Dave Satterfield | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | J. Vaughan Gary |
| Succeeded by | Thomas J. Bliley Jr. |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates fromRichmond City | |
| In office January 13, 1960 – January 8, 1964 | |
| Preceded by | FitzGerald Bemiss |
| Succeeded by | Strother Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Edward Satterfield III (1920-12-02)December 2, 1920 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 30, 1988(1988-09-30) (aged 67) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Annie Powell |
| Parent |
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| Education | |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1940–1945 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
David Edward Satterfield III (December 2, 1920 – September 30, 1988) was an American lawyer andDemocratic politician who served in eight consecutive terms inU.S. Representative fromVirginia's 3rd congressional district (1965–1981). His father,Dave E. Satterfield, Jr., served in the House of Representatives from 1937–1945.
Born inRichmond, Virginia, Satterfield was educated in the then-segregatedRichmond Public Schools and at private, all-boysSt. Christopher's School in Richmond. He then attended theUniversity of Richmond and law school at theUniversity of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville, Virginia. He married Annie E. Powell.[1]
DuringWorld War II, while his father served in the U.S. House of Representatives, Satterfield volunteered for military service and became a fighter pilot with the United States Navy. Following the war, he used theGI Bill to complete his education, and continued in the Naval Air Reserve, rising to the rank of commander.[2]
After admission to the Virginia bar in 1948 and a brief stint in private practice, Satterfield served as an assistantUnited States attorney from 1950–1953. As the state'sMassive Resistance crisis began following the United States Supreme Court decisions inBrown v. Board of Education and its allied cases (including one from Virginia), Satterfield resigned his federal job and resumed private legal practice.
Satterfield then followed his late father's career with the Democratic party and won his first elective office, to the (then-all-at-large)Richmond City Council, where he served from 1954–1956. Satterfield then won election to theVirginia House of Delegates, serving from 1960–1964. That was (and remains) a part-time position, and he in a way succeeded fellow Navy veteran and St. Christopher's School alumnusFitzGerald Bemiss in the then multi-member district.
Satterfield ran for Congress in the Richmond-based 3rd District in 1964 after 20-year incumbentJ. Vaughan Gary retired. Satterfield defeated RepublicanRichard Obenshain, who would later go on to become state party chairman, by only 654 votes.[3] Obenshain nearly won on the strength ofBarry Goldwater carrying the district; Goldwater won every county-level jurisdiction in the district except for the city of Richmond.[4] This was the second straight contest in which the Republicans nearly ended the long run of Democratic dominance in the district; two years earlier Gary had only survived by 348 votes.[5]
The district reverted to form, and Satterfield was reelected seven more times without serious difficulty, despite the collapse of theByrd Organization, running unopposed in 1966 and 1972 and only facing an independent in 1976 and 1978. This came even in years when Republican presidential candidates carried the district handily. However, he decided not to seek re-election in 1980, and concentrated on his legal practice inWashington, D.C.,Arlington, Virginia, and Richmond, where he continued to reside until his death in 1988.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 3rd congressional district 1965–1981 | Succeeded by |
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