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What’s in a Strange Name?

There’s been another Strange in Congress, and a couple of other Luthers

New Alabama Sen. Luther Strange is the second Sen. Strange in history. (Courtesy Luther Strange Facebook page)
New Alabama Sen. Luther Strange is the second Sen. Strange in history. (Courtesy Luther Strange Facebook page)

Luther Strange of Alabama, who is replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Senate, is the second Sen. Strange in history.

Robert Strange of North Carolina served from 1836 to 1840. He was a Jacksonian Democrat and was the chairman of the Committee on Patents and Patent Office.

Strange resigned after four years, returning home to practice law in Fayetteville.

[Meet Alabama’s New Senator: Luther Strange]

There have been other lawmakers with Luther as a first name, but the last one left more than 70 years.

One was also from Alabama — Luther Patrick, a Democrat who served four nonconsecutive terms in the House, from 1937 to 1943, and then again from 1945 to 1947.

The other was Luther Alexander Johnson, a former Democratic congressman from Texas, who served from 1923 to 1946.

If either of these congressmen was also nicknamed “Big Luther” like Alabama’s new senator, it is lost to history.

Michael Teitelbaum contributed to this report.

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