Representative Ulysses Samuel Guyer - Contact Information

Ulysses Samuel Guyer (December 13, 1868 – June 5, 1943) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas whose long career in public life spanned municipal, judicial, and congressional service. He was born near Paw Paw, Lee County, Illinois, where he attended local public schools before moving to Kansas as a young man. Seeking higher education in his adopted state, he enrolled at Lane University in Lecompton, Kansas, an institution associated with the early educational and political development of the region during the post–Civil War era.

Guyer continued his studies in law at the University of Kansas School of Law in Lawrence, Kansas. After completing his legal education, he was admitted to the bar in 1902. He immediately commenced the practice of law in Kansas City, Kansas, which at the turn of the twentieth century was a growing urban center and an important hub for commerce and transportation in the state. His legal practice provided the foundation for his entry into public service and helped establish his reputation in local civic affairs.

Building on his legal experience, Guyer was appointed judge of the first division city court of Kansas City, Kansas, serving from 1907 to 1909. In this judicial capacity he presided over municipal matters during a period of expanding city governance and reform. His work on the bench led to further public responsibilities, and he was elected mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, serving from 1909 to 1910. As mayor, he participated in the administration of a rapidly developing city, gaining executive experience that would later inform his legislative career.

Guyer’s first service in Congress came through a special election. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to the Sixty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Edward C. Little. He took his seat on November 4, 1924, and served until March 3, 1925. He chose not to be a candidate for election to the full term in 1924, and upon the expiration of his brief initial service in the House, he returned to Kansas City, Kansas, where he resumed the practice of law. This interlude allowed him to maintain his professional ties at home while remaining an influential figure in state Republican circles.

Guyer returned to national office two years later. He was elected to the Seventieth Congress and then re-elected to the eight succeeding Congresses, serving continuously from March 4, 1927, until his death on June 5, 1943. During this extended tenure, which placed him among the more senior members of the Kansas delegation, he participated in the legislative debates of the late 1920s, the Great Depression, and the early years of World War II. His long service reflected sustained support from his constituents and a stable position within the Republican Party at the national level.

In addition to his regular legislative duties, Guyer played a notable role in one of the House’s constitutional functions: impeachment. In 1933 he was appointed by the United States House of Representatives as one of the managers to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Harold Louderback, a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In this capacity, he helped present the House’s case before the Senate, participating directly in a rare and significant exercise of congressional oversight of the federal judiciary.

Ulysses S. Guyer died in office in Bethesda, Maryland, on June 5, 1943, while still serving in the House of Representatives. His death placed him among the members of Congress who died while in active service during the first half of the twentieth century. Among the items in his estate was a forty-volume personal diary that he had kept for many years, indicating a sustained habit of reflection and record-keeping that may have documented both his public career and private life. His long record of municipal, judicial, and congressional service left a distinct imprint on the political history of Kansas and on the proceedings of the national legislature during a transformative era in American history.