Political Career
In 1922, Clements' father died, and Clements was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term. He was subsequently elected to the office; his term ended in 1925. In 1926, he was elected county clerk. He served two terms in that office, with his tenure ending January 1, 1934. Later in 1934, he was elected county judge. During his two terms, which lasted until 1941, he ordered the paving of 123 miles of road in the county—more than all the previous county judges combined—despite the financial hardships of the Great Depression.
In 1935, Thomas Rhea asked Clements to serve as his campaign chairman for the 1935 gubernatorial race. Clements accepted, and consequently had to refuse a later request from his boyhood friend, A. B. "Happy" Chandler, to fill the same position for his campaign. Chandler won the Democratic primary, and for decades following, Clements and Chandler led opposite factions of the Kentucky Democratic Party. Chandler claimed that Clements bolted the party and supported Republican candidate King Swope in the general election; Clements denied this, but admitted that he gave Chandler's campaign only minimal support.
Clements was elected to the Kentucky Senate in 1941, representing Union, Webster, and Henderson counties. By 1944, he had risen to the post of majority leader in that body and played a central role in writing the state's budget that year. Due to Clements' efforts, educational appropriations were increased far above what had been called for by Republican governor Simeon Willis.
Clements' face-off with Willis won him popularity and helped him win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Kentucky's second district, in 1944. He was re-elected in 1946. A New Deal Democrat, Clements voted to increase funding to the Rural Electrification Administration and advocated for the 1945 National School Lunch Act. He supported expansion of agricultural research and reorganization of the Farm Security Administration. He endorsed conservation and wildlife programs and additional funding to federal parks. He supported civil rights legislation, including bans on lynching and poll taxes. He opposed the Taft-Hartley Act and voted to disband the House Un-American Activities Committee. His service on the Select House Committee on Food Shortages gave him the chance to interact closely with President Harry S. Truman.
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