Virginias Post-World ~r II Path to Congres~ •••••••••••••••••••••••• •• John T. Whelan .......................... The author is associateprofessor ofpoliticalscience by George Allen. And in 1992, the delegation at the University ofRichmond. will gain at least one new House member be­ cause of the reapportionment process. Despite the tremendous electoral success ofVir­ Given these past and expected changes in ginia incumbents in the U.S. Congress, the state's the state's delegation, it seems appropriate to take congressional delegation has experienced con­ another look at the making of Virginia congress­ siderable turnover in recent years. Indeed, dur­ Virginia's men and senators. Specifically, this News Letter ing the 1980s every House seat turned over; and congressmen are focuses on the state's 8senators and 39 congressmen in the Senate, the seat held by the two Byrds who have come to office since 1946, highlighting for nearly 50 years turned over twice. Paul Trible increasingly more the occupational backgrounds from which they succeeded Harry F. Byrd, Jr., in 1982, and 6 years experienced emerged, their prior political experiences, and the laterTrible relinquished the seat to former Gov­ and, like their depth of their community ties, as well as some ernor Charles S. Robb. key electoral circumstances that prevailed at the The 1990S have already seen one congres­ counterparts time oftheir initial selection. While there have sional incumbent replaced as James Moran ousted in other states, been important changes in the paths Virginia Stan Parris in 1990, the second time Parris had members have taken to Capitol Hill during the lost the 8th District seat in Northern Virginia. they are using the four and a half decades since the end ofWorld Another turnover occurred when D. French state legislature War II, even more significant continuities are Slaughter, who retired for health reasons in 1991, as a stepping­ evident in the making of Virginia's congressmen was replaced in a 7th District special election and senators. stone to the U. S. Author's Note: The author wishes to thank colleagues Art Gun­ Congress. licks, Tom Morris, and Dan Palazzolo for their helpful com­ ments. The primary source on congressmen's backgrounds OCCUPATIONS was the Biographical Directory ofthe American Congress: Ill4­ Virginia members ofCongress, like those from I989, Senate Document100-340 (Washington, D.C.: Govern­ other states, have emerged from a limited number ment Printing Office, 1989). Other sources included Congress ofoccupations, with law standing out. (See tables A to Z: CQ's Ready Reference Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1988); and Phil Duncan, ed., I and 2 for a listing ofthese members.) Since 1946, Politics in America, I992 (Washington, D.C.: CQPress, 1991). 55 percent of the new Virginia members have University ofVirginia NEWS LETTER Table 1 Table 2 U.S. Senators from Virginia, 1946-91 U.S. House Members from Virginia, 1946-91 Name (Party) Dates in Office Name (Party, District) Dates in Office Byrd, Harry F. Jr. (0 & I) Nov. 12, '65 - Jan. 3, '83 Abbitt; Watkins M. (0,4) Feb. 17, '48 - Jan. 3, '73 Burch, ThomasG. (D) May 31, '46 -.- Nov. 5, '46 Allen, George F. (H, 7) Nov. 12, '91 - Robb, Charles S. (D) 1989 - Almond, J. Lindsay (0,6) Jan. 22, '46-Apr.17, '48 Robertson, A. Willis (D) Nov. 6, '46 - Dec. 30, '66 Bateman, Herbert H. (R, 1) 1983- Scott, William L (R) 1973 -1979 Bliley, Thomas J. (R, 3) 1981 - Spong, WHHamB. (D) 1967 -1973 Boucher, Frederick C. (0, 9) 1983 - Trible, Paul S. (R) 1983 -1989 Broyhill, Joel T. (R, 10) 1953 -1975 Warner, John (R) 1979 - Burton, Clarence G. (0, 6) Nov. 2, '48 - Jan. 3,'53 Butler, Caldwell M. (R, 6) Nov. 7, '72 - Jan. 3, '83 MeTES: Unless otherwise indicated, terms of office began and ended Daniel, Robert W. (R l 4) 1973-1983 on January 3. Daniel, W. C. (Dan) (0, 5) Jan. 3, '69 - Jan. 23, '88 Party affiliations are abbreviated as D= Democrat; R= Republican; and I = Independent. Downing, Thomas N. (0, 1) 1959 -1977 Fisher, Joseph L. (0, 10) 1975 -1981 Fugate, Thomas B. (0, 9) 1949 -1953 Hardy, Porter (0, 2) 1947 -1969 been lawyers: 6 of8 senators and 20 of39 congress­ Harris, Herbert E. (0, B)" 1'9 - ffl81 I men. Historically, the link between law and politics Harrison, Burr P. (0, 7) Nov. 6, '46 - Jan. 3, '63 was most pronounced in the South and in the Demo­ Jennings, \JYilliamPat (D, 9) 1955 -1967 cratic party, the region's dominant party. Roger David­ Marsh, John O. (D., 7) 1963 -1971 Moran, James P. (0, 8) 1991 - son speculated that "this may have been a function (D~ ofan economy that offered few attractive career al­ Olin; James R. 6) 1983 - Parris, Stanford E.{R, 8) 1973- 1975; 1981 -1991 ternatives for ambitious young men."2 Writing in the Payne, LewisF. (D, 5) June 21, '88 ~ late 1960s, Davidson predicted that increasing eco­ Pickett, Owen B. (0, 2) 1987 - Poff, Richard H. (R, 6) Jan. 3, '53 - Aug. 29, '72 nomic development and the rise of the Republican party, which was more inclined to recruit its leader­ Robeson, Edward J. (0, 1) May 2, '50. - Jan. 3, '59 Robinson, J. Kenneth (R, 7) 1971 -1985 ship from business circles, would erode the predomi­ Satterfield, David E. III, (0,3) 1965 -1981 nance of Southern lawyer-congressmen. Scott, William L. (R, 8) 1967 -1973 In Virginia, at least, Davidson's prediction has Sisi~~~, Norman {~, 4) 1983 - only partially materialized. Ironically, to the extent Slaug"hter, 6: French (R, 7) Jan. 3, '85 - Nov. 5; '91 it has occurred, it has been in the Democratic House Stanley, Thomas B. (0, 5) Nov. 5, '46 - Feb. 3, '53 Trible, Paul S. (R, 1) 1977 -1983 delegation, which still evidences a decided legal back­ Tuck, Willi~fll M. (D, 5) April 14, '53 - J~n. 3, '69 ground. In the 102nd Congress (1991-92), lawyers Wampler;WilliamiC. (RI·9) 1953-1955; 1967 -1983 make up 58 percent ofthe delegation-both senators Whitehurst, G. William (R, 2) 1969 -1987 and 5of10 House members. This pattern parallels the Wolf, Frank R. (R, 10) 1981 - ofthe members who have come occupational makeup NOTES: Unless otherwise indicated, terms of office began and ended to office since 1966, the beginning ofthe post-Byrd on January 3. Organization period and the growth of Republican Party affiliations are abbreviated as D= Democrat and R= Republican. strength in the delegation. Since then, all 5 newly elected senators and12 ofthe 23 newVirginia congress­ As the Virginia Democratic party's fortunes re­ men have been lawyers. A different picture emerges, bounded in the 1980s, the party's resurgence in the however, when the House delegation is viewed from congressional realm, particularly in the House, was a partisan perspective. Since 1966 only 3 ofthe 9 new led by candidates drawn more from business than Democrats (33 percent) have been lawyers, whereas legal backgrounds. While Senator Robb was trained 9 of 14 new Republicans (64 percent) came from as a lawyer, 3 of the 5 House Democrats elected in legal circles. the 1980s-Norman Sisisky, James Olin, and Lewis Business was the second most prevalent pre­ F. Payne-came from business backgrounds. Sisisky congressional occupation for Virginia members, with was a beer and soft drink distributor, Olin a retired 45 percent (2 senators and 19 congressmen) listing corporate vice-president, and Payne a real estate de­ business-related pursuits in their biographical sketches. veloper. All 3were wealthy and able to finance expen­ sive congressional campaigns. Their business creden­ tials helped defuse the liberal image ofthe national 1 Representatives Wampler and Parris, who represented their Democratic party, an electoral liability in Virginia, districts on 2 different occasions, are counted twice in this and especially in the 5th (Payne's) and 6th (Olin's) dis­ other tabulations. Subtotals for different occupational catego­ tricts. James Moran, a government budget analyst ries will exceed 100 percent because some members listed more than one occupation. turned stockbroker, continued the House Demo­ 2 2 The Role ofthe Congressman (NewYork: Pegasus, 1969), p. 45. crats' winning ways in 1990. Center for Public Service February 1992 Table 3 Besides law and business, only agriculture, fed­ Prior Political Experience Virginia senators eral government service, the media, and education of U.S. House Members from Virginia figure in the occupational backgrounds ofthe post­ and congressmen Elected during the Elected after the World War II Virginia members. Three senators and Byrd Organization Byrd Organization have tended to Years,1946-1965 Years, 1966-1991 7 congressmen had agriculture-related pursuits listed emerge from legal in their biographies; however, all were also involved ORO R in other occupations. For example, Harry F. Byrd, Jr., and to a lesser following in his father's footsteps, was both an apple Prior Elective Experience Number 13 3 9 14 extent business orchardist and a newspaper editor and publisher. More­ Percent 62% 00/0 890/0 710/0 over, a majority of those who listed agriculture in­ General Assembly was circles, and terests entered Congress before 1960, when agricul­ Last Office before Congress ture figured more prominently in the state's economy. Number 13 3 9 14 they have been Percent 150/0 0°/0 44% 43% While 4 Virginia members-Robert Daniel, even more likely Joseph Fisher, William Scott, and James Moran­ NOTE: D= Democrat; R= Republican. had prior service in the federal executive branch (ex­ to come from the clusive ofmembers who held political appointive posi­ ranks of e,,<perienced tions), only Scott made it a career. He served 27 years, II era. 3 However, there are partisan differences in the principally as a trial lawyer in the Department of pre-House or Senate careers of the Virginia mem­ political figures.