Charles O. Porter

Charles O. Porter, 1957

Charles Orlando Porter (born April 4, 1919 in Klamath Falls , Oregon , † January 1, 2006 in Eugene , Oregon) was an American politician . Between 1957 and 1961 he represented the fourth constituency of the state of Oregon in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Charles Porter came to Eugene as early as 1923, where he attended public schools. He later studied law at Harvard University until 1947, among other things. However, his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, in which he participated as a soldier in the US Army Air Corps . During the war he was deployed in Europe. He later became a reserve officer in the US Air Force .

After his admission to the bar, he worked as a bailiff at the federal appeals court in San Francisco . From 1948 to 1951 he was on the board of directors of the American Bar Association in Boston , Massachusetts . He was then a lawyer in Eugene until 1956.

Charles Porter became a member of the Democratic Party . In 1954 he ran for the first time in the fourth constituency of Oregon for the US House of Representatives. This candidacy was still unsuccessful. Two years later he was elected to Congress in his constituency , where he replaced Harris Ellsworth on January 3, 1957 . After a re-election in 1958, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until January 3, 1961. There he was considered liberal. Porter campaigned for the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations and for open trade with this state. He also called for the end of nuclear tests. These views, unpopular in America at the time, led to his defeat in the 1960 elections.

Between 1964 and 1980, he repeatedly applied for a return to Congress without success. Sometimes he failed in his party's primary elections and sometimes in the actual elections. A sought-after nomination for the US Senate elections also failed in 1980. Porter remained true to his liberal attitudes and was against the construction of a nuclear power station near Eugene and against the Vietnam War .

Charles Porter was married to Priscilla Porter, who died in 2002, with whom he had four children. He himself died on January 1st, 2006. In his final years he suffered from Alzheimer's disease .

Web links

• Charles O. Porter in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Charles O. Porter in the database of Find a Grave (English)