senate seat.
Beginning his reign in office with a promise to hew to the center, he set himself as a the voice of conscience for the Senate, widely respected for his integrity.
He and his wife Coy Hines, affectionately called Miss Coy, had two children.
Richard Nixon counted on the senator's integrity when he formed a deal to let him listen to the Watergate tapes and compose his summaries of them, rather than turning over the tapes to the prosecutors.