Tim Lee Carter (September 2, 1910 – March 27, 1987) was an American politician serving as a Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

from 1965 until 1981.

Background

Congressman Carter was born in

Tompkinsville, Kentucky Tompkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,402 at the 2010 census, down from 2,660 in 2000. The city was named after Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins who serve ...

. He attended

Western Kentucky State College Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethto ...

(now Western Kentucky University) in

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, having pursued a pre-med curricula. Carter went on to earn his medical degree from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

in 1937. He served in the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, traveling with the Thirty-Eighth Infantry for over three and a half years. He became a captain. Later Carter returned to practice medicine in Tompkinsville.

Election

In 1964, Carter sought the Republican nomination for Congress, following the retirement of Representative

Eugene Siler Eugene Edward Siler Sr. (June 26, 1900 – December 5, 1987) was an American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky between 1955 and 1965. He was the only member of the House of Representatives to oppo ...

. Carter won the election over Democrat

Frances Jones Mills Frances Jones Mills (July 4, 1920 – May 24, 1996) was an American politician who was a state official in Kentucky for a large portion of the 1970s and 1980s. She was the first woman and first Democrat in the 20th century to win the office of S ...

and served in the U.S. House of Representatives until his retirement in 1981. He was one of the few bright spots in a disastrous year for the GOP. However, he represented one of the few ancestrally Republican districts south of the Ohio River. Voters in this region identified with the Republicans after the Civil War, and have supported the GOP through good times and bad ever since. Carter often joked that his congressional district stretched from " Fountain Run to Kingdom Come," a state park in Harlan County, at the eastern end of his district.

Vietnam war

In 1966, Congressman Carter was sent by President Johnson to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

along with ten other war-veteran congressmen on a "Speaker's Committee." Upon his return, he was asked by Johnson about his opinion of the state of the war. Carter went against the nine other delegates, stating: "No, Mr. President, you are not winning the war,". Carter later came to be known as the first Republican Congressman to call for the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Rising before the U.S. House of Representatives on August 28, 1967, Carter stated "Let us now, while we are yet strong, bring our men home, every man jack of them. The Vietcong fight fiercely and tenaciously because it is their land and we are foreigners intervening in their civil war. If we must fight, let us fight in defense of our homeland and our own hemisphere."

Policies

Carter was considered a moderate-progressive Republican in Washington. Carter voted in favor of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

and the

Civil Rights Act of 1968 The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots. Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which app ...

. As reported in a 1977 issue of Time magazine, Carter put forth the first Republican plan for national health insurance. Carter was appointed by President Nixon to the Shafer Commission, charged with making policy recommendations concerning drug abuse. The Shafer Commission recommended decriminalizing simple marijuana possession, a policy President Nixon flatly refused.

Family

Tim Lee Carter's sister,

Pearl Carter Pace Pearl Carter Pace (January 25, 1896 – January 1970) was elected sheriff in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1938–1941. Early years Pearl Carter was born into a family devoted to public service in Tompkinsville in Monroe County, Kentucky. Her ...

was the first elected woman

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

in Kentucky. Pearl's and Tim Lee's father, James C. Carter Sr., served for 48 years as Circuit Judge in four counties of South Central Kentucky. His son, James C. Carter Jr., served for 46 years as judge following his father. Numerous other Carters have served in a wide range of public offices, both elective and appointive. Pearl Pace was an avowed supporter and friend of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. She served in his administration as Chair of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and was sometimes referred to as the second most powerful woman in Washington during her service, presumably after

United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

Oveta Culp Hobby Oveta Culp Hobby (January 19, 1905 – August 16, 1995) was an American politician and businessperson who served as the first United States secretary of health, education, and welfare from 1953 to 1955. A member of the Republican Party, Hobby wa ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Pearl's son, Stanley Carter Pace, was taken as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

of the German Army during World War II. He later rose to the Chairmanship of TRW, and, came out of retirement to return the giant defense contractor

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Un ...

to viability. The extended Carter family is still active in state and local politics in Monroe County, Kentucky. A Carter nephew, M.C. "Doc" Keen of Burkesville, served as sheriff of Cumberland County and ran unsuccessfully for the

Kentucky State Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentuc ...

in the Republican primary held on May 29, 1973. The eventual winner was

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

minister

Doug Moseley Douglas Dewayne Moseley, known as Doug Moseley (March 24, 1928November 8, 2017), was a Kentucky minister and politician who served in the Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky S ...

, a native of Bowling Green who then ran unopposed in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on November 6, 1973.

Retirement

In 1980, Carter did not seek re-election. On his retirement, he returned to live in

Tompkinsville Tompkinsville may refer to: *Tompkinsville, Kentucky * Tompkinsville, Maryland *Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York ** Tompkinsville (Staten Island Railway station) The Tompkinsville station is a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborh ...

, Kentucky, and remained active in local, state, and national politics until his death in 1987.

References

External links

Tim Lee Carter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Tim Lee 1910 births 1987 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II People from Tompkinsville, Kentucky Physicians from Kentucky Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky United States Army Medical Corps officers University of Tennessee alumni Western Kentucky University alumni 20th-century American politicians