Politics & Government
City Council Honors Former Resident Sen. Thomas H. Kuchel
City Council issued a proclamation honoring former resident Sen. Thomas Kuchel, who died in Beverly Hills in 1994, on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
The late Sen. Thomas H. Kuchel, R-Calif., was honored by City Council on Aug. 17 in recognition of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Kuchel, who was born on Aug. 15, 1910, served in the U.S. Senate from 1953-1969 and lived in Beverly Hills until his death on Nov. 21, 1994.
"I want to thank you very much for honoring my late husband for his 16 years in the U.S. Senate," Betty Kuchel said. "In my book he was a very fine senator."
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Kuchel served as Republican Whip in the Senate, the number two position to Sen. Everett M. Dirksen, R-Ill., who was Republican minority leader from 1959 until his death in 1969.
"I met him 43 years ago," said Councilman Dr. William Brien, who brought along a pen Kuchel had given him as a child.
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Brien told Betty, who attended the presentation along with daughter Karen Bianchi and former Rep. Mel Levine, D-Calif., that the senator had made a "great impression" on him.
"The pen still works," Brien said.
