Elliott Harris Levitas (December 26, 1930 – December 16, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

for five consecutive terms from 1975 to 1985. He was the first Jewish congressman elected in Georgia.

Early life

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Levitas graduated in 1948 from Henry W. Grady High School there. He attended

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in Atlanta, where he was a member of the secret honor society D.V.S. In 1956, he earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the Emory University School of Law. A

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

, he received a Master of Laws degree in 1958 from

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

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. He conducted additional study in law at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1954 to 1955. He was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1955 and commenced practice in Atlanta. Levitas was active in the local Jewish community in Atlanta and with the Anti-Defamation League. He was in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

from 1955 to 1958.

Political career

Levitas was a delegate to the 1964 Democratic National Convention in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, which nominated the

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

/ Hubert Humphrey ticket, the first Democratic slate to lose the electoral votes of Georgia since the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

State legislature

Levitas was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1964 and served from 1965 to 1974. Early in his first term, he gained notoriety for voting in support of civil rights activist

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

, who was in a contested battle to be assume his seat following his election to the legislature. Levitas was one of only five white legislators to vote in support of seating Bond. In his second term in the state House, he was one of thirty Democrats who voted for the Republican Bo Callaway, rather than the Democratic nominee, Lester Maddox, a

segregationist Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by peopl ...

from Atlanta, in the disputed 1966 gubernatorial race. The legislature, however, chose Maddox to resolve the deadlock though Callaway had led the balloting in the general election by some three thousand votes. In all, Levitas served five terms in the legislature.

Tenure in Congress

Levitas was elected as a Democrat for Georgia's 4th congressional district to the

94th United States Congress The 94th 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, 197 ...

and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985). Levitas represented a district dominated by

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its ...

, northeast of Atlanta. For four terms prior to his election, Benjamin B. Blackburn, a Republican, represented the area. Elected in the Watergate class of 1974, he quickly established himself as a champion of causes related to the environment, eventually rising to the chairmanship of the committee with oversight on such matters. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the 99th United States Congress in 1984, losing to Republican Pat Swindall amid

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

carrying the district in a landslide.

Later life

After Congress, Levitas was a partner with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.Elliott H. Levitas - Retired
/ref> His most notable case, Cobell v. Norton, involved a lawsuit of the Blackfeet tribe against the U.S. Government over the amount owed to the tribe for land that had been taken and used for various industrial purposes. The successful $3.4 billion verdict was at the time the largest ever class-action award against the U.S. government.

Death

Levitas died on December 16, 2022, at age 91, ten days before his 92nd birthday. He was buried at Arlington Memorial Park near Atlanta. Each year, his alma mater, Emory University, issues an award in Levitas’s honor to the outstanding graduating senior political science major.

References

External links

Kilpatrick Townsend profile
* *
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Elliott Levitas papers, 1965-1985
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitas, Elliott H. 1930 births 2022 deaths Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Emory University alumni Emory University School of Law alumni American Rhodes Scholars United States Air Force airmen Jewish American military personnel Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) University of Michigan Law School alumni Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century American Jews Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly