Thomas N. Downing

Thomas N. Downing, 1969

Thomas Nelms Downing (born February 1, 1919 in Newport News , Virginia , †  October 23, 2001 there ) was an American politician . Between 1959 and 1977 he represented the state of Virginia in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Thomas Downing attended public schools in his home country including Newport News High School . Then he was until 1940 at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington . During the Second World War he served in the US Army between 1942 and 1946 . After a subsequent law degree at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and his admission to the bar, he began to work in this profession. In the meantime he also worked as a judge in Warwick . At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party .

In the 1958 congressional election , Downing was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the first constituency of Virginia , where he succeeded Edward J. Robeson on January 3, 1959 . After eight re-elections, he was able to complete nine legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1977 . During this time, the Vietnam War , the final phase of the civil rights movement and the Watergate affair took place . Since 1975, Downing was chairman of the Committee on Assassinations , which re-examined the spectacular political assassinations of the 1960s. In this regard, Downing firmly believed that President John F. Kennedy had fallen victim to a conspiracy in November 1963. In its final report in 1979, this committee of inquiry came to the conclusion that possibly two riflemen had shot Kennedy, thus a conspiracy must indeed be considered. At this point, Downing was no longer a member of Congress, since he had renounced another candidacy in 1976.

After the end of his time in the US House of Representatives, Thomas Downing withdrew from politics. He died on October 23, 2001 in his hometown of Newport News from complications from an intestinal operation.

Web links

• Thomas N. Downing in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas N. Downing in the database of Find a Grave (English)