Leo E. Allen

Leo E. Allen

Leo Elwood Allen (born October 5, 1898 in Elizabeth , Illinois , †  January 19, 1973 in Galena , Illinois) was an American politician . Between 1933 and 1961 he represented the state of Illinois in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Leo Allen attended public schools in his home country. During the First World War he was a sergeant in an artillery unit of the US Army from 1917 to 1919 . In 1922 and 1923 he was a teacher in Galena. By 1923 he studied at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor . Between 1924 and 1932, Allen worked in administration at the Jo Daviess County District Court . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1930, he began practicing this profession in Galena. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Republican Party .

In the 1932 congressional election , Allen was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the 13th  constituency of Illinois , where he succeeded William Richard Johnson on March 4, 1933 . After 13 re-elections, he was able to complete a total of 14 legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1961 . Between 1933 and 1941, the New Deal laws of the federal government under President Franklin D. Roosevelt were passed in Congress, which Allen's party was rather hostile to. In 1935 the provisions of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution were applied for the first time , according to which the legislative period of the Congress ends or begins on January 3rd. Since 1941, the work of the Congress was also shaped by the events of World War II . Allen's time in Congress also marked the beginning of the Cold War , the Korean War and, domestically, the start of the civil rights movement . From 1947 to 1949 and again from 1953 to 1955, Allen headed the Committee on Rules . Since 1949 he represented the 16th district of his state.

In 1960 Leo Allen renounced a new congressional candidacy. After the end of his time in the US House of Representatives, he withdrew into retirement. He died on January 19, 1973 in Galena, where he was buried.

Web links

• Leo E. Allen in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Leo E. Allen in the database of Find a Grave (English)