Walter Stephan Baring Jr. (September 9, 1911 – July 13, 1975) was an American politician who served ten terms as 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

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

during the mid-20th century.

Early life

Baring was born in

Goldfield, Nevada Goldfield is an unincorporated town and census-designated place and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada. It is the locus of the Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 census, down from 440 in 2000. Gold ...

, to Emily L. and Walter Stephan Baring, his paternal grandparents were born in Germany and his maternal grandfather was from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. His father served on the Esmeralda County Commission for a while, until he moved the family to

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. His father then managed a furniture store.

Education

Baring graduated from the University of Nevada in 1934 with two bachelor's degrees. After graduating, he worked as a collector for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Naval Service

In 1943, Baring joined 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 ...

to serve 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 ...

Political career

Baring served as a Member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distri ...

in 1936. He was subsequently reelected before joining the war effort. After the war, he was elected to the Reno City Council. During the presidency of

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, Baring strongly criticized the President's court-packing plan for the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Congressional elections

Baring was first elected to Nevada's sole seat in the House of Representatives in 1948, unseating first-term Republican incumbent

Charles H. Russell Charles Hinton Russell (December 27, 1903 – September 13, 1989) was an American politician who served as the List of Governors of Nevada, 20th Governor of Nevada. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Bio ...

by 761 votes. He was reelected in 1950, but in 1952, he was unexpectedly defeated by Republican Cliff Young, who won that election by 771 votes. Baring ran against Young again in 1954, but Young again managed a narrow victory. In 1956, Young ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat

Alan Bible Alan Harvey Bible (November 20, 1909 – September 12, 1988) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1954 to 1974. He previously served as Attorney Genera ...

, who narrowly defeated him in the general election. That same year, Baring ran for Congress again, defeating Las Vegas City Attorney

Howard Cannon Howard Walter Cannon (January 26, 1912 – March 5, 2002) was an American politician from Nevada. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served four terms in the United States Senate representing Nevada from 1959 ...

in the Democratic primary before winning the general election. Baring was reelected in a landslide in 1958, while Cannon was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Tenure in Congress

During his first two terms in Congress, Baring compiled a liberal voting record. After his return, however, he veered considerably to the right, billing himself as a " Jeffersonian

States' Rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

Democrat."Evans, K.J.; 'Walter Baring'; ''Las Vegas Review Journal'', February 7, 1999 He usually voted with the conservative Southern wing of his party. He was critical of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

Jaffe, Irwin A. and Pearl, Stanley A.; 'The 1962 Election in Nevada'; ''The Western Political Quarterly'', Vol. 16, No. 2, ''A Symposium: The 1962 Elections in the West'' (June 1963), pp. 443–447 and voted against most of

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

Great Society The Great Society was a series of domestic programs enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the United States between 1964 and 1968, aimed at eliminating poverty, reducing racial injustice, and expanding social welfare in the country. Johnso ...

programs. This angered many in his own party, and Baring often claimed, "No one likes Walter Baring but the voters." He was known to equate liberalism with socialism and

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, and opposed foreign aid of any sort. During the 1960s, Baring faced more strenuous opposition in the Democratic primaries than in the general elections, owing to his ability to attract large numbers of registered Republicans, especially in the northwest of the state. In these contests, Baring was able to run up enough of a margin in the "Cow

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

" (the more rural parts of Nevada) to overcome large deficits in

Clark Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

and Washoe counties (home to Las Vegas and Reno, respectively).

Segregation activist

Baring contended that the Civil Rights Movement was influenced by Communists. He was nearly defeated for renomination in 1964 after leading the opposition to the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

Defeat and exit from Congress

In 1972, Baring was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary by a considerably more liberal Democrat, Las Vegas attorney and future Congressman

James Bilbray James Hubert Bilbray (May 19, 1938 – September 19, 2021) was an American politician, lawyer, and postal executive who served four terms as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Nevada's 1st congressional district ...

. By this time Clark and Washoe counties were well into a period of explosive growth that continues today, and Bilbray's margin in those counties was too much for Baring to overcome. Claiming that Bilbray had smeared him, Baring endorsed the Republican nominee,

David Towell David Gilmer Towell (June 9, 1937 – June 10, 2003) was an American politician who served a single term as a U.S. Representative from Nevada, representing the state's at-large district. He was a Republican. Born in Bronxville, New York, Towel ...

, helping him win the general election in an upset.

Later years and death

After leaving Congress, Baring remained interested in politics, even flirting with a run for governor in 1974. However, a bout of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

and heart strain ended that prospect. After undergoing surgery at

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, formerly known as Queen of Angels – Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, is a private hospital located at 1300 North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The hospital has 434 beds and is owned b ...

in Los Angeles, he died of heart and lung failure on July 13, 1975, at the age of 63.

Education

* High school teacher's certificate *

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

at Reno,

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and B.S., 1934 *

Reno High School Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue. History Reno High wa ...

, 1929

References

External links

Biographical Directory
of the United States Congress *
Nevada Riches
Other political figures

The Paradoxical Politician {{DEFAULTSORT:Baring, Walter S. Jr. 1911 births 1975 deaths 20th-century American far-right politicians American anti-communists American people of Bohemian descent American people of German descent American segregationists Democratic Party members of the Nevada Assembly Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada Military personnel from Nevada Nevada city council members People from Goldfield, Nevada Politicians from Reno, Nevada Reno High School alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Nevada, Reno alumni 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Nevada Legislature