Thomas Norman Kindness (August 26, 1929January 8, 2004) was a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Ohio from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1987.

Life and career

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kindness graduated from Glendale High School in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, in 1947. Kindness received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Maryland in 1951 and his bachelor of laws degree from George Washington University in 1953. While a student at Maryland, Kindness became a member of the

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

fraternity. He was assistant counsel for paper company

Champion International Champion International was a large paper and wood products producer based since 1980 in Stamford, Connecticut. It was acquired by International Paper in 2000. From 1893 it had been based in Hamilton, Ohio, expanding to plants in Texas and Western ...

, in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

, from 1957 to 1973, and was elected to the city council of Hamilton in 1964, serving until 1969. He served as mayor of Hamilton from 1964 to 1967. He served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974, when he was elected to Congress from Ohio's eighth congressional district, defeating Democrat T. Edward Strinko. Kindness was re-elected five times: defeating Democrats John W. Griffin in 1976, Luella R. Schroeder in 1978, John W. Griffin again in 1980 and 1982, and John T. Francis in 1984. In 1986, Kindness was one of the

House impeachment managers An impeachment manager is a legislator appointed to serve as a prosecutor in an impeachment trial. They are also often called "House managers" or "House impeachment manager" when appointed from a legislative chamber that is called a "House of Repr ...

who prosecuted the case in the impeachment trial of Judge

Harry E. Claiborne Harry Eugene Claiborne (July 2, 1917 – January 19, 2004) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from 1978 until his Impeachment in the United States, impe ...

. Claiborne was found guilty by the United States Senate and removed from his federal judgeship. In 1986, Kindness won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, but he lost to incumbent

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

. After this loss, Kindness stayed in Washington, D.C., and worked as a lobbyist. When

Donald "Buz" Lukens Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, who had replaced Kindness as the 8th district's representative, was caught in a sex scandal in 1989, Kindness attempted to win his old seat, opposing Lukens in the 1990 Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

. He entered a Republican primary battle that included Lukens, state Representative

John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...

(who would later be elected to the seat and become

House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...

during his tenure in Congress) and lesser-known candidates. Early polls gave Kindness a 60-point lead over the relatively obscure Boehner. But Boehner attacked Kindness's ethics, citing Kindness's votes for congressional pay raises and against limits on fees for speeches by congressmen. Boehner also depicted Kindness as a

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...

who had abandoned his district for Washington. Despite Kindness's outspending him 5-1, Boehner won the nomination with 49 percent of the vote. Kindness finished with 32 percent and Lukens with 17 percent. Kindness died in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devonshire, England at the age of 74.

References

* Rebecca Goodman. "Thomas Kindness, 74, was lawmaker in D.C., Hamilton". ''The Cincinnati Enquirer''. January 14, 2004 * "Thomas Kindness, former local, state and federal representative". '' Cincinnati Post''. January 13, 2004.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kindness, Tom 1929 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians American lobbyists George Washington University Law School alumni Glendale High School (Glendale, California) alumni Mayors of places in Ohio Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio city council members Politicians from Hamilton, Ohio Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee University of Maryland, College Park alumni Washington, D.C., Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio House impeachment managers

Life and career

See also

References

External links