Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston (April 15, 1926 – October 16, 2018) was an American commercial broadcaster and politician from Kentucky.

[3] After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a tank gunner in Europe during and after World War II from 1944 to 1946.

[2][5] On December 20, 1947, Huddleston married the former Martha Jean Pearce at Duncan Memorial Chapel in Oldham County, Kentucky.

[9] In 1972, Huddleston ran for the United States Senate seat which was being vacated by retiring Republican John Sherman Cooper.

[2] McConnell gained political traction with a series of television campaign ads mocking Huddleston's attendance record in the Senate.

[16] After his retirement, Huddleston returned to Elizabethtown, Kentucky and began working as a lobbyist for railroad, tobacco and agricultural clients.

[2] Mitch McConnell, who had since risen to the highest ranks in the Senate leadership, released a statement paying tribute to Huddleston's "tenacity," and stated that both he and his wife, Elaine Chao, were "saddened" when they heard of his passing.