[1] He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1932, soundly defeating longtime incumbent and Majority Leader James Eli Watson.

Although he was a Democrat who was elected as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sweeping victory, Van Nuys was not always a reliable supporter of New Deal policies and opposed the president’s plan to enlarge the United States Supreme Court.

Loyalists to Governors Paul McNutt and M. Clifford Townsend sought to "eliminate" him from the Senate, which was welcomed by the Roosevelt administration.

[4] After initially threatening to run as an independent, he secured support for the Democratic nomination and faced Republican newspaper publisher Raymond E. Willis in the general election.

[6]He died on January 25, 1944, at his home in Vienna, Virginia, after a short illness and was buried in East Maplewood Cemetery, Anderson, Indiana.