Nick Galifianakis (born July 22, 1928) is a former American politician who served as a Democratic

U.S. Congressman 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

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

from 1967 to 1973.

Life and career

Galifianakis was born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, the son of Greek immigrants Sophia (née Kastrinakis) and Mike Galifianakis. Galifianakis attended local public schools and then

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a law degree in 1953. After serving in the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

from October 1953 to April 1956, he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Durham. In 1960, he became an assistant professor of business law at Duke and was elected to the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

in 1960. Galifianakis left both positions when elected to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1966. For his first term, he represented the 5th District, which stretched from his home in Durham through

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

all the way to Stokes County on the Virginia border. After the state was forced to conduct a mid-decade redistricting for the 1968 elections, however, he was placed in the 4th District, a much more compact district stretching from Durham through Chatham County to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. Galifianakis sought the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

B. Everett Jordan in the 1972 election, and defeated him in the primary. While Galifianakis led his

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 ...

challenger, former television commentator

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...

, by a substantial margin for most of the campaign, Helms closed the gap by tying Galifianakis to his party's presidential nominee,

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

, and with the late-campaign slogan, "Jesse Helms: He's One of Us," an implicit play suggesting his opponent's Greek heritage made him somehow less "American." Galifianakis knew that McGovern wasn't popular in his state and tried to distance himself from him. He also wasn't helped by several conservative Democrats defecting to Helms. Ultimately, Helms pulled away and defeated Galifianakis by eight points. Galifianakis sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1974 but lost, 50%–32%, to Robert Morgan, the state's attorney general, who went on to win the seat in the general election.

Personal life

After leaving politics, Galifianakis returned to his law practice in Durham, only retiring in his mid 80s. Since 1997, a nephew of his, also named

Nick Galifianakis Nick Galifianakis may refer to: *Nick Galifianakis (politician) (1928–2023), American congressman *Nick Galifianakis (cartoonist) Nick Galifianakis () is an American cartoonist and artist. Since 1997, he has drawn the cartoons for the national ...

, has been drawing the satirical cartoons that accompany the advice column "Tell Me About It" in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' tri-weekly. The column is written by the younger Nick's ex-wife,

Carolyn Hax Carolyn Hanley Hax is an American writer and columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and author of the daily syndicated advice column, ''Carolyn Hax'' (formerly titled ''Tell Me About It''), which features broad relational advice. Originally targeti ...

. He is also the uncle of actor and comedian

Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show ''Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''Th ...

References

External links

A Durham Dynamo: One man’s political career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galifianakis, Nick 1928 births United States Marines American politicians of Greek descent Duke University School of Law alumni Duke University faculty Living people Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Military personnel from North Carolina Politicians from Durham, North Carolina

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 1974 United States elections