William Pat Jennings (August 20, 1919 – August 2, 1994) was a

United States representative 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 ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Biography

Jennings was born on a farm in Camp, Virginia, in

Smyth County, Virginia Smyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,800. Its county seat is Marion. History Smyth County was formed on February 23, 1832, from Washington and Wythe counties. The coun ...

. He earned a B.S. degree from the

Virginia Polytechnic Institute The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in Blacksburg, 1941. He entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in July 1941 during

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 ...

. He served in the United States Army for two years and in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

for two and a half years with the Twenty-ninth Infantry as platoon leader, company commander, and operations officer. He was also an instructor in

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. He was discharged as a major in May 1946. Jennings owned an automobile and farm implement business in

Marion, Virginia Marion is a town in and the county seat of Smyth County, Virginia, United States. It is positioned upon Interstate 81, in the Blue Ridge portion of the southern Appalachian Mountains in Southwest Virginia. The town is named for American Revolu ...

, from 1946 until his death. He also participated in politics and was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1952, 1956, 1960, and 1968. He was elected sheriff of

, in 1947, reelected in 1951, and served until 1954. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fourth Congress and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1967), during which time he was a signatory to the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

''. Jennings voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, but voted in favor of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

to the Ninetieth Congress. In 1966, journalist Drew Pearson reported that Jennings was one of a group of four Congressmen who had received the "Statesman of the Republic" award from

Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-min ...

for their "right-wing activities". He was elected

Clerk of the House of Representatives The clerk of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the United States House of Representatives, whose primary duty is to act as the chief record-keeper for the House. Along with the other House officers, the clerk is elect ...

for the Ninetieth Congress, and reelected to the four succeeding Congresses, and served from January 10, 1967, until his resignation November 15, 1975. He died in Marion, Virginia, in 1994, the result of a tractor accident.W. Pat Jennings, 74; Was in U.S. House
''Associated Press'' via ''New York Times'' (1994)

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, William Pat 1919 births 1994 deaths Accidental deaths in Virginia United States Army officers Military personnel from Virginia Clerks of the United States House of Representatives Virginia sheriffs Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia People from Marion, Virginia Virginia Tech alumni Farming accident deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Signatories of the Southern Manifesto 20th-century Virginia politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives