Richard Thomas Hanna (June 9, 1914 – June 9, 2001) was a U.S. Representative from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He became involved in a scandal dubbed

Koreagate "Koreagate" was an American political scandal in 1976 involving South Korean political figures seeking influence from 10 Democratic members of Congress. The scandal involved the uncovering of evidence that the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (K ...

by accepting bribes from a businessman working for the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n government. He was found guilty, resigned his seat, and served one year in prison.

History

Hanna was born in

Kemmerer, Wyoming Kemmerer is the largest city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. Its population was 2,656 at the 2010 census. History Explorer John C. Frémont discovered coal in the area during his second expedition in 1843. The ...

and graduated from Pasadena Junior College,

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

. He received his BA and LLB from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

and then became a lawyer in private practice, after serving in the

United States Naval Air Corps A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guar ...

from 1942 to 1945.

Career

Hanna served in the California State Assembly from 1956 to 1963. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth United States Congress in 1962 and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1963 - December 31, 1974) to represent

California's 34th congressional district California's 34th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. Located in Los Angeles County, the district is represented by Democrat Jimmy Gomez. Its previous U.S. representative, Democrat Xavier Becerra of Los Angel ...

, which then covered parts of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

counties.

Koreagate

In the 1970s, he received payments of about $200,000 from Korean businessman Tongsun Park in what became known as the

influence buying scandal. After the payments were revealed, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and was sentenced to 6–30 months in federal prison, of which he served one year.

Death

After his death on his 87th birthday, June 9, 2001, in Tryon, North Carolina, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Carolina.

References

External links