In the presidential elections, residents of Henderson County voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

From 1940 to 1960 all persons representing Henderson County in the U.S. House of Representatives were Democrats.
One person, Monroe M. Redden, was from Henderson County.

Photo credit: The Howler, Wake Forest College; http://ncpedia.org/biography/redden-monroe-minor

Monroe Minor Redden (1901-1987) was born Sept. 24, 1901, in Henderson County. He was the son of John Lewis Redden and Julia Sophronia Tremble Redden.
He attended public schools in Henderson County and then Wake Forest University. He completed his law degree in 1923.
In 1923 he married Mary Belle Boyd. The couple had two sons, Monroe Minor Redden Jr. (1936-2002) and Robert McDuffie Redden (1930-1970).
He and a younger brother, Arthur Redden, were attorneys in a law practice in Hendersonville.
He chaired the Henderson County Democratic Party from 1930 to 1946. He was chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party executive committee from 1942 to 1944. He was a member of the State Board of Elections in 1938.
He was one of the original owners of WHKP Radio in 1946.
Redden was elected to Congress from the Twelfth District in November 1946, when he defeated incumbent representative Zebulon Weaver on a platform that favored economy in government and reduction of taxes. Redden received the largest total vote and the largest majority of any congressional candidate in the state.
During his three terms in Congress between 1947 and 1953, Redden was on the District of Columbia Committee and was chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs. In 1950 he sponsored the amendment to the federal wage-and-hour law, which established seventy-five cents as the minimum wage for employees of firms engaged in interstate business.
Redden served three terms in Congress from 1947 to 1953.
He resigned from Congress in 1953 to resume an active law practice with his two sons. He was president of the Southern Heritage Life Insurance Company from 1956 to 1959. He was chairman and on the board of directors of the Home Bank and Trust Co.
He died Dec. 16, 1987, in Hendersonville. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.

 N.C. General Assembly

 State senators who represented Henderson County in the state General Assembly represented more than one county. Two were from Henderson County.
1. Carroll Pickens Rogers, Democrat, served in the N.C. State Senate from 1945 to 1947. Rogers was living in Polk County at the time of his election to the N.C. State Senate. For more information, visit: http://hendersonheritage.com/political-events-and-leaders-1920-to-1930/
2. William Bryan Hodges (1900-1959), Democrat, served in the N.C. State Senate from 1948 to 1955. He was born Oct. 9, 1900, in Norfolk, Va., a son of Samuel Thompson Hodges and Louise Ellen Kirk Hodges. He attended Blue Ridge School for Boys in Hendersonville and was a graduate of Davidson College. He was a banker and president of the State Trust Company in Hendersonville. He was the husband of Elizabeth H. Carrigan. He died Aug. 4, 1959, in Henderson County. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.

Henderson County had its own representative in the State House.Both were Democrats during this time period.
1. Lawrence Lee Burgin, Democrat, (1893-1963) represented Henderson County in the N.C. State House from 1937 to 1949. For more information, visit: http://hendersonheritage.com/political-events-and-leaders-1930s/
2. Robert Lee Whitmire, Democrat, (1898-1970), represented Henderson County in the N.C. General Assembly from 1949 to 1955. He was elected to the N.C. State Senate in 1927 and served as Hendersonville City Attorney from 1923 to 1932. For more information, visit: http://hendersonheritage.com/political-events-and-leaders-1920-to-1930/

Hendersonville Mayor

There was one mayor during this time period for the city of Hendersonville.
Albert Victor Edwards (1891-1971) was elected mayor in 1932. Edwards was mayor for 37 years. He was the mayor when the first parking meters were installed in the town of Hendersonville in 1946. For more information, visit: http://hendersonheritage.com/political-events-and-leaders-1930s/

Government Employment

Based on the 1950 census, a total of 221 people were employed by either the federal, state or local governments in Henderson County. This included postal workers, other federal employees, state employees and county and city government employees.