Clare Eugene Hoffman (September 10, 1875 – November 3, 1967) was a

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

from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's 4th congressional district. Unholy three

Background

Hoffman was born in

Vicksburg, Union County, Pennsylvania Vicksburg is a census-designated place located in Buffalo Township, Union County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located between the boroughs of Mifflinburg and Lewisburg along Pennsylvania Route 45 Pennsylvania Route 45 (PA 45) is an ...

, where he attended the public schools. He graduated from the law department of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, in 1895.

Career

Hoffman was admitted to the Michigan

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1896 and commenced practice in

Allegan, Michigan Allegan ( ) is a city and the county seat of Allegan County, Michigan Its population was 5,222 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located southwest of Grand Rapids and northwest of Kalamazoo, both via US 131. It lies within All ...

, where he also became

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

for the county from 1904–1910. In 1934, Hoffman ran as the Republican candidate for

Michigan's 4th congressional district Michigan's 4th congressional district is a United States congressional district located in the state of Michigan. The current 4th district contains much of Michigan's 2nd congressional district, Michigan's old 2nd district, and includes all of A ...

, defeating incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

George Ernest Foulkes. Hoffman was elected to the

Seventy-fourth United States Congress The 74th 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, 193 ...

and was re-elected to the thirteen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1935, until January 3, 1963. He was seen as "a bitter lone wolf" during much of his time in office, unable to work with either the Democrats or the Republicans. Hoffman voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Hoffman was a vocal opponent of the National Polio Immunization Program, claiming that the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant se ...

had been heavily infiltrated by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n-born doctors. In addition, he was known as an

anti-Semite Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

with

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

sympathies, even speaking at rallies held for the far-right

America First Party (1943) The America First Party was an isolationist political party which was founded on January 10, 1943. Its leader, Gerald L. K. Smith, was the party's presidential candidate in the 1944 U.S. presidential election. Background Party founder Gerald ...

. He was chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments ( Eightieth Congress) and the Committee on Government Operations ( Eighty-third Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1962 to the Eighty-eighth Congress. Hoffman retired to his home in

. He was survived by his wife, the former Florence Wasson and sons Carl and Leo.

Personal and death

Hoffman died at home, age 92. He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Allegan.

Bibliography

Walker, Donald Edwin. "The Congressional Career of Clare E. Hoffman, 1935-63." Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 1982.

References

Sources

The Political Graveyard

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Clare 1875 births 1967 deaths People from Union County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan People from Allegan, Michigan Michigan lawyers Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni American anti-vaccination activists America First Committee members American fascists American segregationists Antisemitism in Michigan 20th-century American far-right politicians Old Right (United States) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives