Forrest Carl[citation needed] Donnell (August 20, 1884 – March 3, 1980) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator and the 40th governor of Missouri.

[3] He was the first Republican governor after the collapse of the Thomas Pendergast political machine and the only major Republican elected statewide in the 1940 election; Democrats delayed seating him for six weeks until being forced to do so by the Missouri Supreme Court in what was called the "Great Governorship Steal".

[4] Donnell's predecessor Lloyd C. Stark had wrested control of federal appointments in the state from the Pendergast machine in 1936.

Within hours of the election, several members of the Democratic party met at the DeSoto Hotel in St. Louis to plan a response.

They sought to use a provision of the Missouri Constitution that allowed the speaker of the house to "count – tabulate – the votes and proclaim to the general public who won".

Truman said: Donnell's ambitious plans as governor were largely thwarted, despite the Republican party gaining control of the house of representatives and an equal share in the senate in 1942.

In that race, he defeated state Attorney General Roy McKittrick by 1,988 votes out of nearly 1.56 million cast [1].

As senator, Donnell supported the Taft-Hartley Act, other antilabor measures, and lower income taxes.