Wayne N. Aspinall

Wayne N. Aspinall, 1965

Wayne Norviel Aspinall (born April 3, 1896 in Middleburg , Logan County , Ohio , † October 9, 1983 in Palisade , Colorado ) was an American politician . Between 1949 and 1973 he represented the fourth constituency of the state of Colorado in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Wayne Aspinall was the father of Owen Aspinall (1927-1997), who was to become governor of American Samoa . In 1904, he and his parents moved to Palisade in Mesa County , Colorado, where he attended public schools. He then studied at the University of Denver until he served in the Air Corps of the US Army during the First World War . After the war he continued his studies in Denver until 1919. From 1919 to 1921 Aspinall taught as a teacher in Palisade. At the same time, he directed the Mount Lincoln School District between 1920 and 1922.

After studying law at the Denver Law School and being admitted to the bar in 1925, he began practicing as a lawyer in Palisade. At the same time he was also active in fruit growing. Between 1925 and 1933 he also worked as a teacher again. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . Between 1931 and 1934 and again from 1937 to 1938 he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives . He has been President of the House for the past two years. From 1939 to 1948 he was a member of the State Senate ; while he was at times leader of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Senators. During the Second World War Aspinall was a captain in the US Army. He was involved in the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944 and in the advance that followed. He remained in the army until December 14, 1944.

In the 1948 congressional election, Wayne Aspinall was elected to the US House of Representatives in the fourth district of Colorado, where he replaced Republican Robert F. Rockwell on January 3, 1949 . After eleven re-elections, he could remain in Congress until January 3, 1973 . Between 1959 and 1973 he headed the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs . Aspinall advocated the development of new energy sources. In this endeavor, there were often conflicts with the environmental movement because he took little account of nature conservation or the environment. Aspinall was no longer nominated by his party for the 1979 elections. After his time in Congress ended, he returned to work as a lawyer. In 1976, the former Democrat supported the unsuccessful election campaign of Republican President Gerald Ford . He also worked in the oil industry.

Web links

• Wayne N. Aspinall in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Wayne N. Aspinall in the database of Find a Grave (English)