John Mark Slack Jr. (March 18, 1915 – March 17, 1980) was an American
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
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
. He was a member of the
Democratic Party.
Slack was born in
Charleston, where he attended the public schools. He later studied at the
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...
in
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...
.
Slack's public service career began in 1948, when he became a member of
Kanawha County Court, where he sat until 1952. He subsequently served as Kanawha County Assessor from 1952 to 1958.
When three-term 6th district Representative
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democratic Pa ...
decided against seeking re-election in order to run 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 ...
, Slack won the Democratic nomination and was easily elected that November. He went on to be re-elected 11 times, never facing serious opposition. His district was renumbered as the 3rd District in 1963, after West Virginia lost a district as a result of the 1960 Census. Slack voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Acts of 1960,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
, 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 ...
.
Slack served until his death of a heart attack in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
on March 17, 1980.
He was replaced by
John G. Hutchinson, then mayor of Charleston, after a special election, who served until the end of the term. He was interred in Cunningham Memorial Park,
St. Albans, West Virginia.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slack, John M. Jr.
1915 births
1980 deaths
County commissioners in West Virginia
Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia
Virginia Military Institute alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia
County assessors in the United States
20th-century West Virginia politicians
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives