Arthur Andrews
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Arthur Glenn Andrews (born January 15, 1909), usually known as Glenn Andrews, is the oldest living former member of the United States Congress. An Alabama Republican, Andrews represented the former Fourth Congressional District (since Third District) centered about his birthplace of Anniston, the seat of Calhoun County in the northern portion of his state. Andrews became the oldest former member on November 10, 2007, with the death of former U.S. Representative Augustus Hawkins, a California Democrat.
Andrews attended public schools in Birmingham and attended John Herbert Phillips High School there. He then graduated from Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1931, he received a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He was associated with National City Bank of New York, 1931-1933; International Business Machines, 1933-1936; district manager of an Eastman Kodak subsidiary, 1936-1946; and was an advertising executive, from 1946-1970, excluding his single term in Congress.
Andrews was a Democratic candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives in 1956 and for secretary of state in 1958. Having switched parties, he was a delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention held in San Francisco, where he was committed to the party's presidential nominee, then U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona. He was elected to Congress on the Goldwater ticket, which easily prevailed over an unpledged elector slate in Alabama. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson was not listed on the Alabama ballot. Andrews defeated seven-term Democrat Kenneth A. Roberts, 40,143 (58.6 percent) to 27,800 (40.6 percent). This may have seemed somewhat surprising; almost none of the district's living residents had been represented by a Republican before. However, as was the case in most of Alabama, most of the district's voters turned against the Democrats due to the national party's increasingly strong stand on civil rights. Four other Alabama Republicans were elected to the U.S. House with Andrews: James D. Martin of Gadsden, John Buchanan of Birmingham, William Dickinson of Montgomery, and Jack Edwards of Mobile.
Andrews served only in the 87th Congress. He and other Alabama members opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which passed after a controversial African American-led demonstration from Selma to the state capital at Montgomery. In 1966, Andrews was defeated for reelection by about the same margin that he had won in 1964. He was unseated by the Democratic State Senator Bill Nichols. Nichols received 54,515 votes (58.7 percent) to Andrews' 38,402 (41.3 percent).
For a time, Andrews chaired the Alabama Fourth Congressional District Republican Executive Committee. He sought to return to Congress in the 1970 general election, when Wallace ran unopposed for a second term as governor. He was overwhelmingly defeated by Nichols, who won 77,701 votes (83.7 percent) to Andrews' 13,217 (14.2 percent).
President Richard Nixon appointed Andrews a trustee in bankruptcy court, a position which he held from 1973-1985.
After Andrews, the next oldest living former member of Congress is William H. Avery, who also was the Republican governor of Kansas from 1965-1967.
[edit] References
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S Elections, U.S. House of Representatives tabulations, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1988, 1989
| Preceded by Kenneth A. Roberts |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 4th congressional district 1965 – 1967 |
Succeeded by William Flynt Nichols |
| Preceded by Augustus F. Hawkins |
Oldest Surviving Member of the U.S. House of Representatives November 10, 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrews, Arthur |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Andrews, Glenn |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 15, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Anniston, Alabama |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
