Samuel Leeper Devine (December 21, 1915 – June 27, 1997) was an

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politician of the

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who served in the

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as Representative of the 12th congressional district of Ohio from January 3, 1959 until January 3, 1981; he left office after being defeated by

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Bob Shamansky, who lost the seat after a single term to Republican John Kasich. During the 96th Congress, he was the Chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Early life

Samuel L. Devine was born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

, on December 21, 1915 and his family moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, in 1920. He attended Upper Arlington High School. Devine attended

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

from 1933 to 1934 and the Ohio State University from 1934 to 1937. After graduating from OSU, Devine went to law school at the University of Notre Dame (located in the city of his birth) and received an LL.B. and J.D. in 1940.

Career

Devine was admitted to the bar in 1940 and began private legal practice in Columbus, but in 1940 was appointed a special agent of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

. He resigned from the Bureau in October 1945 and resumed private practice in Columbus. Devine embarked on a political career in 1950 and was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, where he served from 1951 to 1955. Devine was chairman of the Ohio Un-American Activities Committee, a joint committee of the Ohio House and the

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modelled on the federal

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 ...

. This committee, given extensive powers of interrogation, declared in 1952 that approximately 1,300 Ohioans were members of the Communist Party. At Devine's urging, the state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a bill to impose prison terms and fines on Communists. Devine served as Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County, Ohio, from 1955 until 1958, when he was elected to the United States Congress. Devine was also a college football official for 27 years.

Death and legacy

He died on June 27, 1997 from cancer in

Upper Arlington, Ohio Upper Arlington, often known by its initials U.A., is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The Old Arlington neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

. His daughter, Carol Miller, is a former Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, where she served as majority whip. In

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, Miller was elected to Congress from West Virginia's 3rd congressional district over Democrat Richard Ojeda in one of the most-watched races in the country.

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, Samuel L. 1915 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American politicians Colgate University alumni County district attorneys in Ohio Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Notre Dame Law School alumni Ohio State University alumni Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio