Gilbert Monell Hitchcock

 Gilbert Monell Hitchcock was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 18, 1859.  Phineas Warren Hitchcock, his father, served as Nebraska’s Senator from 1871-1877.  Hitchcock earned a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1881.  He practiced law in Omaha until 1885 when he established the Omaha Evening World.  In 1889, Hitchcock purchased Nebraska Morning Herald and merged the two papers into the Omaha World Herald.   Hitchcock made an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1898 but he was elected when he ran again in 1903.  He served in Congress from 1903-1905 and 1907-1911.   In 1911, Hitchcock was elected to the Senate.  During his tenure in the Senate, Hitchcock was important liaison to President Woodrow Wilson throughout the dispute over the United States’ membership in the League of Nations.  After Hitchcock lost his re-election bid in 1923, he returned to work at the Omaha World Herald.  Hitchcock died February 3, 1934.