Sam Yorty

Sam Yorty

Samuel William "Sam" Yorty (born October 1, 1909 in Lincoln , Nebraska , †  June 5, 1998 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American politician . Between 1951 and 1955 he represented the state of California in the US House of Representatives ; later he became mayor of Los Angeles .

Career

Sam Yorty attended public schools in his home country. In 1927 he moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his education. After studying law at Southwestern University and La Salle University and being admitted to the bar in 1939, he began working in this profession in Los Angeles. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1936 and 1940 he was a member of the California State Assembly . During the Second World War he was a captain in the Air Corps of the US Army , where he was deployed in New Guinea and the Philippines . After the war he continued his education from 1946 to 1950 with a study at the University of Southern California . In 1949 and 1950 he was again a member of the state parliament.

In the 1950 congressional election , Yorty was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the 14th  constituency of California , where he succeeded Helen Gahagan Douglas on January 3, 1951 . After a re-election, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until January 3, 1955 . Since 1953 he represented the then newly established 26th district of his state. During his time as a member of parliament, the Korean War and the beginning of the civil rights movement took place . In 1954 he renounced another candidacy; instead, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . Two years later, he also unsuccessfully sought his party's re-nomination for the Senate elections.

In the presidential election of 1960 , Democrat Yorty supported Republican Richard Nixon against his own candidate, John F. Kennedy . This caused anger within his party. In 1961, Yorty was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a tough campaign against Norris Poulson . He held this office after several re-elections until 1971. During this time, there were, among other things, some riots and on June 5, 1968 the assassination attempt on Robert F. Kennedy . In 1970 he failed in his party's primary election for the governor of California . Two years later he tried equally unsuccessfully to get his party's presidential nomination. Then he switched to the Republicans.

After serving as Los Angeles Mayor, Yorty returned to practice as a lawyer. He has also hosted a radio and television show. In 1980 he sought again unsuccessfully to be nominated for the US Senate elections; 1981 failed to run for mayor of Los Angeles again. He died on July 5, 1998 in Los Angeles.

Web links

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

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