Frederic René Coudert Jr. (May 7, 1898 – May 21, 1972) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

from 1947 to 1959 though better known for his role in New York's

Rapp-Coudert Committee The Rapp-Coudert Committee was the colloquial name of the New York State Legislature's Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the Educational System of the State of New York. Between 1940 and 1942, the Rapp-Coudert Committee sought to identify ...

Background

Coudert was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on May 7, 1898 to Frederic René Coudert II (1871–1955). He attended the Browning and Morristown Schools in New York City, then entered Harvard College in 1916, but when the US entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Coudert joined the Army with a letter from former president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. He served as a

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in the 105th Infantry

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

, 27th Division, with overseas service, in 1917 and 1918, graduating from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1918. Coudert graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1922, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1923 and commenced practice in New York City. He served as an assistant

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the southern

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of New York in 1924 and 1925.

Politics

Coudert was unsuccessful as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 1929, but was a delegate to the Republican State conventions from 1930 to 1948 and the Republican National Conventions from 1936 to 1948. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1939 to 1946, sitting in the 162nd, 163rd, 164th and

165th New York State Legislature The 165th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 1945, to March 26, 1946, during the third and fourth years of Thomas E. Dewey's governorship, in Albany. Backg ...

s. He was elected as a Republican to the 80th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th and

85th United States Congress The 85th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1957 ...

es, holding office from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959. Coudert voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwigh ...

. He was a member of

The New York Young Republican Club The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40 in New York City. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States, founded ...

Post-congressional career

He continued his practice of law in New York City, and was also a member of the State Commission on Governmental Operations of New York City from 1959 to 1961. Coudert was an outspoken conservative and endorsed

William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

's 1965 Conservative campaign for the New York City mayoralty over liberal Republican Congressman

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

Retirement and death

He retired due to ill health, and died in New York City on May 21, 1972. He is buried at Memorial

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Cold Spring Harbor, New York Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold Spri ...

Family

In 1923 he married the sculptor

Mary Callery Mary Callery (June 19, 1903 – February 12, 1977) was an American artist known for her Modern and Abstract Expressionist sculpture. She was part of the New York School art movement of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. It is said she "wove linear ...

. They had one daughter. The marriage had ended in divorce by 1930. He married Paula Murray on October 27, 1931, in New York City. He had two children in his second marriage.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coudert, Frederic Rene Jr. 1898 births 1972 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Columbia Law School alumni Republican Party New York (state) state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 20th-century American politicians Morristown-Beard School alumni Browning School alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni