Norris Poulson

Norris Poulson

C. Norris Poulson (born July 23, 1895 in Haines , Baker County , Oregon , †  September 25, 1982 in Orange , California ) was an American politician . Between 1943 and 1953 he represented the state of California twice in the US House of Representatives ; then he became mayor of Los Angeles .

Career

Norris Poulson grew up on a ranch in Oregon. He attended public schools in his home country and then Oregon State College in Corvallis . In 1923 he moved to Los Angeles , where he studied at Southwestern University until 1925 . In 1933 he became a state-sworn accountant. At the same time he began a political career as a member of the Republican Party . Between 1938 and 1942 he was a member of the California State Assembly . A total of seven times Poulson was a delegate at the regional party conventions of the Republicans in California. In August 1956 he also attended the Republican National Convention in San Francisco , at which President Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated for re-election.

In the 1942 congressional election , Poulson was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the 13th  constituency of California , where he succeeded Charles Kramer on January 3, 1943 . Since he was not confirmed in 1944, he could initially only complete one legislative period in Congress until January 3, 1945 . This was shaped by the events of the Second World War . In the elections of 1946 Poulson was re-elected to Congress in the 13th District, where he was able to spend two more terms as the successor to Ned R. Healy between January 3, 1947 and January 3, 1953. In 1952 he was elected in the then newly established 24th district. He represented this from January 3, 1953 until his resignation on June 11 of this year. At that time, Poulson was chairing the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs . His second time in Congress was marked by the events of the Cold War and the Korean War .

Poulson's resignation came because of his then successful candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles. He held this office as the successor to Fletcher Bowron between 1953 and 1961. During this time, both the airport and the seaport of this city were expanded. He also campaigned for racial equality in the city police and fire department. He was not re-elected in 1961, which also had to do with a larynx disease that prevented him from speaking during the election campaign; he was defeated by Sam Yorty . Between 1963 and 1969, Poulson was State Water Commissioner . He spent his old age in Tustin and died on September 25, 1982 in Orange.

Web links

• Norris Poulson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Norris Poulson in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Norris Poulson in nndb (English)