J. T. Rutherford
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Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 88th district | |||||||
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In office January 11, 1949 – January 13, 1953 | |||||||
Preceded by | George W. Elliott | ||||||
Succeeded by | Elbert Reeves | ||||||
Personal details | |||||||
Born | J T Rutherford May 30, 1921 Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
Political party | Democratic | ||||||
Spouse |
Sara Jane Armstrong
(m. 1948; died 2004) | ||||||
Children | 3 | ||||||
Alma mater | Angelo State University Sul Ross State University Baylor Law School | ||||||
Military service | |||||||
Allegiance | United States | ||||||
Branch/service | United States Marine Corps | ||||||
Years of service | 1942-1946 | ||||||
Rank | Major | ||||||
Battles/wars |
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J T Rutherford (May 30, 1921 – November 6, 2006), was an American lawyer and World War II veteran who served as a Democratic United States Congressional Representative for 4 terms from 1955 to 1963. He previously served as a state legislator from the state of Texas.
Early life and career
He was born to James Thaddeus Rutherford and the former Nancy Lillian Johnson in
World War II
He served as an enlisted man in the
Business career
From 1946 to 1947, Rutherford studied at San Angelo College in San Angelo. He then transferred to Sul Ross State College in Alpine, which he attended from 1947 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950, he attended Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas.
In 1948, Rutherford married the former Sara Jane Armstrong, and the couple had three children, Cleo Ann, Charles Lane Rutherford, and Jane Ellen.[1] Rutherford was a partner in an industrial electrical construction firm and also owned an advertising business.
Political career
Rutherford served in the
Congress
He was elected to the 84th to 87th
He was one of the majority of the Texan delegation to decline to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Rutherford voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960,[2][3] but voted in favor of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[4]
He was the first chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks. He was awarded the
Rutherford's district was the old jumbo 16th district, Midland being its eastmost point and El Paso at its westmost. It also stretched hundreds of miles along the border with Mexico. The 19 counties it embraced covered 42,067 square miles—making it geographically larger than Ohio or Tennessee, among other states.
Later career and death
After leaving Congress, he formed J. T. Rutherford and Associates, a government relations consulting firm. He was a director of the Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation for Crippled Children, which was established in 1943 in
Death
Rutherford died of complications of
References
- ^ Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1960), p. 2504
- ^ "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.
- ^ "HR 8601. PASSAGE".
- ^ "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.
- United States Congress. "J. T. Rutherford (id: R000547)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.