{{Short description|American politician (1929–2021)}} {{redirect|Senator Gambrell|the South Carolina state senate member|Michael Gambrell}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2009}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = David H. Gambrell | office = [[United States Senator]] from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | image = David Henry GAMBRELL.jpg | caption = Gambrell in 1972, while serving. | state = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | term_start = February 1, 1971 | term_end = November 7, 1972 | appointer = [[Jimmy Carter]] | preceded = [[Richard Russell Jr.]] | succeeded = [[Sam Nunn]] | office2 = Chair of the [[Democratic Party of Georgia|Georgia Democratic Party]] | term_start2 = 1970 | term_end2 = 1971 | predecessor2 = [[James H. Gray Sr.]] | successor2 = [[Charles Kirbo]] | birth_name = David Henry Gambrell | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|12|20}} | birth_place = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|5|6|1929|12|20}} | death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | alma_mater = [[Davidson College]]<br>[[Harvard Law School]] | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|[[Luck Flanders Gambrell|Luck Flanders]]|1953|2015|end=d.}} * {{marriage|Jeanne Martin|2016}} }} | children = 4 | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{army|United States}} | unit = [[United States Army Reserve|Reserves]] }} '''David Henry Gambrell''' (December 20, 1929 – May 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] who served as the chairman of the [[Democratic Party of Georgia|Georgia Democratic Party]] in the early 1970s and served in the [[United States Senate]] from 1971 to 1972.<ref>{{cite web|author=Lawrence Kestenbaum |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gambrell-garcelon.html |title=Index to Politicians: Gamblin to Garchow |publisher=The Political Graveyard |date= |accessdate=2021-05-10}}</ref>
==Education and legal career== Gambrell was born in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]], on December 20, 1929, the son of Kathleen (Hagood) and Smythe Gambrell.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bXQ1Z6-8wMC&q=David+Henry+Gambrell+1929&pg=PA39|title=Official Congressional Directory: 91st Congress, Second Session|last1=Congress|first1=United States|year=1970|publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231033657 }}</ref> He graduated from [[Davidson College]] in 1949, and received his JD, with honors, from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1952. He served in the [[United States Army Reserve|reserves]] of the [[United States Army]]. After serving as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard and then as an associate and partner at the [[King & Spalding]] law firm in Atlanta, Gambrell founded Gambrell & Stolz, LLP in 1963. He served as president of the Atlanta Bar Association from 1965 to 1966, and as president of the [[State Bar of Georgia]] from 1967 to 1968. He also served in the [[American Bar Association]] House of Delegates, on the Board of Editors of the ''[[ABA Journal]]'', and as Director of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. In 2002, he received the State Bar of Georgia's Distinguished Service Award, and the Atlanta Bar Association, in 2007, honored him with their Leadership Award.
==Political career== Gambrell went on to take part in state politics, serving as chairman of the [[Georgia Democratic Party]] from 1970 to 1971. In 1971, upon the death of U.S. Senate member [[Richard Russell Jr.]], [[Governor of Georgia]] [[Jimmy Carter]] appointed Gambrell to the [[United States Senate]] to finish Russell's term, where he served during the years 1971 and 1972. While in the U.S. Senate he served as a member of the Banking Committee, Aeronautics and Space Committee, and Senate Select Committee on Small Business. Gambrell, a moderate, was defeated in the Democratic primary runoff in [[1972 United States Senate elections in Georgia|1972]] by the more conservative [[Sam Nunn]], who went on to serve in the Senate for the next twenty-four years. Gambrell sought the Democratic nomination for [[Governor of Georgia]] in [[1974 Georgia gubernatorial election|1974]], but fared badly, finishing behind [[Lester Maddox]], [[George Busbee]] (the eventual winner), and [[Bert Lance]].
==Other activities== Gambrell served in a number of public, business and civic roles, including the Directorships of three publicly held corporations, the Visiting Committees of Davidson College, Harvard Law School, [[Emory University]] and the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Chairman of the Governor's Committee on Post-Secondary Education, as chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Education Article of the [[Constitution of Georgia (U.S. state)|Constitution of Georgia]], as a member on the Board of Curators of the [[Georgia Historical Society]] and as a trustee of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. He retired as a director of American Software, Inc. and was a trustee of the Georgia Legal History Foundation.
==Personal life== Gambrell was married to [[Luck Flanders Gambrell]]. They had four children. She was a philanthropist in her hometown of [[Swainsboro, Georgia]], having donated {{convert|190|acre|ha|0}} of land to establish [[East Georgia State College]] in 1971; the building housing the college's library bears her name to honor this gift. Luck died on June 29, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Luck Gambrell Obituary|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?pid=175202543|publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=January 27, 2016}}</ref> Gambrell died in [[Atlanta]] on May 6, 2021, after a period of declining health, age 91.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/atlanta-ga/david-gambrell-10184035 |title= Obit |website=www.dignitymemorial.com|access-date=2021-05-10}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{CongBio|G000034}}
{{S-start}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box | state=Georgia | class=2 | before=[[Richard Russell Jr.]] | years=1971–1972 | after=[[Sam Nunn]] | alongside=[[Herman Talmadge]]}} {{S-end}}
{{USSenGA}} {{Democratic Party of Georgia}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambrell, David H.}} [[Category:1929 births]] [[Category:2021 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from Atlanta]] [[Category:Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:United States Army officers]] [[Category:Davidson College alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats]] [[Category:State political party chairs of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:20th-century United States senators]]