Melvin Maas

Melvin Maas (1939)

Melvin Joseph Maas (born May 14, 1898 in Duluth , Minnesota , †  April 13, 1964 in Bethesda , Maryland ) was an American politician . Between 1927 and 1945 he twice represented the state of Minnesota in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Melvin Mass came to Saint Paul with his parents in 1898, the year he was born . There he attended public schools. During the First World War he was a pilot in the US Army Air Corps . But he did not come to a combat mission. After military service, Maas continued his education at St. Thomas College in Saint Paul and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis . After that he worked in the insurance industry, among other things. Since 1925 he was a reserve officer in the United States Marine Corps . He rose to major general by 1952.

Politically, Maas was a member of the Republican Party . In the 1926 congressional election he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fourth constituency of Minnesota , where he succeeded Oscar Keller on March 4, 1927 . After two re-elections, he was initially able to complete three consecutive terms in Congress by March 3, 1933 . During this time, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, bringing the terms of office of Congress and President forward from March to January. Melvin Maas caused a sensation twice in those years. To substantiate his fears of poor air defense in the federal capital, he flew over Washington in an airplane in 1929 without encountering any defensive measures. In 1932, he disarmed an intruder into the House of Representatives who threatened those present with a weapon. For this he received a medal.

In 1932 Maas was no longer nominated for re-election by his party. Two years later, however, he managed to return to Congress. Between January 3, 1935 and January 3, 1945 he was able to spend five further legislative terms in the US House of Representatives. In the first few years, further New Deal laws of the federal government were passed there under President Franklin D. Roosevelt . Since December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the work of Congress has been overshadowed by the events of World War II . Between 1942 and 1945 Maas served as a colonel in the Marine Corps in the Pacific. He suffered an injury that led to his complete blindness by 1952. During this military operation, Maas retained his mandate in Congress.

In the elections of 1944 he was defeated by Frank Starkey . In 1946 he was special adviser to the Congressional Committee on Naval Affairs. Between 1947 and 1951 he worked as assistant to the chairman of the board of the Sperry Corporation in New York . From 1949 he was a member and from 1954 to 1964 chairman of a committee set up by the president that dealt with job opportunities for the physically handicapped. In 1952 he resigned as a major general from the reserve of the Marine Corps. He spent his final years in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Melvin Maas died in Bethesda on April 13, 1964. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery , Virginia .

Web links

• Melvin Maas in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Melvin Maas in the database of Find a Grave (English)