Olin Earl "Tiger" Teague (April 6, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran and congressional representative for

Texas's 6th congressional district Texas's 6th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area that includes Ellis and Navarro counties to the south and southeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth area plus the southeast corner of Tarrant County. As ...

for 32 years, from 1946 to 1978. He is 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 ...

Biography

Early life

Portrait of congressional freshman class of 1947

Born in Oklahoma and raised in Mena, Arkansas, Teague graduated from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

) in 1932. He joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1940 as a lieutenant and was discharged in 1946 as a colonel. He participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and was a decorated combat veteran of

, receiving the Silver Star with two clusters, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and two

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s. The nickname "Tiger" came from his play on the football field while in high school.

Congressional career

While in Congress, he was the veteran's champion, authoring more veterans' legislation than any congressman before him. He was one of the majority of the Texan delegation to decline to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

''. However, Teague voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

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 ...

, 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 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He proposed 50 amendments in Congress, including: Providing for the election of President and Vice President; to abolish the electoral college (1953), Provides representation for the people of the District of Columbia (1957), Relative to appointment of postmasters (1959), Proposal with respect to the appointment of postmasters (1961), Empowering Congress to grant representation in the Congress and among the electors of President and Vice President to the people of the District of Columbia (1950 and 1951 and 1953), Equal rights regardless of sex (1967). He was instrumental in improving benefits for servicemen's survivors. In 1956, he helped overhaul the survivor's benefits, with the creation of the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. He was also chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, chairman of the

House Committee on Veterans Affairs The standing committee, standing Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the United States House of Representatives oversees agencies, reviews current legislation, and recommends new Act of Congress, bills or amendments concerning U.S. military veteran ...

(1955–1972), and chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics (1973–1978). Before 1973, he also chaired the Manned Space Flight Subcommittee and in that capacity oversaw

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

's efforts to place a man on the moon. In 1976, Teague was pivotal in establishing the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Legacy

The Olin E. Teague Veterans Center, a VA hospital and health center in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the U.S. census, and is one of the two principal cities in Bell County. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in ...

, was named for him. The VA also presents the annual Olin E. Teague Award for contributions to improving the quality of life of disabled veterans. Also named for him were the Olin E. Teague Research Center at Texas A&M, a space research facility, and the original visitor center at the Johnson Space Center ( closed in 1992).

References

External links

* * Retrieved on 2008-02-11 *
Past Chairmen of the House Veterans Affairs Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teague, Olin E. 1910 births 1981 deaths People from Mena, Arkansas People from Woodward, Oklahoma Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Texas A&M University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers Recipients of the Silver Star Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians