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Armistead I. Selden Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Edward deGraffenried |
| Succeeded by | Walter Flowers |
| Constituency | 6th district (1953–63) At-large (1963–65) 5th district (1965–69) |
| Member of theAlabama House of Representatives | |
| In office 1951-1952 | |
| United States Ambassador to Fiji | |
| In office March 1, 1974 – April 17, 1978 | |
| President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Franzheim II |
| Succeeded by | John P. Condon |
| United States Ambassador to New Zealand | |
| In office April 22, 1974 – April 23, 1979 | |
| President | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Franzheim II |
| Succeeded by | Anne Clark Martindell |
| United States Ambassador to Samoa | |
| In office April 22, 1974 – April 23, 1979 | |
| President | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Franzheim II |
| Succeeded by | Anne Clark Martindell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Armistead Inge Selden, Jr. (1921-02-20)February 20, 1921 |
| Died | November 14, 1985(1985-11-14) (aged 64) |
| Party | Republican (1979–1985) |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 1979) |
Armistead Inge Selden Jr. (February 20, 1921 – November 14, 1985) was a segregationistU.S. Representative fromAlabama. Originally aDemocrat, he switched parties in 1979 to become aRepublican.
Born inGreensboro, Alabama, Selden attended the public schools. He graduated from Greensboro High School in 1938 and from theUniversity of the South,Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1942. He served in theUnited States Navy from August 1942 until March 1946, with 31 months aboard ship, primarily in the North Atlantic, and was discharged as alieutenant. He served aslieutenant commander in theUnited States Naval Reserve. He entered theUniversity of Alabama School of Law and graduated in 1948.
He wasadmitted to the bar in 1948 and commenced practice inGreensboro, Alabama. He served as member of theAlabama House of Representatives in 1951 and 1952.
Selden was elected as aDemocrat to theEighty-third Congress. He was reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1969). While in Congress he was a signatory to the 1956Southern Manifesto[1] that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court inBrown v. Board of Education. Selden voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[2] theCivil Rights Acts of 1960,[3] theCivil Rights Acts of 1964,[4] and theCivil Rights Acts of 1968[5] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[6] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[7]
Selden served as a member of theUnited States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and as head of the now-defunct US House Inter-American Affairs Committee. Following theCuban Revolution in 1958, led byFidel Castro, Selden was influential in the passage of the October 19, 1960,United States embargo against Cuba and their expulsion from theOrganization of American States on January 31, 1962. He also represented the US at the inauguration ofAnastasio Somoza in 1967. He was not a candidate in 1968 for reelection to theUnited States House of Representatives but was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination to theUnited States Senate, losing the Democratic primary to formerLieutenant GovernorJames Allen. He resumed the practice of law until October 1970.
He served as Principal Deputy AssistantSecretary of Defense (International Security Affairs), October 1970 – February 1973, and asU.S. Ambassador toNew Zealand,Fiji, TheKingdom of Tonga, andWestern Samoa from 1974 to 1979. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for nomination in theUnited States Senate election in Alabama, 1980. He served as president of the American League for Exports and Security Assistance from 1980 to 1985. He was a resident ofGreensboro, Alabama, andFalls Church, Virginia, until he died of cancer inBirmingham, Alabama, November 14, 1985. He was interred in Greensboro City Cemetery,Greensboro, Alabama.
A.I. Selden Dam, built in 1958 on Alabama'sBlack Warrior River, bears his name.[8]
Archives of Sewanee: The University of The South
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's 6th congressional district 1953-1963 | Succeeded by District inactive |
| Preceded by District inactive | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's at-large congressional district 1963-1965 | Succeeded by District inactive |
| Preceded by District inactive | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's 5th congressional district 1965-1969 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Fiji 1974–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand 1974 – 1979 | Succeeded by |
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