Harley Orrin Staggers
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Harley Orrin Staggers, Sr. was a Democratic U.S. politician. He was born in Keyser, Mineral County, West Virginia, August 3, 1907. He was the father of Harley Orrin Staggers, Jr. Staggers served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was U.S. Representative from West Virginia (2nd District) from 1949-1981, and served as Chairman of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. He was delegate to the Democratic National Convention from West Virginia in 1960. He died August 20, 1991.The Staggers-Casey family has been and still remains one of the most influential political families in West Virginia politics, and is closely associated with working-class Democratic values.
In Hunter S. Thompson's book, The Great Shark Hunt, Thompson writes about Staggers as "obviously senile," and "the football coach from West Virginia."
[edit] Legislation
[edit] First Amendment
On June 10th, 1971 the US Supreme Court ruled that the Nixon Administration could not block the New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers. The following July 12th, Staggers ordered CBS News to hand over film not used in the documentary "Selling of the Pentagon." According to Staggers this was the only way to know if the documentary had been accurately edited. The president of CBS News, Frank Stanton, said he would go to jail before complying with Staggers' subpoenas. The House supported Stanton and forced Staggers to back down.
| Preceded by: Melvin C. Snyder |
U.S. Representative of West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District 1949–1981 |
Succeeded by: Cleve Benedict |
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