John Jacob Rhodes
| John Jacob Rhodes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| House Minority Leader | |
|
In office December 7, 1973 – January 3, 1981 |
|
| Deputy |
Leslie C. Arends (1973–1974) Robert H. Michel (1975–1981) |
| Preceded by | Gerald Ford |
| Succeeded by | Robert H. Michel |
| Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee | |
|
In office January 3, 1965 – December 7, 1973 |
|
| Leader | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | John W. Byrnes |
| Succeeded by | Barber Conable |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district |
|
|
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | John R. Murdock |
| Succeeded by | John McCain |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 18, 1916 Council Grove, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died |
August 24, 2003 (aged 86) Mesa, Arizona, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Harvey Rhodes |
| Alma mater |
Kansas State University Harvard Law School |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army United States Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1941–1952 |
| Unit |
U.S. Army Air Corps / U.S. Army Air Forces Arizona Air National Guard |
John Jacob Rhodes, Jr. (September 18, 1916 – August 24, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Rhodes was elected as a U.S. Representative from the state of Arizona. He was the Minority Leader in the House 1973-81, where he pressed a conservative agenda.
Rhodes was born in Council Grove, Kansas. He met Calvin Coolidge when he was eleven years old, and after shaking hands with the President, reportedly refused to wash his hand for a week. He attended public schools, and in 1938 graduated from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and also earned his Army Reserve commission via the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). In 1941, he graduated from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was called to active duty with the United States Army Air Corps, later redesignated the United States Army Air Forces. He served at Williams Field, Arizona from 1941 – 1946. After the war, he chose to settle in Arizona with his wife, Elizabeth Harvey, whom he had married in 1942. From 1947 to 1952 he was the staff judge advocate of the Arizona Air National Guard, and from 1951 to 1952 he served as vice chairman of the Arizona Board of Public Welfare.
In 1950, Rhodes ran for Attorney General of Arizona as a Republican. His friend, Barry Goldwater, correctly predicted that Rhodes would lose; at that time, Arizona was over seventy-five percent Democratic. In 1952 Rhodes ran again, this time for Arizona's 1st congressional district, which at the time took in all of Phoenix and surrounding Maricopa County. Despite limited campaign funds and facing the powerful 11-term Democratic incumbent John Murdock, Rhodes prevailed by eight percent of the vote and was elected to the Eighty-third United States Congress. He was the first Republican ever elected to represent Arizona in the House. Additionally, he served as a member of the Arizona delegation to several Republican National Conventions; was Barry Goldwater's personal representative on the Platform Committee in 1964; was chairman of the Platform Committee in 1972; and was Permanent Chairman of the Convention in 1976 and 1980.
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