Charles Melvin Price (January 1, 1905 – April 22, 1988) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for over 40 years, from 1945 to his death. He represented

Metro East Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Stati ...

, the Illinois portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Early life

Charles Melvin Price was born in

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...

on January 1, 1905. After a parochial school education, he graduated from St. Louis University High School and took two years of

pre-law In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or it ...

coursework at Saint Louis University. He became a sports correspondent for the

East St. Louis Journal The ''Metro-East Journal'' was a newspaper published in East St. Louis, Illinois, from 1888 to 1979. History The newspaper was founded as the ''East St. Louis Journal'' in 1888. The paper's name was changed to the ''St. Clair and Madison Counties ...

and later the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. He served as a member of the St. Clair County Board of Supervisors from 1929 to 1931. He served as secretary to Edwin M. Schaefer during the latter's term of office from 1933 to 1943. In October 1943, he voluntarily enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He was stationed at Fort Lee at the time of his election to the United States House of Representatives.

United States House of Representatives

He was elected to Congress in his own right in 1944. Most notably, he served as the chairman of the

United States House Committee on Armed Services The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of De ...

between 1975 and 1985. He lost this position at the beginning of the

99th United States Congress The 99th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

. Overthrowing a committee chairman was not a common occurrence at that time, but a majority of the

House Democratic Caucus The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic Representatives in the United States House of Representatives and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber. In its ...

seemed to feel that the aged Price was no longer up to the job. In addition, Price, while liberal on domestic issues, was notably more supportive of defense spending than most Democrats. When it came to choosing Price's successor, the Caucus bypassed several other old hawkish members of the committee in favor of

Les Aspin Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1971 to 1993 and as the 18th United States Secretary of Defe ...

, who was not only much younger than Price and other more senior members, but also seemed closer in his defense policy preferences to the majority of the Democratic Caucus. During his time in Congress, he also chaired the

Ethics Committee An ethics committee is a body responsible for ensuring that medical experimentation and human subject research are carried out in an ethical manner in accordance with national and international law. Specific regions An ethics committee in the E ...

(1967–76) and the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (1973–74). He remained in Congress until his death. Congressman Price had a role in enacting the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act. He died in 1988 of pancreatic cancer. Price is the namesake of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, near

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

on the

Upper Mississippi River The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River. History In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper ...

, and the Melvin Price Federal Building and United States Courthouse in East St. Louis. In the special election to succeed Price, fellow Democrat and chairman of the St. Clair County Board,

Jerry Costello Jerry Francis Costello (born September 25, 1949) is an American politician and former U.S. Representative for . He previously represented and served in the US House from 1988 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was the dean of I ...

defeated Republican candidate Robert Gaffner. Costello took office August 9, 1988. He was elected to a full term that November with 53% of the vote.

References

External links

Congressional Biographical Dictionary entry
*
Louisa H. Bowen Special Collections and University Archives
at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

houses Congressman Price's papers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Charles Melvin 1905 births 1988 deaths People from East St. Louis, Illinois Saint Louis University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois People from Camp Springs, Maryland Deaths from cancer in Maryland Deaths from pancreatic cancer 20th-century American politicians

Early life

United States House of Representatives

See also

References

External links