Robert Vernon Denney

Who was Robert Vernon Denney?

Robert Vernon Denney was a Nebraska Republican politician and a United States federal judge.

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Denney graduated from Fairbury High School in 1933. He attended Peru State Teachers College and the University of Nebraska from 1933 to 1936, and received an LL.B. from Creighton University School of Law in 1939. He practiced law in Fairbury, Nebraska from 1939 to 1940 and then became a special agent for Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1940 to 1941, serving in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, in October 1942, with the First Armored Amphibian Battalion. He remained active in United States Marine Corps Reserve until 1960 and retired with rank of lieutenant colonel.

Denney resumed the practice of law in Fairbury from 1945 to 1967, becoming Jefferson County attorney from 1946 to 1951 and Fairbury city attorney from 1951 to 1956. He was chairman of the Jefferson County Republican, and then chairman Nebraska Republican Party. He was elected to the Ninetieth and Ninety-first United States Congresses serving from January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1971.