Richard Fielding Harless (August 6, 1905 – November 24, 1970) was a U.S. Representative from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Life and career

Born in Kelsey, Texas, Harless moved to Thatcher, Arizona, in 1917 and attended the grade and high schools. He graduated from

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 1928. He taught school at

Marana, Arizona Marana () is a List of municipalities in Arizona, town that mostly lies in Pima County, Arizona, Pima County with a small portion in Pinal County, Arizona, Pinal County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is located northwest of Tucson, Arizona, ...

from 1928 to 1930. He graduated from the law school of the University of Arizona in 1933. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. In Phoenix, Harless served as Assistant City Attorney and in 1936 was elected Assistant Attorney General of Arizona. From 1938 to 1942, Harless served as

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Attorney. He was married to Meredith Howard Harless, a writer and radio personality. They wed on November 28, 1948, in Alexandria, Virginia. Harless was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, and Eightieth Congresses (January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949). He was one of the main sponsors of the Indian Voting Rights Act of 1947.bio from papers collection at Arizona State University
/ref> Harless did not seek renomination in the 1948 House election, and was unsuccessful in an attempt to gain the gubernatorial nomination. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1954 for the Eighty-fourth Congress. He was Democratic nominee in 1960 for the Eighty-seventh Congress but was not elected. He resumed the practice of law. He died in Phoenix on November 24, 1970, and was interred in Greenwood Memorial Park in that city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harless, Richard Fielding 1905 births 1970 deaths People from Upshur County, Texas University of Arizona alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona People from Thatcher, Arizona Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives