Richard Mifflin Kleberg Sr. (November 18, 1887 – May 8, 1955), a Democrat, was a seven-term 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 ...

from

Texas's 14th congressional district Texas's 14th congressional district for the United States House of Representatives stretches from Freeport to Beaumont. It formerly covered the area south and southwest of the Greater Houston region, including Galveston, in the state of Texas ...

over the period 1931–1945 and an heir to the

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault. The ranch is lo ...

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

. He was first elected in 1931 in a special election called due to the death of

Harry M. Wurzbach Harry McLeary Wurzbach (May 19, 1874 – November 6, 1931) was an attorney and politician. He was the first Republican elected from Texas since Reconstruction to be elected for more than two terms and was re-elected to the Sixty-eighth, Sixty-n ...

. His election caused the Democratic party to achieve an absolute majority in the House of Representatives --- a majority it retained for all but four of the next sixty-three years. He was elected unopposed in 1940 and 1942.

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

served as a congressional secretary under Kleberg from 1931 until his appointment as head of the Texas

National Youth Administration The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to ...

in 1935. As described by Johnson biographer

Robert Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power ...

, Kleberg was a staunch conservative, and took a dim view of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

, which he regarded as

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

if not outright

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

in character. Nevertheless, he was persuaded by Lyndon Johnson to vote for certain key New Deal policies that he personally opposed when it was brought to his attention that they enjoyed significant support among his constituents. He was a member of the Miller group in Washington.

References

External links

* * *http://www.king-ranch.com/legend.htm
The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Kittredge to Kleier
at politicalgraveyard.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleberg, Richard M. 1887 births 1945 deaths People from Corpus Christi, Texas University of Texas at Austin alumni Ranchers from Texas Kleberg family Death in Arkansas People from Kleberg County, Texas Texas lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers

See also

References

External links