Encyclopedia Virginia: Representatives of Virginia (U.S.)

Booker, George William (1821–1884)

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:37:31 EST

George William Booker's political career, which included a term in Congress (1869–1871), provides an example of the shifting political alliances during and after the American Civil War (1861–1865). A strong Unionist during the secession crisis, he voted for the Ordinance of Secession to avoid reprisals from his neighbors. A post as justice of the peace kept him from military service during the Civil War. Booker won election to the House of Delegates in 1865 representing Henry County and aligned himself with former Whig John Minor Botts during the formation of Virginia's Republican Party. The Republicans nominated him for attorney general in 1868, but elections were postponed. The next year he won a seat in the House of Representatives as a True Republican, an alliance between moderate members of his party and Democratic-aligned Conservatives in opposition to the Radical Republicans. He moderated his earlier anti-secession views and advocated an amnesty for former Confederates. Declining a run for a second term, he returned to the House of Delegates where he became one of the Conservative Party's floor leaders. He died near Martinsville in 1884.
Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:37:31 EST

Tyler, John (1790–1862)

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:41:44 EST

John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States. The son of a Virginia governor, Tyler had already been a member of the House of Delegates and the Council of State before being elected to Congress in 1816. After serving as governor of Virginia, the assembly elected him to the United States Senate. A slaveholder and Democrat, he supported states' rights and limited government. He broke with Andrew Jackson early in the 1830s over what he viewed as an alarming increase in federal power. Tyler joined the Whig Party and won the vice presidency in 1840 on a ticket with William Henry Harrison. Following Harrison's death in April 1841, Tyler became the first vice president to assume office after the death of the chief executive. His support of states' rights clashed with his party's prevailing belief in a stronger government, nearly causing the collapse of his administration. Tyler found some success in foreign affairs, but he left the White House in 1845 unpopular and expelled from the Whig Party. As the secession crisis intensified early in 1861, Tyler presided over the ill-fated Peace Conference to head off armed conflict. He served as a delegate to the Virginia convention that addressed the state's response to the crisis, ultimately voting for secession in April 1861. The following November Tyler won election to the Confederate House of Representatives, but died before his term began.
Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:41:44 EST

Daniel, John Warwick (1842–1910)

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:41:22 EST

John Warwick Daniel served as a member of the House of Delegates (1869–1872), of the Senate of Virginia (1875–1881), of the House of Representatives (1885–1887), of the U.S. Senate (1887–1910), and of the Convention of 1901–1902. Daniel earned the nickname "The Lame Lion of Lynchburg" after the American Civil War (1861–1865), when he suffered an injury that required him to use a crutch for the rest of his life. A gifted writer and orator, Daniel memorialized the Confederate war effort and spoke out against Reconstruction. He began his political career as a Conservative, became a prominent Funder late in the 1870s, and then in the 1880s helped rebuild the Democratic Party. At the Convention of 1901–1902, called to revise the state constitution, Daniel chaired the important Committee on the Elective Franchise. At first advocating less-onerous suffrage restrictions, he ultimately pushed for a more aggressive path that disfranchised most African Americans in Virginia, along with large numbers of poorer white citizens. Daniel spent his last years as an elder statesman of the Democratic Party, and died in 1910.
Tue, 14 May 2013 10:41:22 EST

Burch, Thomas Granville (1869–1951)

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:46:49 EST

Thomas Granville Burch was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1931–1946) and briefly served in the U.S. Senate (1946). As a congressman he represented an eight-county district in southern Virginia along the North Carolina border. Reapportionment added a ninth county beginning with the 74th Congress. A colleague of the conservative Democratic U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd, Burch was briefly considered by Byrd and his advisers as a gubernatorial candidate for the 1937 election; however, Burch's unorthodox plan for teacher pay upset the Byrd Organization, which removed him from the inner circle of Virginia politics.
Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:46:49 EST

Carlile, John S. (1817–1878)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:04:55 EST

