Richard M. Simpson
| Richard Murray Simpson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District From: January 3, 1953 – January 7, 1960 | |||
| Predecessor | Walter M. Mumma | ||
| Successor | Douglas H. Elliot | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District From: January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1953 | |||
| Predecessor | Samuel K. McConnell, Jr. | ||
| Successor | Alvin Bush | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District From: May 11, 1937 – January 3, 1945 | |||
| Predecessor | Benjamin K. Focht | ||
| Successor | John C. Kunkel | ||
| Former State Representative from Pennsylvania From: 1935–1937 | |||
| Predecessor | ??? | ||
| Successor | ??? | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Grace Metz (died 1945)[1] | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Allegiance | United States | ||
| Rank | Private | ||
| Unit | Three Hundred and First Company, Tank Corps | ||
| Battles/wars | World War I | ||
Richard Murray Simpson (August 30, 1900 – January 7, 1960) was a Republican from Pennsylvania who represented the state's 18th and 17th congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives for two decades until his death in office.
Contents
Background
Simpson was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania to Warren B. Simpson and the former Susan E. Miller. The oldest of five children, he attended local public schools and then the University of Pittsburgh, which he graduated from in 1923. During World War I, Simpson served as a Private in the Tank Corps.
Political career
Prior to his election to Congress, Simpson was a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives from 1935 to 1937.
U.S. House of Representatives
Following the death of incumbent Republican congressman Benjamin K. Focht, Simpson successfully ran in the special election to fill the vacancy, defeating Democrat opponent Lowell H. Alexander.[2] He was re-elected eleven times afterwards.[3]
Civil rights
Like the vast majority of Republicans, Simpson voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[4]
Cox Committee
In early April 1952, Simpson voted "present" on a resolution which established the Select Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations.[5] He was appointed to the seven-member committee, which became known as the Cox Committee. The body conducted hearings and sent questionnaires to major foundations, though overall did not investigate very thoroughly.[6]
Following the sudden death of committee chair Eugene Cox in December 1952, the committee's work was soon wrapped up. The final report, which Cox never saw, exonerated the investigated foundations of any suspected subversion, and was only fifteen pages long.[6] Committee member B. Carroll Reece, a conservative Republican from Tennessee, asserted:[7]
| “ | As pointed out and stressed in this report, the select committee has had insufficient time for the magnitude of its task. Although I was unable to attend the full hearing I feel compelled to observe that, if a more comprehensive study is desired, the inquiry might be continued by the Eighty-third Congress with profit in view of the importance of the subject, the fact that tax-exempt funds in very large amounts are spent without public accountability or official supervision of any sort, and that, admittedly, considerable question able expenditures have been made. | ” |
| —Carroll Reece | ||
Aftermath
Out of the six remaining members of the select committee, only Reece sought a do-over and conduct a more thorough investigation of tax-exempt foundations.[6] The U.S. House voted in late 1953 under a conservative Republican-led Congress to re-enact the committee.[8]
Simpson, along with remaining committee members Aime J. Forand, Brooks Hays, and Angier Goodwin, thus voted against a House resolution in late July 1953 which re-enacted the committee.[8] The measure still passed with strong support from the majority of House Republicans, and the committee was known during the 83rd Congress as the Reece Committee.
Death in office
Like his predecessor, Simpson ultimately died while in office. President Dwight Eisenhower stated on January 7, 1960:[9]
| “ | IT IS with profound regret that I have learned this morning of the passing of Representative Richard M. Simpson, a veteran and distinguished legislator who for many years has courageously and conscientiously served his District, the Nation and the Republican Party.
Mrs. Eisenhower and I join Americans all across the country in tending deepest sympathy to his family. His passing is a grievous loss to our nation, and a personal loss to me. |
” |
References
- ↑ March 8, 1945. MRS. RICHARD M. SIMPSON; Wife of Representative From Pennsylvania Had Been Teacher. The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ Two references:
- PA - District 18 - Special Election Race - May 11, 1937. Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- March 13, 1937. SIMPSON WON BY 8,279; Republican Polls 31,969 Votes'in Pennsylvania House Race. The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ Candidate - Richard M. Simpson. Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ H RES 561. RESOLUTION CREATING A SELECT COMMITTEE TO CON- DUCT AN INVESTIGATION AND STUDY OF FOUNDATIONS AND OTHER COMPARABLE ORGANIZATIONS.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 FascinatingPolitics (December 22, 2019). The Reece Committee on Foundations: Conspiratorial Nonsense or an Expose of a Threat to the Nation?. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ January 1, 1953. Final Report Of The Select Committee To Investigate Foundations And Other Organizations (Pursuant to H. Res. 561, 82d Cong.), p. 1. Retrieved October 6, 2021. Final Report, pp. 14. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 H RES 217. RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CON- DUCT A FULL AND COMPLETE INVESTIGATION AND STUDY OF EDUCA- TIONAL AND PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS AND OTHER COMPARABLE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ARE EXEMPT FROM FED. INCOME TAXATION.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ January 7, 1960. Statement by the President on the Death of Representative Simpson of Pennsylvania.. The American Presidency Project. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
