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Posted February 13, 2007
Benton Franklin Jensen, a Republican representing Iowa’s 7th Congressional District, was one of five congressman shot by Puerto Rican nationalists during an attack on the U.S. Capitol on March 1, 1954, one of two such incidents in history. Jensen wasn’t targeted in the attack and survived. He served 13 terms in congress.
Ben Jensen was born in Marion on December 16, 1892, the tenth of 13 children. As a child, Jensen was a history buff and changed his name to Benton Franklin Jensen when he was ten-years-old. After serving in World War 1, Jensen became manager of the Green Bay Lumber Company in Exira, in southwest Iowa, a job he held for 24 years.
In Congress, Jensen, a conservative Republican, was known for his work as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and championing the conservation of natural resources. His work on the Effigy Mounds played a role in winning the Indian burial mounds a designation as a National Monument managed by the National Parks Service. He was a popular member of congress and played in a weekly poker game with Reps. Tip O’Neil, Karl Mundt, and Richard Nixon, the future president.
The attack in 1954 came during a gentler time in the country’s history. A terrorist attack had never occurred at the U.S. Capitol and security was practically non-existent. The attack was planned by the Puerto Rico National Party, a group using violent means to win independence from the United States. In the 1950s, the nationalists staged an uprising (The Jayuya Uprising) and attempted to assassinate President Harry S Truman at Blair House.
On March 1, 1954 by four Puerto Rican nationalists who shot 30 rounds using automatic pistols from the Ladies' Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol.
The attackers unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and began shooting at the 240 Representatives who were debating an immigration bill. in the attack, one seriously. Jensen was shot in the back and four other representatives were wounded. They included Alvin M. Bentley (R-Michigan), who took a bullet to the chest, Clifford Davis (D-Tennessee), who was shot in the leg, as well as George Fallon (D-Maryland) and Kenneth A. Roberts (D-Alabama).
Although the shootings transfixed Washington, most members of congress were said to laugh about it later. Davis and Jensen, for instance, shared a hospital room after the attack and reportedly debated whether to listen to the popular radio serial "The Lone Ranger".. Jensen persuaded Davis to stick with music. "I've had all the shooting I can take for one day," Jensen told a Washington Post writer.
The attackers were immediately arrested and were eventually given minimum sentences of 70 years in prison, after their death sentences were commuted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Jensen remained in Congress for another ten years but was defeated in 1964. He returned to Exira and died six years later while visiting Washington, D.C. He is buried in the Exira Cemetery.
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U.S. Rep. Ben Jensen shot at Capitol
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