Richard Howard Ichord Jr. (June 27, 1926 – December 25, 1992) was U.S. representative from Missouri and a significant

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

political figure. A member of the

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, he served as the last chairman of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

between 1969 and 1975 (called the House Internal Security Committee since 1969).

Background

Richard H. Ichord Jr. was born in Licking,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. From 1944 to 1946 he served in the

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. He attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in Columbia, receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1949, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1952.

Career

Ichord worked as a lawyer in private practice.

Government service

From 1952 to 1960, he was a member of the

Missouri State House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

, where he served as

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

in 1957, and Speaker in 1959. Elected as the

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 ...

for Missouri's

8th district 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

in 1960, he was re-elected nine times, serving in the Eighty-seventh through Ninety-sixth Congresses (1961–1980). Ichord voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 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. * Januar ...

, and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. In addition to the House Un-American Activities Committee, he also served on the House Armed Services Committee. He did not run for reelection in 1980.

Later years

After his retirement from office, Ichord became a professional advocate in Missouri and served as co-chairman of

American Freedom Coalition The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonie (nickname), Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 unde ...

with Congressman

Bob Wilson Bob Wilson may refer to: Association footballers *Bob Wilson (footballer, born 1867) (1867–?), Irish international footballer of the 1880s * Bob Wilson (footballer, born September 1898) 1920s, Scottish footballer with Third Lanark and Fall R ...

Death

Ichord died age 66 on December 25, 1992. Survivors include his wife Millicent and three children, Richard, Pam and Kyle. Six grandchildren, Loran, Megan, Chase, Alexa, Courtney and Flemming.

Works

He co-authored the book ''Behind Every Bush: Treason or Patriotism'' (1979) with Boyd Upchurch.

References

*
ICHORD, Richard Howard, II, (1926 - 1992)
, '' Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–Present''. Retrieved January 12, 2006.
The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: I to Ingersol
. Retrieved January 12, 2006. *
SHSMO--Ichord, Richard H. (1926-1992), Papers, 1960-1980 (C1269)--INVENTORY
. Retrieved June 25, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ichord, Richard Howard Jr. 1926 births 1992 deaths Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Speakers of the Missouri House of Representatives University of Missouri alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri 20th-century American politicians People from Texas County, Missouri Military personnel from Missouri American anti-communists