Harold Royce Gross (June 30, 1899 – September 22, 1987) was 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 ...
United States Representative
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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
Iowa's 3rd congressional district
Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines to the borders with Nebraska and Missouri.
From 2013 t ...
for thirteen terms. The role he played on the House floor, objecting to spending measures and projects that he considered wasteful, prompted ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine to label him "the useful pest."
[The Useful Pest]
, ''Time'', 1962-06-15.
Personal background
Gross was born on his parents' farm near
Arispe, in
Union County, Iowa
Union County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,138. The county seat is Creston. Organized at a time of tensions before the Civil War, the county was named in 1853 ...
.
["H.R. Gross is Dead; Iowa Congressman]
, New York Times, 1987-09-24. He was educated in the rural schools. In 1916, after completing his sophomore year in high school in
Creston, Iowa
Creston is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Iowa. The population was 7,536 at the time of the 2020 Census.
History
Creston was originally settled in 1868 as a survey camp for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. It was name ...
, he concealed his youth in order to enlist in the military service, where he first served with the First Iowa Field Artillery in the
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...
.
[Frank Nye Jr., "H.R. Gross Puts New Thoughts in Political Minds," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1940-05-28, at 20.] During World War I he served in France with the United States Army from 1917–1919.
[ After the war, he briefly attended ]Iowa State College
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
in its electrical engineering program, before transferring to the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
School of Journalism in Columbia.[
He was a newspaper reporter and editor for various newspapers from 1921 to 1935. One such newspaper was the publication of the Iowa Farmer's Union, the ''Iowa Union Farmer'', which he edited from 1929 to 1935.][ He began as a radio news commentator for ]WHO (AM)
WHO (1040 kHz "Newsradio 1040") is a commercial AM radio station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and carries a news/talk radio format. The radio studios are on Grand Avenue in Des Moines.
WHO broadcast ...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
in 1935. One of his fellow on-air broadcasters at WHO was a young Ronald Reagan.
He met Hazel Webster while he was a newspaper reporter covering the Iowa statehouse and she was the secretary to the Iowa Attorney General.[ They were married in 1929.][ H. R. and Hazel Gross raised two children, Phillip and Alan.][
]
1940 run for Governor of Iowa
In 1940, Gross challenged Iowa's sitting Governor, George A. Wilson
George Allison Wilson (April 1, 1884 – September 8, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States Senate, United States Senator and List of Governors of Iowa, 28th Governor of Iowa.
Personal background
Born on a farm near ...
, in the Republican primary, running what newspapers called a "sight-unseen" campaign. Gross confined his campaign to radio addresses, declined all personal appearance invitations, and made no platform speeches. He lost the primary by only 15,781 votes out of over 330,000 cast, in the closest primary race in Iowa in nearly thirteen years.["Gross Back in Political Race," Iowa City Press-Citizen, 1948-04-02 at 4.] His campaign was haunted by a statement he had made seven years earlier, while writing and speaking for the Farmers' Holiday Association
The Farmers' Holiday Association was a movement of Midwestern United States farmers who, during the Great Depression, endorsed the withholding of farm products from the market, in essence creating a farmers' holiday from work. The Farmers' Holiday ...
, that appeared to approve of an episode of mob violence against a judge to stop a foreclosure.
Following his defeat, Gross joined an Ohio radio station and later moved to Indiana.[ After World War II, he returned to Iowa and became a radio newscaster at KXEL in ]Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...
.[
]
Congressional elections and re-elections
In 1948, Gross ran against an incumbent House member of his own party, Republican John W. Gwynne
John Williams Gwynne (October 20, 1889 – July 5, 1972) was a seven-term Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district, and a Federal Trade Commission member and chairman during ...
. He wrested the nomination away from Gwynne in the Republican primary without the help of the party organization.[ In a 1948 general election in which Democratic President ]Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
surprisingly carried Iowa and Iowa Democrat Guy Gillette
Guy Mark Gillette (February 3, 1879March 3, 1973) was an American politician serving as a Democratic U.S. Representative and Senator from Iowa. In the U.S. Senate, Gillette was elected, re-elected, defeated, elected again, and defeated again. ...
ousted Republican George A. Wilson
George Allison Wilson (April 1, 1884 – September 8, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States Senate, United States Senator and List of Governors of Iowa, 28th Governor of Iowa.
Personal background
Born on a farm near ...
from the U.S. Senate, Gross won his first of many landslide victories. In his most narrow victory, he was the only Republican member of Iowa's U.S. House delegation to survive the 1964 Democratic landslide. He was re-elected twelve times before choosing to retire rather than run in the 1974 election. He served continuously from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1975.
Fiscal conservatism
In the words of his successor, Charles Grassley, Gross earned "a legendary reputation as watchdog of the Treasury."[ He rarely missed a roll call vote and often remained in the House chamber between roll call votes, listening carefully to speeches and scrutinizing the details of pending bills, especially spending bills.][ He denounced, among other things, the ]Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
,[Bill Kauffman, "The Eternal Flamethrower," The American Enterprise, 1999-11.] the funeral of President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
(including the appropriation for fuel for the eternal flame),[ the size of the White House security detail,][ the ]Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
,[ the U.S. Space Program,][ and foreign aid.
Gross also refused to go on taxpayer-funded congressional junkets. As Ed Rollins recalled, "When he retired, his fellow members chipped in and bought him and his wife Hazel, who managed his office for no pay, a round-the-world trip. With tears in his eyes he took one last shot at his pals. 'Wherever we go, I am sure I'll see you all on your taxpayers' junkets!
In the early 1960s he took an early stand against the practice of retired service personnel getting a military pension and another federal paycheck. He opposed restoring former President ]Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
to his generalship unless Congress stipulated that he would only receive his Presidential pension and not a general's salary also.[ Gross admitted to having only one regret about his entire career: voting "present" rather than "nay" on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, explaining that the ]Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
ended up costing too much.[
Libertarian theorist ]Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
hailed Gross in the Libertarian Forum
''The Libertarian Forum'' was an anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-capitalist magazine published about twice a month from 1969 to 1984. Its editor and chief author was Murray Rothbard; initially, Karl Hess also served as Washington editor. Currently al ...
, pointing out that the congressman had the best voting record from a libertarian standpoint. Before Gross' retirement from Congress, Rothbard had written "It is pleasant to take this opportunity to hail the Grand Old Man of the Old Right H.R. Gross of Iowa, a marvelous and flinty character almost out of the storybooks"
Independence
Gross was also known for his independence, so much so that then-House Minority Leader Gerald Ford remarked that "there are three parties in the House: Democrats, Republicans, and H.R. Gross."[ Shaking off the Eisenhower Administration's pressure to support a foreign-aid economic-development measure, Gross quipped, "I took my last marching orders in 1916–19."
Gross's personal lifestyle reflected his fiscally conservative views. He lived frugally and rarely attended any parties or social functions common to the life of a congressman. Gross was remembered as an outsider who preferred to sit in his townhouse and watch professional wrestling on TV.][
In 1966, at the height of the ]Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, with many American soldiers dying, an extravagant White House ball ran on until 3 A.M. Disgusted by this callousness, Gross recited Alfred Noyes
Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright.
Early years
Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Ab ...
' poem ''The Victory Ball'' in Congress in protest; the poem condemns the hedonism of a British Armistice ball and contains the line "under the dancing feet are the graves".
He was also among the few who opposed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act () is an Act of Congress that moved permanently to a Monday three Federal holidays in the United States— Washington's Birthday (colloquially Presidents’ Day), Memorial Day, and Labor Day—and that made Columb ...
in 1968, moving all federal holidays (other than Independence Day, Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than d ...
, Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
, and New Year's Day) to the nearest Monday. He argued that it would rob retail workers of their holidays because retail stores would remain open.
However, even his targets could speak warmly of Gross. Longtime House Armed Services Committee
The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of De ...
Chairman Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson (November 18, 1883 – June 1, 1981) was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 50 years and was influential in the 20th century expansion of the U.S. Navy. He was a member of the Democratic ...
, whose defense spending bills often incurred Gross's criticisms, said of Gross that "there is really no good debate unless the gentleman from Iowa is in it."[
Gross voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1960 and ]1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
H.R. 144
When Gross was in Congress, a special exception was made to the practice that bills offered in the House were numbered consecutively. The number H.R. 144 was reserved each session for one of Representative Gross's bills (because 144 equals one gross, making its title the arithmetical equivalent to his name).
Death
He was a resident of Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, until his death in a Washington, D.C. Veterans Hospital on September 22, 1987, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.[ He was buried in ]Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
.Burial Detail: Gross, Harold R
– ANC Explorer
Hazel Gross, his wife of 58 years,[ died March 18, 1999, in Washington, D.C.][ She was 97 years old.][
]
References
External links
at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website (reprints "The Eternal Flamethrower")
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Harold R.
1899 births
1987 deaths
American radio personalities
People from Union County, Iowa
University of Missouri alumni
Old Right (United States)
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Neurological disease deaths in Washington, D.C.
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
United States Army personnel of World War I
Virginia Republicans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
People from Creston, Iowa
20th-century American politicians