Ben Jensen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 7th district
In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1965
Preceded by	Otha Wearin
Succeeded by	John R. Hansen
Personal details
Born	Benton Franklin Jensen (1892-12-16)December 16, 1892 Marion, Iowa, U.S.
Died	February 5, 1970(1970-02-05) (aged 77) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Rank	Second lieutenant
Battles/wars	World War I

Benton Franklin Jensen (December 16, 1892 – February 5, 1970) served thirteen consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Iowa's 7th congressional district in the southwestern corner of the state. While on the floor of the U.S. House on March 1, 1954, he was one of five Congressmen wounded by gunfire from a Puerto Rican Nationalists firing from a visitors' gallery.

Born in Marion, Iowa, Jensen was the tenth of thirteen children born to Danish immigrant parents. He attended the rural high schools. From 1914 to 1917, he was employed by a lumber company as yardman and assistant auditor. He served as a second lieutenant in 1918 during World War I. Upon his return from the war, he served as manager of a lumber company for nearly twenty years.

In 1938, Jensen was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was re-elected twelve times, serving continuously from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1965. Jensen did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1957,^[1] and voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1960 and 1964,^[2][3] but voted in favor of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which outlawed the poll tax in all federal-level elections.^[4]

In the 1954 United States Capitol shooting, Jensen was shot in the back near his right shoulder. The bullet was removed the following day.^[5] He fully recovered, and served ten more years in Congress. However, during the 1964 Democratic landslide, he was defeated by Democrat John R. Hansen. He then returned home to Exira, Iowa.

Jensen died in Washington, D.C., on February 5, 1970, and was interred in Exira Cemetery. The papers of Ben F. Jensen were given to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1967.

• United States Congress members killed or wounded in office

• United States Congress. "Ben F. Jensen (id: J000100)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-09
• Papers of Benton Franklin Jensen
• Obituary, The New York Times, February 6, 1970

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa
1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum Finkenauer Hinson Miller-Meeks
2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack Miller-Meeks Hinson
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young Axne Nunn
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle LeCompte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King Feenstra
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston LeCompte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King
6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy
7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle
8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven
9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey
10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist
11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell
AL	Hastings Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Authority control databases
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National	United States
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