Robert E. Harris (December 18, 1935 – November 29, 1996) is an American politician who was a Republican in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

Biography

Harris was born to an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

family on December 18, 1935, in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

, and later moved to

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. He graduated from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

with a BA, and later graduated from the USA Nuclear Reactor Engineering School. He served as a member of the

Army Nuclear Power Program The Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) was a program of the United States Army to develop small pressurized water and boiling water nuclear power reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessib ...

for 5.5 years. Harris began his political career as a Republican in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1974 from

Virginia's 8th congressional district Virginia's 8th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It comprises several populous cities and suburbs in Northern Virginia, including all of Alexandria, Arlingt ...

after winning the Republican nomination against John F. Herrity. He served until his

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The deat ...

on November 29, 1996, of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, at the age of 60. He was buried on December 2. Fairfax City Democratic chairman Austin Morrill posthumously accused Harris of misleading Democrats into thinking he was recovering, as he wrote a letter saying he was.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Robert E. 1935 births 1996 deaths Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates George Washington University alumni Politicians from Joplin, Missouri Politicians from Fairfax, Virginia 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly