James Jarrell "Jake" Pickle (October 11, 1913 – June 18, 2005) 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 the 10th congressional district of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

from 1963 to 1995.

Early life

Pickle was born in Roscoe, Texas, and brought up in Big Spring. He acquired his nickname Jake from a mischievous character he portrayed in a family play when he was four years old. Pickle was an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

and recipient of the

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout who has achieved extraordinary national-level recognition, fame, or eminence within their profession ...

from the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

. Pickle attended the public schools in Big Spring and received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

where he was a member of the 1934

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

championship swimming team and the student body president as a senior in 1937. He was also a member of the

Friar Society The Friar Society is the oldest honor society at the University of Texas at Austin. History The Friar Society was founded in 1911 by Curtice Rosser and Marion Levy. Eight members were initially selected in the charter group. Originally, four men ...

Career

Pickle was introduced by future governor John Connally to Representative Lyndon Johnson, who served as his political mentor. He assisted the latter in his 1940 election campaign and assisted Lady Bird Johnson in running the Congressional office. When the United States entered World War II, Pickle joined the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

as a gunnery officer and was stationed on the cruisers and , surviving three torpedo attacks. When the war ended, he, Johnson, and Connally helped found a radio station ( KVET) in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. After 10 years in the advertising business, he joined the Democratic Election Executive Committee of Texas in 1957. Pickle was elected as a Democrat to the 88th Congress, by

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative Homer Thornberry, who became a U.S. District judge. He represented the Austin-based district that Johnson represented from 1937 to 1949. Pickle was reelected 15 times before retiring at the conclusion of the 103rd Congress. His campaign trademark was a "squeaky pickle" rubber toy he handed out to those he met in area parades. While in the House, Pickle rose through the ranks to become the third ranking Democrat on the

House Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

. Pickle voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

. He was one of only eight Southern Representatives to vote for the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Pickle went on to play a key role in passing major

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

reform legislation in 1983 to save the system from insolvency. The reforms increased the payroll tax rate, slowly increased the full benefit retirement age to 67 and taxed some of the benefits. He considered this legislation his greatest accomplishment. Pickle was able to steer research money to the University of Texas, and today the university's J. J. Pickle Research Campus is named in his honor. He was influential in the city of

, as well, most notably for relocating Austin's main airport from Robert Mueller Municipal Airport to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. He was also instrumental in bringing the

SEMATECH SEMATECH (from Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology) was a not-for-profit consortium that performed research and development to advance chip manufacturing. SEMATECH involved collaboration between various sectors of the R&D community, includin ...

and MCC consortiums to Austin. In 2007, the Texas Legislature unanimously approved a resolution designating the SH 130 Toll Road, which runs from Georgetown to Seguin, as "Pickle Parkway" to honor the late congressman.

Personal life

Before Pickle left for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1942, he married Ella Nora "Sugar" Critz. They had one daughter together. Critz died in 1952, and Pickle married Beryl Bolton McCarroll in 1960. Pickle was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in 1991 and

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

in 2001. He died at his home in Austin on June 18, 2005, of complications from his cancer and is interred at the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, downtown Austin, Texas, Austin, the Capital (political), capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revo ...

there. Peggy Pickle was Jake Pickle's only daughter. She still makes contributions to the University of Texas at Austin on her father's behalf. In 1997, Jake and Peggy Pickle wrote a book together called ''Jake'' with a foreword by former Texas governor

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickle, J.J. 1913 births 2005 deaths Deaths from prostate cancer in Texas Methodists from Texas Politicians from Austin, Texas Burials at Texas State Cemetery Deaths from lymphoma in Texas People from Big Spring, Texas Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas People from Roscoe, Texas 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives