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Leo Ryan

Leo Ryan
Leo Ryan
Ryan in 1977–1978
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 11th district
In office
January 3, 1973 – November 18, 1978
Preceded by Paul N. McCloskey, Jr.
Succeeded by William H. Royer
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 27th district
In office
1962–1972
Preceded by Glenn E. Coolidge
Succeeded by Lou Papan
Mayor of South San Francisco, California
In office
1962–1962
Personal details
Born Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr.
(1925-05-05)May 5, 1925
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Died November 18, 1978(1978-11-18) (aged 53)
Port Kaituma, Guyana
Resting place Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California
Political party Democratic
Children 5
Alma mater Bates College (V-12)
Creighton University (B.A.)(M.S.)
Occupation Politician
Religion Roman Catholic
Military service
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1943–1946

Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr. (May 5, 1925 – November 18, 1978) was an American teacher and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. Representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until his assassination in 1978.

After the Watts Riots of 1965, Assemblyman Ryan took a job as a substitute school teacher to investigate and document conditions in the area. In 1970, he investigated the conditions of California prisons by being held, under a pseudonym, as an inmate in Folsom Prison, while presiding as chairman of the Assembly committee that oversaw prison reform. During his time in Congress, Ryan traveled to Newfoundland to investigate the practice of seal hunting. He was also famous for vocal criticism of the lack of Congressional oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and authored the Hughes–Ryan Amendment, passed in 1974.

Ryan was stabbed in Guyana by a woman of the Peoples Temple in November 1978, just hours prior to the Jonestown mass suicide and 11 days after he was re-elected for a fourth term. He was the second sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives to have been assassinated in office, the first being James M. Hinds in 1868. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously in 1983.


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