John S. Carlile was a member of the Convention of 1850–1851, the U.S. House of Representatives (1856–1858), the Convention of 1861, the First and Second Wheeling Conventions of 1861, and the United States Senate (1861–1865). As an active and outspoken participant in the Convention of 1850, he supported democratic reforms that invested western Virginia with more political power. In Congress, he supported the rights of slave owners, but as a delegate to the state convention during the secession crisis of 1861, he vehemently opposed leaving the Union, calling secession "a crime against God." The convention voted to secede anyway, and during the American Civil War (1861–1865), Carlile became a U.S. senator representing the Restored government of Virginia. In Washington, D.C., he helped shepherd the West Virginia statehood bill through Congress, only to vote against it in 1862, citing the bill's requirement that the new state adopt a plan of gradual emancipation. While Carlile remained in the Senate until 1865, he had so angered—and confused—his new West Virginia constituents that his political career was largely over. He died on his farm near Clarksburg in 1878.
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:04:55 EST

Beale, R. L. T. (1819–1893)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:50:38 EST

R. L. T. Beale was twice a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849; 1879–1881), member of the Convention of 1850–1851, member of the Senate of Virginia (1857–1860), and a Confederate army officer during the American Civil War (1861–1865). After earning a law degree at the University of Virginia, Beale practiced law in his native Westmoreland County. He was first elected to Congress as a proslavery Democrat but did not seek reelection. Instead, he served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1850, generally opposing proposals to make state government more democratic. After serving a term in the state senate, he joined the Confederate cavalry and fought with the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the war. In June 1862, a newspaper reporter accompanied Beale during J. E. B. Stuart's famous ride around the Union army, and in March 1864, Beale's cavalry detachment killed Union colonel Ulric Dahlgren, ending the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid. After the war, Beale wrote a history of the 9th Virginia, published posthumously, and served a second term in Congress.
Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:50:38 EST

Montague, Andrew Jackson (1862–1937)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:46:18 EST

Andrew Jackson Montague served as attorney general of Virginia (1898–1902), as governor of Virginia (1902–1906), and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1913–1937). Elected governor during the turbulent Progressive reform era of the early twentieth century, Montague advocated for a direct primary system and for the improvement of Virginia's public schools and roads. Despite his powerful oratory skills and popularity, Montague lacked the political will to lobby vigorously for his agenda and was held back further by opposition from Thomas Staples Martin, architect of the state Democratic Party machine, and by an economically and socially conservative political climate. In 1905 he challenged Martin for his U.S. Senate seat, but lost the primary election. Montague served as the dean of Richmond College Law School and practiced law in Richmond before being elected in 1912 to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served a lackluster twenty-four-year tenure.
Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:46:18 EST

Swanson, Claude A. (1862–1939)

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:42:18 EST

Claude A. Swanson was a powerful Democratic Party leader and one of the most successful Virginia politicians of his era. He served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives (1893–1906), was governor of Virginia from 1906 until 1910, and U.S. senator from 1910 until 1933. In addition, Swanson served as secretary of the United States Navy under U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 until his death in 1939. While in the House, Swanson presided over a raucous time in state politics that culminated in the adoption of the state Constitution of 1902 that was notorious for its disfranchisement of African Americans and poor whites in spite of the universal suffrage called for by the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1870). As governor, he instituted a number of progressive reforms and continued to advance those reforms, as well as his belief in a strong U.S. Navy while in the U.S. Senate and in Roosevelt's cabinet.
Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:42:18 EST

Johnston, Joseph E. (1807–1891)

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:06:10 EST

Joseph E. Johnston was a veteran of the Mexican War (1846–1848), quartermaster general of the United States Army, a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861–1865), a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1879–1881), and a U.S. railroad commissioner in the first administration of U.S. president Grover Cleveland (1885–1889). The highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to resign his commission at the start of the Civil War, Johnston helped lead Confederates to victory at the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861; a month later, however, when Confederate president Jefferson Davis appointed five men to the rank of full general, he was only fourth on the list, igniting a bitter feud with the president that would last the war and even spill into his postwar memoir, Narrative of Military Operations (1874). Historians, meanwhile, have split on his military performance, with some dubbing him "Retreatin' Joe," citing, among others, his retreats in the face of General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula in 1862. Johnston was wounded on June 1, 1862, at the Battle of Seven Pines, and Davis turned the Army of Northern Virginia over to General Robert E. Lee, who led it for the remainder of the war. Other historians have argued that Johnston's strategy of withdrawal saved Confederates from destruction during the Atlanta Campaign (1864); nevertheless, Davis replaced him then, too.
Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:06:10 EST

Peery, George Campbell (1873–1952)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:04:45 EST

George Campbell Peery, a Democratic ally of Harry F. Byrd Sr., served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1923–1929) and as governor of Virginia (1934–1938). Peery made his first mark on Virginia's political map and brought a great victory to the Democratic Party when he wrested control of Southwest Virginia's "Fighting Ninth" Congressional District from two decades of Republican occupation. As Byrd's handpicked choice to replace outgoing governor John Garland Pollard, Peery instituted a number of reforms and policies of lasting impact. A Byrd Organization disciple, Peery valued economic thrift and small government, but was not afraid to support more progressive policies when they were politically and economically advantageous. He advocated, for instance, increased funding for public education and recommended that the state adopt an unemployment insurance plan. Peery also created the Department of Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate alcohol sales and consumption in a post-prohibition Virginia.
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:04:45 EST

Daniel, Wilbur Clarence "Dan" (1914–1988)

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:27:00 EST

Wilbur Clarence "Dan" Daniel represented Danville in the House of Delegates (1960–1969) and served as representative from Virginia in the United States Congress (1969–1988). Prior to his election to public office, he served as the state and then national commander of the American Legion (1951; 1956), a platform he used to lobby for veterans' rights and benefits. A conservative whose views on integration aligned with those of United States senator Harry F. Byrd Sr., Daniel supported Massive Resistance and voted in favor of keeping the poll tax. During his nineteen years in Congress, he worked to strengthen national defense, supported United States president Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and helped write the Omnibus Anti-Drug Act of 1985. On January 19, 1988, Daniel announced that he would not seek reelection to Congress due to his struggle with heart disease. He died four days later of an aortic dissection at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.
Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:27:00 EST

Chilton, Samuel (1805–1867)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:18:11 EST

Samuel Chilton was a lawyer, a member of the House of Representatives (1843–1845), and a member of the Convention of 1850–1851, the purpose of which was the revision of the Virginia constitution. He is best known for sitting on a committee appointed during the convention to report on the apportionment of the General Assembly. Chilton supported calculating legislative representation on the basis of population and property holding, but proposed a key compromise with western delegates who held opposing views. His plan for apportionment passed, and on July 31, 1851, Chilton voted with the majority in favor of the final version of the state constitution. Chilton moved to Washington, D.C., by 1853, when he joined the American (Know Nothing) Party. In 1859 he and Hiram Griswold represented John Brown for the final two days of the treason trial that followed Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. Though Chilton tried to appeal the guilty verdict, he was unsuccessful, and ultimately was forced to testify before a Senate committee about the circumstances surrounding his hiring and subsequent payment. After the trial, Chilton reportedly was offered and refused a position on Abraham Lincoln's administration. He died in Warrenton on January 7, 1867.
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:18:11 EST

Letcher, John (1813–1884)

Thu, 26 May 2011 16:41:48 EST

John Letcher was a lawyer, newspaper editor, member of the United States House of Representatives (1851–1859), and governor of Virginia (1860–1864) during the American Civil War (1861–1865). In a career that lasted decades, he weathered radical shifts of opinion and power by consistently positioning himself as a moderate, supporting, for instance, increased commercial ties between the eastern and western portions of the state and more political representation for western counties, codified in the Convention of 1850–1851. He advocated for a gradual emancipation of slaves and resisted the entreaties of radical secessionists while still arguing on behalf of states' rights. Western support and a divided Whig Party helped him narrowly win the governorship as a Democrat in 1859, but his term was often a difficult one. He ably mobilized Virginia for war and then threw the state's tremendous resources behind the Confederacy. But his willingness to requisition for the Confederacy needed supplies such as salt caused controversy at home, as did his support of impressments. Letcher returned to Lexington in 1864, ran for the Confederate Congress and lost, and was briefly imprisoned at the conclusion of the war. After his release, he resumed his law career, returning to state politics before dying in 1884.
Thu, 26 May 2011 16:41:48 EST

