John Frederick Seiberling, Jr. (September 8, 1918 – August 2, 2008) 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

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. In 1974, he helped to establish what later became the

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in Ohio that reclaims and preserves the industrial, commercial, and rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron, Ohio, ...

, and served on the

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...

that held the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

hearings against President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Early years

Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, Seiberling attended the public schools of Akron, and

Staunton Military Academy Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male Military academy, military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He received his A.B. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1941. His parents, Lieut. John Frederick Seiberling (1888–1962) and Henrietta McBrayer Buckler (1888–1979), had been wed on October 11, 1917, in Akron, Ohio. He had two sisters: Mary Gertrude Seiberling (born 1920) and Dorothy Buckler Lethbridge Seiberling (born 1922). His paternal grandparents were

Frank Seiberling Franklin Augustus "Frank" Seiberling (October 6, 1859 – August 11, 1955), also known as F.A. Seiberling, was an American innovator and entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1898 and the Seiberling Rubber ...

, the founder of

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

, and Gertrude Ferguson Penfield. His maternal grandparents were Julius Augustus Buckler and Mary Maddox. Us legion of merit legionnaire

Army years

During

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 ...

he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was subsequently awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

for his participation in the Allied planning of the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

invasion.Walker Snider (2005).

Education and law years

Seiberling received his

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1949. In 1950, Seiblerling was admitted to the New York

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 ...

and went into private practice. He became an associate with a New York firm from 1949 to 1954, and then became a volunteer with the New York Legal Aid Society in 1950. From 1954 to 1970, he was an attorney with The

. He once took a leave of absence rather than cross the picket lines during a

United Rubber Workers The United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America (URW) was a labor union representing workers involved in manufacturing using specific materials in the United States and Canada. The union was founded in 1935 as the United Rubber ...

strike. During this time he was a member of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission in Akron from 1964 to 1970.

Political life

In 1970, Seiberling won the Democratic nomination for , based in Akron. Running on an anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

platform, he then defeated 10-term Republican William H. Ayres by 12 points in a major upset. He would be reelected seven more times from this district, He never faced substantive opposition in what became a solidly Democratic district. He won each of his seven reelection bids with over 70 percent of the vote. He did not run for reelection in 1986, and endorsed Akron Mayor

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

as his successor. After his time in Congress, Seiberling served as faculty at the law school of the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

from 1992 to 1996.

Political legacy

He participated in the 1975 Congressional delegation meetings in the Middle East that helped precipitate the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Seiberling is noted for helping effectively double the size of the United States National Park System via the 1980 Alaska Lands Act, adding approximately two-hundred million acres during his sixteen-year tenure in congress.

Honors

In 1986 the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

awarded Seiberling the

Audubon Medal The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

. In 1988 the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the recordi ...

awarded him the Frances K. Hutchinson Medal. On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the

Presidential Citizens Medal The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the president of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on N ...

by President

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

. On Thursday, October 12, 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

signed into law H.R. 6051, which designates the Federal building and United States courthouse in Akron as the

John F. Seiberling Federal Building and United States Courthouse John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

. Seiberling's legacy is honored at 2370 Everett Road; a Covered bridge in Peninsula, Ohio. Known as the "Founding Father" of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Seiberling worked tirelessly during his sixteen-year tenure in congress to fulfill a childhood dream of establishing the Cuyahoga Valley as a protected part of the National Park System.

Family life

He married Elizabeth "Betty" Behr, a Vassar graduate, in 1949. They had three sons: John B., David and Stephen. John Seiberling's cousin,

Francis Seiberling Francis Seiberling (September 20, 1870 – February 1, 1945) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1929 to 1933. He was a cousin of John F. Seiberling. Biography Born in Des Moines, ...

, was also a U.S. Representative from Ohio ( Republican). His mother, Henrietta Buckler Seiberling, was a seminal figure in Alcoholics Anonymous' founding and core spiritual ideals.University of Akron (n.d.).

. His paternal grandfather was

, founder of the

. The family's one-time home, Stan Hywet, is now a national museum.

Death

Seiberling died of

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...

at his home in

Copley, Ohio Copley is an unincorporated community in Summit County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. History Variant names were Greenfield and Copley Center. The first settlement at Copley Center was made around 1819. The community was named for its location ...

on August 2, 2008. His wife, Betty, died on May 23, 2017.

Notes

References

* Nelson, Daniel, ''A Passion for the Land: John F. Seiberling and the Environmental Movement.'' (Kent: Kent State University Press, 2009. xiv, 263 pp. *University of Akron (n.d.). ''Henrietta Buckler Seiberling, 1888-1979''. Retrieved 2007-11-20 from "Akron Women's History" at https://web.archive.org/web/20130826065410/http://www3.uakron.edu/schlcomm/womenshistory/seiberling_h.htm. *Walker Snider, Jane (2005). ''Profiles in Service: John & Betty Seiberling''. Retrieved 2007-11-20 from "Akron Council on World Affairs" at http://www.akronworldaffairs.org/newsletter/features/seiberling.html. *www.aabibliography (n.d.). ''Henrietta Buckler Seiberling (1888–1979)''. Retrieved 2007-11-20 from "An Illustrated Alcoholic Anonymous Bibliography" at http://www.aabibliography.com/henrietta_buckler_seiberling.htm.

External links

* - a documentary about Seiberling's involvement in creating the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seiberling, John 1918 births 2008 deaths Staunton Military Academy alumni Harvard University alumni New York (state) lawyers Columbia Law School alumni University of Akron faculty United States Army soldiers American people of German descent United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Ohio Politicians from Akron, Ohio Deaths from respiratory failure Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Recipients of the Legion of Merit Seiberling family Sierra Club awardees Burials at Glendale Cemetery, Akron People from Copley, Ohio 20th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives