Martin Dies, Jr.

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Martin Dies, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1945
Preceded by	John Calvin Box
Succeeded by	Jesse Martin Combs
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's At-large district
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1959
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Robert R. Casey
Born	November 5, 1900 Colorado City, Texas
Died	November 14, 1972 (aged 72) Lufkin, Texas
Political party	Democratic

Martin Dies, Jr. (November 5, 1900 – November 14, 1972) was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. His father, Martin Dies, was also a member of the United States House of Representatives. ^[1]

[edit] Biography

Dies was born in Colorado City, Texas. Dies was elected to Texas's 2nd District in the House of Representatives in 1930. Originally, Dies supported the New Deal, but he turned against it by 1937. Dies along with Samuel Dickstein created the House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities, initially nicknamed the Dies Committee, later becoming HUAC in 1946. Dies was its first chairman, serving from 1937 to 1944.

While there had been earlier Congressional hearings on Communist and Nazi activity, such as by Hamilton Fish in 1932 and McCormack and Dickstein in 1934, the Dies Committee hearings captured greater public attention and scrutiny. In 1938, the Committee was criticized for including Shirley Temple, who was 9 years old at the time, on a list of Hollywood figures who sent greetings to the leftist Communist owned French paper, Ce Soir.^[2]. The Roosevelt Administration joined in the attacks. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, stating, "They have found dangerous radicals there led by little Shirley Temple." while Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins added that Shirley Temple was born an American Citizen and should not have to debate such "perposerous revelations."^[3]. The Committee responded to these attacks via an NBC broadcast, in which the testimony of Dr. J.B. Matthews, which launched the Shirley Temple outcry was read verbatim. In said testimony, Dr. Matthews stated "The Communist Party relies heavily on the carelessness or indifference of thousands of prominent citizens in lending their names for its propaganda purposes. For example, the French newspaper Ce Soir, which is owned outright by the Communist Party, recently featured hearty greetings from Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, James Cagney, and even Shirley Temple.... No one, I hope, is going to claim that any one of these persons in particular is a Communist."^[4]. Despite the obvious misrepresentation of the Committee's work, the attacks continued. When Dies himself attempted to answer the growing flood of abuse, he was turned down by NBC and CBS, with officials from both the stations suggesting that they would not give him airtime for fear of reprisal from the Roosevelt Administration, as the stations were under the control fo the FCC. Testimony was taken by the Committee against Michigan Governor Frank Murphy during his re-election bid in 1938, by witnesses who proclaimed that Murphy was "a Communist or a Communist dupe". Murphy was defeated, and President Roosevelt denounced the incident at a press conference, saying that "The Dies Committee made no effort to get at the truth," ^[5]. Other groups subject to Dies's investigations were the U.S. Department of Labor, the WPA Federal Theatre and Writers' Project, and the NLRB. In January 1939, the new Congress voted to quadruple the Dies Committee's budget. The official Report of the Committee Report was released in January 1940 and was toned down, with the material divided evenly between Communists and Fascists. Dies wrote his own book, The Trojan Horse in America with a larger focus on Communism.

In 1940, Frank Eugene Hook alleged in Congress that Dies had ties to William Dudley Pelley. However, the documents Hook used to make his case turned out to be forgeries.[1] Dies was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1941. Dies was a critic of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, having found 280 salaried CIO organizers within its ranks funded by the Soviet backed CPUSA. Dies retired from the House in 1944 after the CIO began a voter registration drive in his district and found a candidate to oppose him. Dies supported the anti-Roosevelt Texas Regulars in the 1944 presidential election.

Dies was reelected to the House in 1952 in an at-large seat when Texas received another seat through reapportionment. Dies ran for the Senate again in 1957, finishing second to Ralph Yarborough. Dies retired again from the House in 1958.

[edit] External links

• Martin Dies, Jr. from the Handbook of Texas Online

Preceded by John Calvin Box	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd congressional district 1931–1944	Succeeded by Jesse Martin Combs
Preceded by District created	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's At-large congressional district 1953–1958	Succeeded by Robert R. Casey
Preceded by Ottis E. Lock	Texas Senate, District 3 1959–1967	Succeeded by Charles Wilson

[edit] References