Tucker, George (1775–1861)

Mon, 16 May 2011 13:01:57 EST

George Tucker was a lawyer, philosopher, economist, historian, novelist, politician, and teacher. Born in Bermuda and cousin to the famed jurist St. George Tucker, Tucker served in the House of Delegates (1815–1816) representing Pittsylvania County and won election to three terms in the United States House of Representatives (1819–1825) before, at the invitation of Thomas Jefferson, joining the faculty of the newly opened University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Tucker owned slaves but opposed slavery as a moral evil. During debate over the Missouri Compromise (1820), he argued that emancipation was impractical and that slavery would eventually die out. By the end of his life, his opposition to abolitionists had turned him into an apologist for the "peculiar institution." He was the author of a novel of the U.S. South that dramatized the evils of slavery, The Valley of Shenandoah (1824); two science fiction novels, including A Voyage to the Moon (1827); a biography of Jefferson (1837); a four-volume history of the United States (1856–1857); and numerous essays on aesthetics, metaphysics, causality, morality, economics, slavery, and the nature of progress. Tucker was married three times, including to relatives of William Byrd II and George Washington. He died in 1861 from injuries he sustained after being hit by a falling cotton bale.
Mon, 16 May 2011 13:01:57 EST

Smith, Howard Worth (1883–1976)

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:43:49 EST

Howard W. Smith, a Virginia Democratic congressman, was one of America's most powerful politicians from the New Deal to the Great Society. A master obstructionist who chaired the House Rules Committee, he used his power to fight the liberal agendas of presidential administrations from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson. He was particularly concerned about the influence of Communists and wrote the Alien Registration Act of 1940, legislation that eventually paved the way for government targeting of radicals during the Cold War. He also saw Communism at the heart of the civil rights movement and attempted to kill the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by introducing an amendment to include women under its provisions. Ironically, this helped the measure pass and stands as an important part of Smith's legacy.
Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:43:49 EST

Wise, Henry A. (1806–1876)

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:10:03 EST

Henry A. Wise was a lawyer, a member of the United States House of Representatives (1832–1844), U.S. minister to Brazil (1844–1847), governor of Virginia (1856–1860) during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and a brigadier general in the Confederate army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Born in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Wise rose to national prominence during the political turmoil of the late antebellum period. A fiery politician and gifted orator with a mercurial temperament, he advocated a number of progressive positions, including capital improvements in western Virginia, broadening Virginia's electoral base through constitutional reform, and public funding for universal elementary education. Wise also was a stout defender of slavery and eventually became an ardent secessionist. Perhaps best known for being governor when Brown attempted to spark a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry, Wise had the authority to commute Brown's death sentence. Instead, he allowed the execution to take place, making possible the radical abolitionist's ascension to martyrdom. After Virginia's secession in 1861, Wise served in the Confederate army. In 1872, he supported U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant, the former Union general-in-chief, in his campaign for reelection.
Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:10:03 EST

Scott, Robert Cortez "Bobby" (1947– )

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:08:41 EST

Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott has represented Virginia's Third District for eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected to his first term in 1992, Scott was the first American of Filipino descent and only the second African American to represent Virginia in the U.S. Congress since John M. Langston left office in 1891. Before being elected to the House, he had served in both the Virginia House of Delegates (1978–1982) and the Virginia Senate (1982–1992). A moderate Democrat, Scott has chaired the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee since 2006.
Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:08:41 EST

Byrne, Leslie (1946– )

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:53:38 EST

Leslie Byrne was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Virginia, serving as a Democrat for one term, from January 3, 1993, until January 3, 1995. Byrne emerged as a skilled fund-raiser and hard-nosed campaigner, but her tenure in Congress was marked by Democratic defeats over health care issues and her own sometimes difficult relationships with fellow representatives. In addition to her term in Congress, Byrne served in the House of Delegates (1986–1992) and the Senate of Virginia (2000–2003). She also served as the White House Director of Consumer Affairs under U.S. president Bill Clinton.
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:53:38 EST