| John Hall Buchanan, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 6th district |
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| In office January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Armistead I. Selden, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Albert L. Smith, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 19, 1928 Paris, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Religion | Christian |
John Hall Buchanan, Jr. (born March 19, 1928) served as a United States Congressman from Alabama's 6th congressional district.
Buchanan was born in Paris, Tennessee. He served in the United States Navy from 1945–1946 and then came to Alabama where he attended Samford University in Birmingham. After his graduation Buchanan did graduate work at the University of Virginia before transferring to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated in 1957 and served among churches in Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia as a pastor.[1]
Buchanan unsuccessfully ran for Congress and so continued to serve in a pastoral role. At the same time he served as the Finance Director for the Alabama Republican Party, which was experiencing a resurgence after more than half a century of irrelevance.
In 1964 he was elected to Congress from the Birmingham-based 6th district, defeating 10-year incumbent George Huddleston, Jr. by a shocking 21-point margin. However, Birmingham's residents, like most of the rest of the state, turned violently on the Democrats due to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was only the second Republican to ever represent Birmingham in Congress.
Among the significant legislation passed during his tenure was the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution which clarifies and refines the office of the Vice President of the United States, the Medicare act which created the new insurance program and which Buchanan voted against[2] and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[3]
He was next appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. He has also served on the United Nations Human Rights Committee.[1] Buchanan is also a member of the board of directors of People for the American Way.[4]
Buchanan was a Center-Left Republican. Although he had been elected due to local anger at the Civil Rights Act, his tenure was marked by his strong advocacy for civil rights and women’s rights. In his first term, he worked with Atlanta congressman Charles Weltner to spearhead an investigation of the Ku Klux Klan. The FBI credited Buchanan and Weltner's efforts for bringing Klan membership to its lowest level since World War II. He was the first Alabama congressman to hire staff and nominate to the military academies on a bi-racial basis.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, he helped lead the fight in the House for enactment of Title IX, guaranteeing equality for women in the programs of American colleges and universities. He served as ranking Republican on the Equal Rights Subcommittee, and served on the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the arts. For fourteen of his years in Congress, he served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he championed the rights of people behind the Iron Curtain, especially Jewish and Christian dissidents, as well as the black majorities in Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. As ranking minority member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Operations, he was one of the principal authors of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. In that year he received the Honor Award, Women’s Action Organization (State Department, ICA, AID) and the Honor Award “for commitment to the advancement of women in the Foreign Service community.”
He served as a member of the U. S. Delegation to the 28th United Nations General Assembly, and to the Sixth Special Assembly, serving in each with ambassadorial rank. He was a member of the U. S. Delegation to the U. N. Human Rights Commission (1978–1980), was ranking Republican to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and was a member of the U. S. Delegation to the Belgrade Conference on the Helsinki Accords.
Largely because of his liberal record and support of civil rights, Buchanan rarely faced credible opposition. In 1978, however, he was challenged in the primary by a considerably more conservative Republican, Albert L. Smith, Jr., a longtime Republican activist. Buchanan fended him off, but was soundly defeated in a 1980 rematch.
After leaving the Congress, Buchanan was Chairman and national spokesperson for civil liberties organization People For The American Way. In that capacity, he traveled extensively, participating in frequent debates with leaders of the Religious Right on radio, television, and various platforms throughout the United States. Appearances in the media included McNeil-Lehrer, Crossfire, Larry King, Charlie Rose, and other major news shows. He also has spoken extensively for national organizations including the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship, the Kettering Foundation, and the Close-Up Foundation.
Buchanan’s numerous awards have included the National Council of Jewish Women Hannah G. Solomon Award, the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award, the National Conference of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Award, and an award from the Self-Determination for D. C. National Coalition.
He serves on the Common Cause President’s Council, the National Council of the U.S. United Nations Association, and the Board of Advisors and Speakers Bureau of the Close-Up Foundation. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Fund-Balance, LLC[5] and the Nexus Holdings Group.
In 2010, Buchanan was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor for his contributions to furthering the rights of women and African Americans during his time in Congress.
After his defeat, Buchanan never returned to Alabama and lives today in Bethesda, Maryland. He and his wife Betty have daughters, Liz and Lynn, and granddaughters, Victoria, Molly, and Alexine.