Elliott H. Levitas | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin B. Blackburn |
| Succeeded by | Pat Swindall |
| Member of theGeorgia House of Representatives | |
| In office 1965 – January 1975 | |
| Preceded by | multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | John Hawkins |
| Constituency | 118th district, Post 4 (1965-1969) 77th district, Post 4 (1969-1973) 50th district (1973-1975) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elliott Harris Levitas (1930-12-26)December 26, 1930 |
| Died | December 16, 2022(2022-12-16) (aged 91) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington Memorial Park near Atlanta |
| Party | Democratic |
| Residence(s) | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Education | Emory University (BA,JD) University of Oxford (LLM) |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1955-1958 |
Elliott Harris Levitas (December 26, 1930 – December 16, 2022)[1] was an American politician and lawyer fromGeorgia. A member of theDemocratic Party, he served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives for five consecutive terms from 1975 to 1985. He was the first Jewish congressman elected in Georgia.[1]
Born inAtlanta,Georgia, Levitas graduated in 1948 fromHenry W. Grady High School there. He attendedEmory University in Atlanta, where he was a member of the secret honor societyD.V.S. In 1956, he earned aJuris Doctor from theEmory University School of Law. ARhodes scholar, he received a Master of Laws degree in 1958 fromUniversity of Oxford inEngland.[1] He conducted additional study in law at theUniversity of Michigan from 1954 to 1955. He was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1955 and commenced practice in Atlanta.
Levitas was active in the local Jewish community in Atlanta and with theAnti-Defamation League.[1] He was in theUnited States Air Force from 1955 to 1958.
Levitas was a delegate to the1964 Democratic National Convention inAtlantic City, New Jersey, which nominated theLyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphreyticket, the firstDemocratic slate to lose theelectoral votes of Georgia since theReconstruction era.
Levitas was elected to theGeorgia House of Representatives in 1964 and served from 1965 to 1974. Early in his first term, he gained notoriety for voting in support of civil rights activistJulian Bond, who was in a contested battle to be assume his seat following his election to the legislature. Levitas was one of only five white legislators to vote in support of seating Bond.[1]
In his second term in the state House, he was one of thirty Democrats who voted for theRepublicanBo Callaway, rather than the Democratic nominee,Lester Maddox, asegregationist from Atlanta, in the disputed1966 gubernatorial race. The legislature, however, chose Maddox to resolve the deadlock though Callaway had led the balloting in the general election by some three thousand votes.[2] In all, Levitas served five terms in the legislature.[1]
Levitas was elected as a Democrat forGeorgia's 4th congressional district to the94th United States Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985). Levitas represented a district dominated byDeKalb County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta.
For four terms prior to his election,Benjamin B. Blackburn, a Republican, represented the area. Elected in theWatergate class of 1974, he quickly established himself as a champion of causes related to the environment, eventually rising to the chairmanship of the committee with oversight on such matters.[1]
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the99th United States Congress in 1984, losing to RepublicanPat Swindall amidRonald Reagan carrying the district in a landslide.
After Congress, Levitas was a partner withKilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.[3] His most notable case,Cobell v. Norton, involved a lawsuit of the Blackfeet tribe against the U.S. Government over the amount owed to the tribe for land that had been taken and used for various industrial purposes. The successful $3.4 billion verdict was at the time the largest ever class-action award against the U.S. government.[1]
Levitas died on December 16, 2022, at age 91, ten days before his 92nd birthday. He was buried at Arlington Memorial Park near Atlanta. Each year, his alma mater, Emory University, issues an award in Levitas’s honor to the outstanding graduating senior political science major.[1]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 4th congressional district January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985 | Succeeded by |
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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