Cecil R. King

Infobox Congressman
name=Cecil R. King


width=
state=California
district=17th
party=Democratic
term=August 1942 - January 1969
preceded=Lee E. Geyer
succeeded=Glenn M. Anderson
date of birth= birth date|1898|1|13|mf=y
place of birth= Fort Niagara, New York
date of death= death date and age|1974|3|17|1898|1|13|mf=y
place of death= Inglewood, California
spouse=
current occupation=

Cecil Rhodes King (January 13 1898 - March 17 1974) was an American businessperson and politician. King, a Democrat, served as the first member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 17th congressional district for fourteen terms, serving from August 1942 to January 1969.cite web
title = Cecil R. King Profile
publisher = United States Congress
author =
date =
url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000196
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] King was first elected by special election on August 25 1942 after previously serving out the term of the late Lee E. Geyer who had died in Washington, D.C. on October 11 1941.cite web
title = Lee E. Geyer Profile
publisher = United States Congress
author =
date =
url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000147
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ]

Background

King was born on January 13 1898 in Fort Niagara in Niagara County, New York. At the age of ten, King moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. After attending public school in Los Angeles, King enlisted in the United States Army during World War I.cite web
title = Cecil Rhodes King Information
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/king2.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] In the war, he served as a private, the lowest enlisted rank in the United States Army, [cite web
title = Symbols and Insignias in the United States Army
publisher = United States Army
author =
date =
url = http://www.army.mil/symbols/Enlisteddescriptions.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] from 1917 to 1918. After the war, King got involved in local business in Southern California.

Politics

In 1933, King became a member of the California State Assembly and served in that body until 1942, with the exception of 1936. From July 15 1940 to July 18 1940, King served as a delegate from California [cite web
title = California Delegation to the 1940 Democratic National Convention
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1940/CA.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] to the 1940 Democratic National Convention at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. [cite web
title = 1940 Democratic National Convention
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1940/index.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] The representative for California's 17th congressional district, Lee E. Geyer, died in Washington, D.C. on October 11 1941. King served out Geyer's unfinished term, and was elected as a Democrat to the 77th United States Congress by a special election on August 25 1942. Later that year, King ran unopposed in the November 3 election and captured 92,260 or 99.8% of the vote. [cite book |editor=John L. Moore |others= |title=Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections|edition= 3rd |year= 1994 |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |location=Washington, D.C. |id=0-87187-996-4 |pages=1543 pg. 1194]

King served as a member of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, beginning a commitment that he would serve during twelve of his following thirteen terms in the House of Representatives, excluding only 1947-1948, during the 80th United States Congress. [cite web
title = Former Members of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means
publisher = United States House Committee on Ways and Means
author =
date =
url = http://waysandmeans.house.gov/About.asp?section=27
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] Two years later, King again served as one of California's delegates to the 1944 Democratic National Convention [cite web
title = California Delegation to the 1944 Democratic National Convention
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1944/CA.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] again held at Chicago Stadium from July 19 to July 21. [cite web
title = 1944 Democratic National Convention
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1944/index.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] In the House elections on November 7 1944, King again ran unopposed for state's 17th district, and captured 147,217 votes, nearly 100% of those casted in the election. [cite web
title = November 7, 1944 General Election
publisher = JoinCalifornia
author = Alex Vassar and Shane Meyers
date =
url = http://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1944-11-07
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] In the 1946 House elections, King was again unopposed and captured 110,654 or 99.4% of the vote. [Moore (1994), pg. 1204] At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, King served as an alternate delegate from California. [cite web
title = California Delegation to the 1948 Democratic National Convention
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1948/CA.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] In continuance of the trend, he again ran unopposed in 1948 and 1950 and captured 99.9% of the vote in both elections. [Moore (1994), pg. 1209] [Moore (1994), pg. 1214] During the 1950s, King also served as the chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee investigating tax irregularities. [cite web
title = "My Heart Is Broken"
publisher = Time"
author =
date = November 26 1951
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,821857,00.html
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ] After facing his first competitive re-election bid in 1952 when he defeated Republican challenger Robert Finch by nearly 11% of the vote, [Moore (1994), pg. 1219] King cruised by in future elections, capturing over 60% of the vote in landslide elections in each biennial election from 1954 to 1966. [Moore (1994), pg. 1224] [Moore (1994), pg. 1229] [Moore (1994), pg. 1234] [Moore (1994), pg. 1239] [Moore (1994), pg. 1244] [Moore (1994), pg. 1249] [Moore (1994), pg. 1254] King also was one of the first people involved in the issue of Medicare, and had carried on the battle in the House of Representatives throughout the 1950s and 1960s until President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare Bill on July 30 1965. [ "Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965." Volume II, entry 394, pp. 811-815 (1966)]

After nearly twenty-seven years of service, King was not a candidate for re-election in the 1968 House elections to the 90th United States Congress. His successor Glenn M. Anderson won a close election by a slim two percent margin. [Moore (1994), pg. 1259] On March 17 1974, King died of a stroke at a nursing home in Inglewood, California at the age of 76. He was then interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

References

External links

*CongBio|K000196
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/burke.html The Political Graveyard profile for Cecil Rhodes King]

Persondata
NAME=King, Cecil R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American businessperson and politician
DATE OF BIRTH=January 13 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH=Fort Niagara, New York
DATE OF DEATH=March 17 1974
PLACE OF DEATH=Inglewood, California