Richard Harding Poff
| Dick Poff | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court | |
|
In office August 31, 1972 – December 31, 1988 |
|
| Appointed by | Lin Holton |
| Preceded by | Thomas Gordon |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth Lacy |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 6th district |
|
|
In office January 3, 1953 – August 29, 1972 |
|
| Preceded by | Clarence Burton |
| Succeeded by | Caldwell Butler |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 19, 1923 Radford, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 2011 (aged 87) Tullahoma, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education |
Roanoke College (BA) University of Virginia, Charlottesville (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank |
 First lieutenant
|
| Unit |
U.S. Army Air Forces • Eighth Air Force |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
Richard Harding "Dick" Poff (October 19, 1923 – June 27, 2011) was an American politician and judge. He was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1952 from Virginia's 6th congressional district. An attorney and a Republican, he was given strong consideration for the United States Supreme Court by President Richard M. Nixon and was later appointed as a Justice (later Senior Justice) of the Virginia Supreme Court.
Poff did his undergraduate work at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, and gained his LL.B. in 1948 from the University of Virginia School of Law at Charlottesville.
During the Second World War, Poff served as a bomber pilot with the Eighth Air Force in England; flew thirty-five successful missions over Europe; awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; was inactivated from the service as a first lieutenant serving from February 1943 to August 1945.
Poff was first elected to Congress in 1952, defeating incumbent Democrat Clarence G. Burton. He was the first Republican to represent this part of Virginia since Reconstruction, and likely owed his victory to Dwight Eisenhower carrying the state in that year's presidential election. However, the 6th had already been moving away from its Democratic roots for some time. The Byrd Democrats in western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley had begun splitting their tickets as early as the 1930s.
...
Wikipedia