Richard D. Obenshain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Dudley (Dick) Obenshain (1936 – August 2, 1978) was an attorney in southwest Virginia and rising conservative political leader in the Republican Party of Virginia until his death in the crash of a small airplane in 1978.

Richard D. Obenshain was the son of Samuel S. Obenshain (1904-2000), a professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he grew up. The elder Obenshain was active in Virginia's Republican Party during the era of the Byrd Organization, the Democratic machine of Harry F. Byrd which dominated Virginia's government from his election as Governor in 1925 until the 1966 Democratic Primary when two powerful Byrd incumbents lost and Byrd Jr. barely won his father's seat.

Richard was graduated from Bridgewater College in Rockingham County, Virginia and was admitted to the Virginia Bar. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1964, and became Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia in 1972. He is credited with leading a period of growth for his party in Virginia.

A record number of Republicans were elected to seats in the Virginia General Assembly under his leadership, the first such major gains since Reconstruction in the late 19th century following the American Civil War.

In the summer of 1978, Obenshain won his party's nomination to run for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring U.S. Senator William L. Scott. On the night of August 2, the small twin-engine Piper PA34 airplane carrying him home from a campaign appearance crashed in trees while attempting a night-time landing at the Chesterfield County Airport, a general aviation facility near Richmond. Killed along with the 42-year-old candidate were a pilot and a flight instructor.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Warner was selected to replace Richard Obenshain as the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate race. Warner, at the time the millionaire husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor, was elected to the U.S. Congress in November of 1978. After the retirement of Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr., Warner became Virginia's senior Senator, and was still in office in 2006.

In 2003, two of Richard Obenshain's children enjoyed major successes in Virginia politics. First, his daughter, Kate Obenshain Griffin of Winchester, became the first woman to head the Republican Party of Virginia. Ironically, her opponent was state Republican party treasurer Richard Neel, Jr., an Alexandria lawyer whose father was the pilot who died in the same crash as Richard Obenshain. Then, in November, Obenshain's son, Mark Obenshain, an attorney based in Harrisonburg, was elected to the Virginia State Senate from the 26th district.

According to an article in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, Richard Obenshain's political legacy was "skill at birthing an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats, his prescient support of Ronald Reagan and bold tax cuts, and his tireless crusade to curb Democratic dominance in the state" ([1]).

In Richmond, the state headquarters of the Republican Party of Virginia is named "The Richard D. Obenshain Center" in his honor.

"The most important goal in my life is to have some significant impact in preserving personal freedom in the life of this country." Richard D. Obenshain ([2]).