Thomas Hart Benton Politician. The american statesman thomas hart benton was born at hillsborough, orange county, north carolina, on the 14th of march 1782. He was the most influential missouri politician during his thirty years as a senator.

By the time benton painted it for a kansas city department store in 1947, he had already been tagged by the east coast critics as an uncouth, outspoken, provincial artist, so he may have been playing to his critics with his bright colors. Attended chapel hill college (university of north carolina); Benton also had an impact on the westward expansion of the country.