Richard Franklin Vander Veen (November 26, 1922 – March 3, 2006) was a politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Early life and education

Born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, Vander Veen attended the local public schools and graduated from

Muskegon High School Muskegon High School is a public high school located in Muskegon, Michigan, and was the first high school in Muskegon County, Michigan. History The Class of 1875, consisting of two girls, was the first from Muskegon High School. Records sho ...

in 1940. He earned a BS from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 1946 and an LL.B. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1949. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1949 and commenced practice in Grand Rapids. In 1951, he, Walter Freihofer and George Cook formed what was to become the third-largest law firm in Grand Rapids. He retired from the law firm when he was elected to Congress. He is a relative of musician Anthony Kiedis.

Military service

With the outbreak of

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 ...

, Vander Veen enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in January 1941 and served until 1946, seeing active duty in the South Pacific Theater. He also served in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

from 1950 to 1952 with the rank of

lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...

Political career

In 1958, Vander Veen made an unsuccessful bid as the Democratic Party candidate to unseat incumbent Republican

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 ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

in Michigan's 5th congressional district. He became chair of the Michigan Fifth District Democratic Party in 1959 and was an unsuccessful candidate in the Democratic primary election for Lieutenant Governor of Michigan in 1960, losing to T. John Lesinski. He was chairman of the Michigan State Democratic Convention in 1960, and was a delegate to the state conventions in 1962 and 1964. He served on the Michigan State Mental Health Commission, 1958–1963, and the Michigan State Highway Commission, 1964–1969. In 1969, he was elected to the

East Grand Rapids East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 11,371. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids ...

Board of Education. After Gerald Ford resigned his House seat in 1973 to become

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, Vander Veen was elected in a special election on February 18, 1974, to fill Ford's seat in the 93rd Congress. Vander Veen's election was seen as a stunning upset in what had historically been one of the most Republican urbanized districts in the country. The Republican candidate, Robert VanderLaan, was the Republican leader of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

and, up to that point, had never lost an election. Vander Veen turned the election into a referendum on the increasingly unpopular

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

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 ...

. He stopped campaigning directly against his opponent, and instead took out newspaper advertisements "in which he promised to do his utmost to dislodge Nixon and turn the presidency over to Ford, a political folk hero in the district."''In the Shadow of Watergate: Bob Michel Becomes a Congressional Leader''
by Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center This upset caused a panic in the Republican Party leadership, as it appeared to foreshadow more losses for the party in the November elections."Nixon: Lots of People Cheat on Taxes"
''The Tech'', March 1, 1974, p. 4

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, March 4, 1974 Political analyst

Larry Sabato Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for ...

writes in his

Crystal Ball A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball commonly used in fortune-telling. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying through crystal gazing. Used since Antiquity, crystal balls have had a broad reputation with ...

newsletter that Vander Veen's capture of Ford's district, long thought to be solidly Republican, after Ford had been elevated to the Vice Presidency was an electrifying victory that foreshadowed the Democratic

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

landslide of November 1974. ''(see also 1974 Midterm Senate and House elections)'' Vander Veen was reelected in November 1974 to a full term in the 94th Congress, but lost his seat in 1976 to Republican Kent County prosecuting attorney Harold S. Sawyer. His 35-month tenure was the only time that the Grand Rapids-based district was out of Republican hands from 1913 until

Hillary Scholten Hillary Jeanne Scholten ( ; born February 22, 1982) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district since 2023. She is the first w ...

won the seat, by now renumbered as the 3rd district, in 2022. In 1978, Vander Veen ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, but lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to

Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...

, who went on to win the general election in November. Richard Vander Veen 94th United States Congress 1975

Vander Veen formed two environmental companies: ''Resource Energy'' and ''Enigered''. In 1990, he founded the Ryerson Library Foundation, and served as its president. After his service in Congress, Vander Veen served as a member of the Michigan State Waterways Commission. Vander Veen died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

at his home in East Grand Rapids at the age of 83.

References

External links

The Political Graveyard

Congressman Vern Ehlers' note to Members of Congress about the death of former Congressman Vander Veen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vander Veen, Richard 1922 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan American politicians of Dutch descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan School board members in Michigan People from East Grand Rapids, Michigan Harvard Law School alumni University of South Carolina alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Michigan 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives