Richard Thomas Hanna (June 9, 1914 – June 9, 2001) was an American lawyer and politician who served six terms as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

from 1963 to 1974. He became involved in a scandal dubbed Koreagate by accepting bribes from a businessman working for the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n government. He was found guilty, resigned his seat, and served one year in prison.

History

Hanna was born in

Kemmerer, Wyoming Kemmerer is the largest city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. Its population was 2,415 at the 2020 census. History Explorer John C. Frémont discovered coal in the area during his second expedition in 1843. Th ...

and graduated from Pasadena Junior College,

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He received his BA and LLB from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and then became a lawyer in private practice, after serving in the United States Naval Air Corps from 1942 to 1945.

Career

Hanna served in the California State Assembly from 1956 to 1963.

Congress

He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth United States Congress in 1962 and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1963 - December 31, 1974) to represent California's 34th congressional district, which then covered parts of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Orange counties.

Koreagate

In the 1970s, he received payments of about $200,000 from Korean businessman Tongsun Park in what became known as the Koreagate influence buying scandal. After the payments were revealed, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and was sentenced to 6–30 months in federal prison, of which he served one year.

Death

After his death on his 87th birthday, June 9, 2001, in

Tryon, North Carolina Tryon is a town in Polk County, on the southwestern border of North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,562. Located in the escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, today the area is affluent and a center ...

, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Carolina.

Congressman electoral history

References

External links

Political Graveyard website

Join California Richard T. Hanna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanna, Richard T. 1914 births 2001 deaths California politicians convicted of crimes Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly People from Kemmerer, Wyoming People from Tryon, North Carolina Politicians convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States UCLA School of Law alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II University of California, Los Angeles alumni 20th-century members of the California State Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives