Richard Harding "Dick" Poff (October 19, 1923 – June 27, 2011) was an American politician and judge. He was first elected to 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 ...
in 1952 from
Virginia's 6th congressional district. An
attorney and a
Republican, he was given strong consideration for the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
by
President Richard M. Nixon and was later appointed as a justice (later senior justice) of the
Virginia Supreme Court.
Early life and education
Born in
Radford,
Montgomery County, Virginia, Poff attended the local public schools and graduated from
Christiansburg High School. He then traveled to
Salem, Virginia for studies at
Roanoke College
Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...
. After his military service below, Poff used his
GI bill benefits, he earned a law degree (LL.B.) in 1948 from the
University of Virginia School of Law at
Charlottesville.
Military service
During the
Second World War
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 ...
, Poff served as a bomber pilot with the
Eighth Air Force in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
; flew thirty-five successful missions over
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
; awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross; was inactivated from the service as a first lieutenant serving from February 1943 to August 1945.
Legislative career
Poff was first elected to Congress in 1952, defeating incumbent
Democrat Clarence G. Burton. He was the first Republican to represent this part of Virginia since
Reconstruction, and likely owed his victory to
Dwight Eisenhower carrying the state in that year's presidential election. However, the 6th district had been shifting away from its Democratic roots for some time. The
Byrd Democrats in western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley had begun splitting their tickets as early as the 1930s. He would never face another contest nearly as close as his first one, and was reelected nine times.
Poff had his share of controversy during his decades in the House of Representatives. He and
Joel Broyhill of Virginia were the only two Republicans, along with the rest of Virginia's entire Congressional delegation, and nearly all members from Southern states, to sign the
Southern Manifesto protesting the Supreme Court's mandate in ''
Brown v. Board of Education'' to
desegregate public schools.
Linwood Holton, former
Governor of Virginia
The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...
(1970–1974), and the Commonwealth's first
post-Reconstruction
The nadir of American race relations was the period in African-American history and the history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction era, Reconstruction in 1877 through the early 20th century, when racism in the United States, r ...
Republican Governor, suggests that Poff likely could not have been reelected unless he had signed the manifesto. Despite that controversial decision, he was well liked by most of his constituents, most of whom had never been represented by a Republican before. This included many
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
s, who in an
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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ABC News may a ...
report on his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court described him as having a great interest in individuals; only one person in that report described him as a
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
despite having signed the
Southern Manifesto. Consistent with his signing of the Manifesto, Poff voted against the
Civil Rights Acts of 1957,
1960,
1964, and
1968, and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, but voted in favor of the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1971, he voted for the
Equal Employment Opportunity Act and supported federal aid to accelerate the desegregation process. He was the only member of the House Republican leadership who did not support President Eisenhower's proposal to increase the
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
and widen its coverage. According to
John Dean, he was also the author of most of the
Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability.
It clarifies that the Vice President of the United States, vice president becomes President of th ...
while serving on the
Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Electoral history
*1952; Poff was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 51.55% of the vote, defeating Democrat Clarence Godber Burton.
*1954; Poff was re-elected with 62.31% of the vote, defeating Democrat Ernest Robertson and Social Democrat J.B. Brayman.
*1956; Poff was re-elected with 62.09% of the vote, defeating Democrat John L. Whitehead and Social Democrat Brayman.
*1958; Poff was re-elected with 56.74% of the vote, defeating Democrat Richard F. Pence and Social Democrat Brayman.
*1960; Poff was re-elected with 82.62% of the vote, defeating Social Democrat Brayman.
*1962; Poff was re-elected with 65.22% of the vote, defeating Democrat John P. Wheeler and now-Independent Brayman.
*1964; Poff was re-elected with 56.24% of the vote, defeating Democrat William B. Hopkins.
*1966; Poff was re-elected with 80.84% of the vote, defeating Democrat Murray A. Stoller.
*1968; Poff was re-elected with 92.16% of the vote, defeating Democrat Tom Hufford.
*1970; Poff was re-elected with 74.58% of the vote, defeating Democrat Roy R. White.
Nomination to Supreme Court of the United States
Before President Richard Nixon could formally nominate him for the U.S. Supreme Court, Poff withdrew (before nomination reached the Senate).
John Dean wrote that Poff actually made that decision based on concerns that he would thus be forced to reveal to his then-12-year-old son that he had been adopted. Poff's concern was that the child would be negatively affected by that kind of information if revealed before he was old enough to understand.
Nevertheless, according to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', within weeks after he withdrew from consideration that sensitive personal information was revealed in
Jack Anderson's column, and he was forced to inform the child of his adoption anyway.
By then, it was too late for reconsideration, and eventually
Lewis Powell, another Virginian, was confirmed to the Supreme Court in Poff's place.
In 1971, when under consideration for the Supreme Court, Poff said in a newspaper interview that he had supported the ''Southern Manifesto'' and opposed desegregation because he believed he would have otherwise been defeated for reelection to the U.S. House. He voiced regret over his opposition to past civil rights measures. Within a year of those comments, he resigned from the House to join the Virginia Supreme Court.
Legislation
Poff is also well known as one of the men who, as a member of the
House Judiciary Committee, sponsored the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was e ...
, better known as RICO. Poff had an interesting take on RICO, which has since been ignored by the Supreme Court. Poff stated in the
Congressional Record that the Act should be used only against organizations, and not individuals.
Supreme Court of Virginia
Richard H. Poff went on to become Justice and then a Senior Justice of the
Virginia Supreme Court, where he served until his retirement.
He died on June 27, 2011, in a life care center in
Tullahoma,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
.
Personal life
Poff married his first wife, Jo Ann Topper, in 1948. She died in 1978. They had three children. In 1980, he married his second wife, Jean Murphy, who died in 2007.
Legacy
The Richard H. Poff Federal Building in Roanoke, Virginia is named for Poff. It houses many of the primary federal offices in southwest Virginia, including the
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The
Roanoke Public Library maintains a collection of newsletters Congressman Poff sent to his constituents (1954-1971).
References
External sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poff, Richard Harding
1923 births
2011 deaths
20th-century Virginia state court judges
20th-century American lawyers
People from Radford, Virginia
Politicians from Roanoke, Virginia
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
Roanoke College alumni
United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II
United States Army officers
University of Virginia School of Law alumni
Virginia lawyers
Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia
Signatories of the Southern Manifesto
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives