James Prioleau "Dick" Richards (August 31, 1894 – February 21, 1979) was a lawyer, judge, and
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
U.S. 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 c ...
from
South Carolina between 1933 and 1957. He later served as a special ambassador under
Republican President
Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Background
Born in
Liberty Hill,
South Carolina, Richards attended in-state county schools and Clemson College, in
Clemson.
Career
During the First World War, Richards served overseas as a private, corporal, sergeant, and second lieutenant in the Trench Mortar Battery, Headquarters Company,
118th Infantry Regiment,
30th Division from 1917 to 1919.
Lawyer and judge
Richards graduated from the law department of the
University of South Carolina at Columbia in 1921 and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing practice in
Lancaster, South Carolina. He served as judge of the probate court of
Lancaster County, South Carolina
Lancaster County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,016, Its county seat is Lancaster, which has an urban population of 23,979. The county was created in 1785.
Lancaster Coun ...
from 1923 to 1933.
Congressman
Richards was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the
seventy-third Congress
The 73rd 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 March 4, 1933, ...
and reelected to the eleven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1957).
A confidential 1943 analysis of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee by
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...
for the British
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
described Richards as having "supported the Administration on foreign policy before and after
Pearl Harbour
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
all the way with the single exception of the vote on lifting belligerent zones for American ships three weeks before Pearl Harbour ... Probably internationalist rather than nationalist in outlook." His voting record was "consistently pro-British." He voted in favor of the 1941 Lend Lease Act and in favor of the 1944 Lend Lease Act.
In 1947-8, he served on the
Herter Committee.
[
] During the
Eighty-second and
Eighty-fourth Congresses he served as chairman of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs. In 1953 Richards served as delegate to the Japanese Peace Conference and United States delegate to the United Nations. Hoping to retire from Congress, he was not a candidate for reelection in 1956 to the Eighty-fifth Congress.
He was a signatory to the 1956
Southern Manifesto
The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''
Brown v. Board of Education''.
Later life
He served as special assistant to President Eisenhower, January 1957-January 1958, for the Middle East, following announcement of the
Eisenhower Doctrine.
FOREIGN RELATIONS: Doctrine's First Fruits
'' Time'', April 29, 1957 With this position, Richards held rank of ambassador. Following this, he resided in Lancaster, South Carolina and resumed the practice of law.
Death
Richards died there on February 21, 1979 and was interred in Liberty Hill Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Liberty Hill, S. C.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, James Prioleau
1894 births
1979 deaths
United States Army officers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina
20th-century American politicians
University of South Carolina alumni
People from Kershaw County, South Carolina
Military personnel from South Carolina