Changes

Poff won election to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952,<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=406855 VA District 6]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> riding the coattails of [[Dwight Eisenhower]]'s landslide victory in the concurrent presidential election.<ref name="Richard H. Poff, Who Withdrew Court Bid, Dies at 87"/> He would be re-elected nine times.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=34194 Poff, Richard H.]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref>

Poff won election to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952,<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=406855 VA District 6]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> riding the coattails of [[Dwight Eisenhower]]'s landslide victory in the concurrent presidential election.<ref name="Richard H. Poff, Who Withdrew Court Bid, Dies at 87"/> He would be re-elected nine times.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=34194 Poff, Richard H.]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref>

He voted against the [[Civil Rights Act]]s of [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|1957]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> 1960,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102 HR 8601. PASSAGE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h128 H.R. 7152. PASSAGE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> 1968,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/h113 TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> in addition to the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87 TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> However, he supported the [[24th Amendment]] to outlaw the [[poll tax]].<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193 S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> Despite openly opposing [[civil rights]] to maintain his political career, Poff apparently was popular even among black constituents in his district.{{fact}}

He voted against the [[Civil Rights Act]]s of [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|1957]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> 1960,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102 HR 8601. PASSAGE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h128 H.R. 7152. PASSAGE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> 1968,<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/h113 TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> in addition to the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87 TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> However, he supported the [[24th Amendment]] to outlaw the [[poll tax]].<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193 S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> Despite openly opposing [[civil rights]] to maintain his political career, Poff apparently was popular even among black constituents in his district.{{fact}} He later regretted his segregationist record:<ref name="Richard H. Poff, Who Withdrew Court Bid, Dies at 87"/>

{{cquote|I can only say that segregation is wrong today, it was wrong yesterday,” he said. “Segregation was never right. But it is one of the most lamentable frailties of mankind that when one’s wrong is most grievous, his self-justification is most passionate, perhaps in the pitiful hope that the fervor of his self-defense will somehow prove him right. But this doesn’t make it so. And he doesn’t fool himself.}}

He resigned from the House of August 29, 1972 to become a justice on the Virginia Supreme Court.

He resigned from the House of August 29, 1972 to become a justice on the Virginia Supreme Court.