Arthur Lewis Miller (May 24, 1892 – March 16, 1967) was a

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Republican politician. Born on a farm near

Plainview, Nebraska Plainview is a city in Pierce County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Norfolk, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,275 at the 2022 census. History The area of Plainview was first settled by William B. Chilver ...

, he graduated from the Plainview High School in 1911. He then taught rural school in Plainview from 1911 to 1913. He then studied at Loyola Medical School in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, from which he graduated in 1918. He was a member of the United States

Medical Reserve Corps The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed at meeting the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Administration for Strategic ...

. He was a surgeon and practiced medicine in

Kimball, Nebraska Kimball is a city in and the county seat of Kimball County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,290 at the 2020 census. History Kimball was originally called Antelopeville, and under the latter name was established ''circa'' 1870 wh ...

from 1919 to 1942. He was also a farmer and the mayor of Kimball in 1933 and 1934. He was a member of the Nebraska

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

legislature from 1937 to 1941. He ran against

Dwight Griswold Dwight Palmer Griswold (November 27, 1893April 12, 1954) was an American publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as the 25th governor of Nebraska from 1941 to 1947, and in the United States Senate from 1952 until his ...

and lost in the Republican gubernatorial primary of 1940. Dwight Griswold then went on to become governor of Nebraska. He was the state health director in 1941 and 1942. In 1942 he gave up his medical practices and ran for the Seventy-eighth Congress. He was elected and then was reelected seven times (January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1959) to represent Nebraska's 4th district in the House of Representatives as a Republican. Miller voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

. During his time in the Eighty-third Congress, he was the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. In 1944 Rep. Miller released private political correspondence he had exchanged with General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

. Some experts felt it ruined any chance for MacArthur to receive the Republican presidential nomination that year as MacArthur had not intended for his comments to be made public. He authored the

Sexual Psychopath Sexual psychopath (defined in the 1930s) was a category of criminals roughly defined as male sex offenders who had little to no control over their sexual impulses. The typology was built upon 19th-century Canadian psychiatrist Joseph Workman's five ...

Law in 1948 for DC, nicknamed the “Miller Law”, and which made

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

punishable by twenty years in prison. Additionally those arrested had to undergo psychiatric assessment and if they were regarded as not having control of their (homosexual) sexual impulses then they could be detained indefinitely in the criminal ward of the Washington psychiatric hospital until “recovered” and without recourse first to the courts. Miller worked to purge gay people from US government employment during the lavender scare, saying homosexuals were "not to be trusted" because they were susceptible to blackmail by communists. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress. He then became the director of the Office of

Saline Water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

in the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

from February 1959 to January 1961. He died in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...

, and is buried in Parklawn Cemetery in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

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Nebraska State Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society, formerly History Nebraska, is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information ... and to embrace alike aboriginal and modern history." It w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Arthur Lewis 1892 births 1967 deaths People from Plainview, Nebraska People from Kimball, Nebraska Mayors of places in Nebraska Nebraska state senators Maryland Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Nebraska Legislature