Lawrence H. Fountain

Lawrence H. Fountain (1964)

Lawrence H. Fountain (born April 23, 1913 in Leggett , Edgecombe County , North Carolina ; † October 10, 2002 in Raleigh , North Carolina) was an American politician who served the state of North Carolina between 1953 and 1983 in the US House of Representatives represented. He was a member of the Democratic Party .

Career

Early life

Lawrence Fountain was born in Leggett, where he also attended public school. He later studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934 and later a Juris Doctor degree. He was admitted to the bar in North Carolina in 1936. He then practiced in Tarboro and was a member of the Democratic Party until March 1942 . Shortly after the United States entered World War II, Fountain enlisted in the United States Army . There he rose very quickly in the rank of private in the infantry to a major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps . With this rank he was discharged from the Army on March 4, 1946. After that, Fountain returned to his practice in Tarboro. In civil life he remained a member of the Army Reserve and later resigned as Lieutenant Colonel .

Political life

Lawrence Fountain was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1947 , where he served until 1952. There he gave up his mandate to represent the second constituency of North Carolina as a member of the 83rd United States Congress . Fountain was elected to Congress fourteen more times. Then he decided not to run again for re-election in the 98th Congress. During this time Fountain signed the so-called " Southern Manifesto ", which condemned a court judgment in terms of racial equality.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson named Fountain US delegate to the 22nd session of the UN General Assembly . In that capacity, he served as assistant to US Ambassador Arthur Goldberg on June 6th during the Security Council debate on the ongoing six-day Arab-Israeli war .

In 1978, he campaigned for the introduction of the first independent, appointed by the President Inspector General ( "watchdog") in the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare , and worked for the establishment of an inspector general in every federal agency and in every key ministry. Each Inspector General played a significant role in curbing waste, embezzlement, abuse and mismanagement by the state government.

From time to time Fountain served on the various subcommittees of both the Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Foreign Affairs . For 14 years he was the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Near Eastern Affairs . He was also Chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations for 28 years . He has led hundreds of drug regulatory studies and led the effort to create Inspector General in state departments and agencies.

In 1981 and 1982 he was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Federalism . The committee was responsible for advising the President on building the proper relationships between state, state, and local governments.

Private life

Fountain was a Presbyterian elder and had an exemplary Sunday school that held a record attendance for more than 80 years. He was also the administrator of the National Presbyterian Church from 1961 to 1964 and again from 1977 to 1980. He was also a member of the board of directors of the East Carolina Council ( Scouting in North Carolina ) of the Boy Scouts of America and a member of the local and other bar associations, the Elks and the Kiwanis Club. Fountain served as Lieutenant Governor of the Sixth Division of the Carolina District of Kiwanis International. He was also Jaycee and received the Distinguished Service Award ( Man of the Year ) from the Tarboro Jaycees in 1948 .

A lifelong advocate for education, Fountain was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of St. Andrews Presbyterian College of Laurinburg and served as a curator from 1955 to 1971. He was re-elected to the committee in 1972 and worked there until 1974.

Awards

• 1971: North Carolina Citizens Association : Distinguished Public Service Award
• 1973: University of North Carolina School of Medicine : Distinguished Service Award
• 1975: Association of American University Presses : Distinguished Service to Higher Education and the Scholarly Community Award
• 1976: National League of Cities : Special Citation for Distinguished Congressional Service
• 1978: Association of Federal Investigators : Leadership and Distinguished Service Award
• 1982: The North Carolina League of Municipalities honored him at its annual meeting and passed a resolution on Fountain's profound appreciation and praise for " continuing efforts to support local government ... throughout the nation "
• 1982: That same year, the Association of Federal Investigators honored Rep. Fountain for the second time in five years with an award for "generous assistance to law enforcement and investigation, and excellent civil service career for the American people."

Web links

• Lawrence H. Fountain in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• LH Fountain Papers , North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (English)