Earl F. Landgrebe
Earl Fredrick Landgrebe (January 21, 1916 â June 29, 1986) was a Republican congressman from Indiana's 2nd congressional district, succeeding longtime conservative GOP leader Charles A. Halleck, who along with Sen. Everett Dirksen comprised The Ev and Charlie Show. Landgrebe served several terms before being defeated in the wake of Watergate.
| Earl Frederick Landgrebe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| U.S. Representative from Indiana's 2nd Congressional District From: January 3, 1969 â January 3, 1975 | |||
| Predecessor | Charles A. Halleck | ||
| Successor | Floyd J. Fithian | ||
| Former Member of the Indiana State Senate From: January 1, 1959 â August 30, 1968 | |||
| Predecessor | John W. Van Ness | ||
| Successor | Charles B. Kleinkort | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Helen Lucille Field | ||
| Religion | Lutheran[1] | ||
Landgrebe was previously a member of the Indiana State Senate.
U.S. House of Representatives
Following the announced retirement of Charles Halleck, Landgrebe was among a number of Republicans who ran for the open seat. He won the GOP primary by an extremely narrow margin and with a plurality polling only 21.8% of the vote; finishing second was O. U. Sullivan, who garnered 21.6%.[2] He then handily won the general election against Democrat Edward F. Kelly.[3]
Landgrebe was easily re-elected in the 1970 Midterms and in the following year.[4] He proved to be a strong conservative during his tenure,[5][6] voting with the political right 99% of the time.[7]
Although he opposed most civil rights measures throughout his congressional tenure, Landgrebe did back President Nixon's Philadelphia Plan in 1969.[7] He also opposed the liberal Equal Rights Amendment,[7] though missed the House vote on the measure. The ERA was ultimately defeated by a grassroots movement led by activist Phyllis Schlafly. Landgrebe was also hawkish on the Vietnam War and sought a full U.S. victory.[7]
In 1972, Landgrebe made an official visit to the Soviet Union, where he faced arrest in Moscow for distributing Bibles.[6][7]
Defense of President Nixon
During the impeachment procedures against Richard Nixon due to the Watergate scandal, Landgrebe proved to be among the last three staunch defenders of the president who voted against accepting the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry,[6][8] another being Democrat Otto Passman of Louisiana.[7] The Indiana representative famously declared:[6][9]
| â | Donât confuse me with the facts. I've got a closed mind. I will not vote for impeachment. I'm going to stick with my president even if he and I have to be taken out of this building and shot. | â |
The unpopularity of Nixon afterwards led to Landgrebe's defeat in the 1974 Midterms.[10] He lost to Democrat Floyd J. Fithian by over twenty percentage points, unable to carry a single county in the district.[11] He missed 15% of all roll call votes throughout his tenure.[5]
Landgrebe also said of Nixon:[8]
| â | We haven't started to see the two sides of Richard Nixon.
They totally forgot all the good things he did for this country. Communism did not gain one soul on the face of the Earth during Mr. Nixon's five years and eight months in office, especially compared with what happened since he was thrown out. |
â |
Death
Landgrebe died in 1986 of a heart attack at the age of seventy.[12] Nixon, who remembered the support he gave in 1974, gave a public praise of the former Indiana congressman and sent a representative to the funeral.[7] Landgrebe is interred at Blachly Cemetery, located in Crown Point, Indiana.
References
- â Lance to Landolt. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- â IN District 2 - R Primary Race - May 07, 1968. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â IN District 2 Race - Nov 05, 1968. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â Candidate - Earl F. Landgrebe. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â 5.0 5.1 Rep. Earl Landgrebe. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Pearson, Richard (July 1, 1986). OBITUARIES. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 FascinatingPolitics (April 14, 2021). Earl Landgrebe: Nixonâs Last Republican Defender. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â 8.0 8.1 July 1, 1986. Earl Landgrebe dies. UPI. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â September 13, 2018. Papers of Indiana Representative Earl F. Landgrebe now available for research. Indiana State Library. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â Small, Taurean (June 17, 2017). How Watergate ruined a local congressman. ABC 57. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â IN District 2 Race - Nov 05, 1974. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- â July 1, 1986. EARL F. LANDGREBE. The New York Times via Associated Press. Retrieved August 18, 2021.