Richard Fielding Harless (August 6, 1905 – November 24, 1970) was a U.S. Representative from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Life and career

Born in

Kelsey, Texas ---> Kelsey is an unincorporated area in Upshur County, Texas, United States that was the longest-lasting settlement founded by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the state. Now a ghost town, it has been called the "mo ...

, Harless moved to

Thatcher, Arizona Thatcher is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 4,865. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area. Thatcher is the home of Eastern Arizona College (EAC), ...

, in 1917 and attended the grade and high schools. He graduated from

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

in 1928. He taught school at

Marana, Arizona Marana is a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States, located northwest of Tucson, with a small portion in Pinal County. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 34,961. From 1990 to 2000, Marana was the fourth fastest-g ...

from 1928 to 1930. He graduated from the law school of the University of Arizona in 1933. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year and commenced practice in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. In Phoenix, Harless served as Assistant City Attorney and in 1936 was elected Assistant Attorney General of Arizona. From 1938 to 1942, Harless served as

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

Attorney. He was married to

Meredith Howard Harless Meredith Howard Harless (born Florence Meredith Howard; September 6, 1909 – June 19, 1996) was a performer, Miss America contestant, writer, and broadcaster. Early years The daughter of Samuel J. and Florence Howard, Harless was born in Bartle ...

, a writer and radio personality. They wed on November 28, 1948, in Alexandria, Virginia. Harless was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, and Eightieth Congresses (January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949). He was one of the main sponsors of the Indian Voting Rights Act of 1947.bio from papers collection at Arizona State University
/ref> Harless did not seek renomination in the 1948 House election, and was unsuccessful in an attempt to gain the gubernatorial nomination. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1954 for the Eighty-fourth Congress. He was Democratic nominee in 1960 for the Eighty-seventh Congress but was not elected. He resumed the practice of law. He died in Phoenix on November 24, 1970, and was interred in Greenwood Memorial Park in that city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harless, Richard Fielding 1905 births 1970 deaths People from Upshur County, Texas University of Arizona alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona People from Thatcher, Arizona Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona 20th-century American politicians