Abe McGregor Goff (December 21, 1899 – November 23, 1984) was an attorney and Republican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, most notably as a one-term

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

from 1947 to 1949. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in both world wars.

Early years

Goff was born and raised in

Colfax, Washington Colfax is a city in and the county seat of Whitman County, Washington, Whitman County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 2,782 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making Colfax the second largest city in ...

, in the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

region, the fourth son of Herbert W. and Mary (Dorsey) Goff. After graduating from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

and underwent preliminary officer training at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

during the last weeks of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Discharged from the military in December, he entered the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

at the UI in January 1919 and graduated in 1924. He was also the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

on the Vandal football team. and was a member of

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fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. His older brothers attended

Washington State college Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

in nearby Pullman.

Early career

Goff commenced practice in Moscow the same year and was the prosecuting attorney for Latah County from 1926 to 1934. He also worked as a special lecturer at the UI law school from 1933 to 1941. In 1940, he was made president of the Idaho

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

. In 1941, Goff was elected to the

Idaho Senate The Idaho State Senate is the upper chamber of the Idaho Legislature. It consists of 35 senators elected to two-year terms, each representing a district of the state. The Senate meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho. Composition of th ...

World War II

Later the same year, he was activated as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, and served in the

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, and

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theaters Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. Goff was on General

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's staff at the end of the war and was discharged as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1946. While in the military, he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

Congress

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, Goff was elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

as a Republican, narrowly defeating seven-term incumbent Compton White of Clark Fork. He served only one term, as White defeated him in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

and reclaimed the seat for a term. Source: ^ 1948 election included 93 votes (0.1%) for

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Party candidate Richard M. Shaefer.

After Congress

After leaving the House, Goff ran for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

in 1950, but appointed incumbent

Henry Dworshak Henry Clarence Dworshak Jr. (August 29, 1894July 23, 1962) was a United States senator and congressman from Idaho. Originally from Minnesota, he was a Republican from Burley, and served over 22 years in the House and Senate. Early years Born i ...

won the nomination in the August primary, then served as

Idaho Republican Party The Idaho Republican Party (IDGOP) is the Idaho state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Boise. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling both of I ...

Veteran Committee chairman in 1952.''Idaho Statesman'', 27 Sept. 1952, p. 2 Goff then took a number of government posts in Washington, D.C.; he was general counsel of the

Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, established in 1792. From 1872 to 1971, it was officially in the form of a Cabinet departme ...

, and later served on the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

, from 1954 to 1967. After his terms ended, Goff

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

to the

in Idaho, working as a writer and lecturer in Moscow until his death in 1984.

Personal life

Goff married Florence Letitia Richardson (1892–1987) of Moscow in 1927. They were married for 57 years and are buried at Moscow Cemetery, east of the city. They had two children: Timothy Richardson Goff (1932–72) and Annie McGregor Goff (b. 1935- 2018).

References

External links

University of Idaho Library
– Abe McGregor Goff papers, 1915–1968

– Abe Goff interviews – 1974 (audio, 3 hours)

– Abe McGregor Goff * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Abe 1899 births 1984 deaths People from Colfax, Washington Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho Republican Party Idaho state senators People of the Interstate Commerce Commission Idaho lawyers People from Moscow, Idaho 20th-century American lawyers University of Idaho alumni University of Idaho College of Law alumni United States Army colonels United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Idaho Legislature