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Eugene Siler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | James S. Golden |
| Succeeded by | Tim Lee Carter |
| Constituency | 8th district (1955–1963) 5th district (1963–1965) |
| Justice of theKentucky Court of Appeals | |
| In office November 1945 – January 3, 1949 | |
| Preceded by | E. Poe Harris |
| Succeeded by | Roy Helm |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eugene Edward Siler (1900-06-26)June 26, 1900 Williamsburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | December 5, 1987(1987-12-05) (aged 87) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingEugene Edward Siler Jr. |
| Alma mater | Cumberland College University of Kentucky Columbia University |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy United States Army |
| Rank | Captain |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
Eugene Edward Siler Sr. (June 26, 1900 – December 5, 1987) was an American politician and member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromKentucky between 1955 and 1965. He was the only member of the House of Representatives to oppose (bypairing against) theGulf of Tonkin Resolution. That resolution authorized deeper involvement of the United States in theVietnam War.
Siler, a self-described "Kentucky hillbilly", was born inWilliamsburg, Kentucky, the son of attorney Adam Troy and Minnie (née Chandler) Siler.[1][2] He was a staunchRepublican and hailed from a traditionally Republican region of Kentucky. Siler served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War I and in theUnited States Army as acaptain duringWorld War II.[3] His war-time experiences left him, according toDavid T. Beito, "cold to most proposals to send American troops into harm's way."
Siler graduated fromCumberland College in Williamsburg in 1920 and from theUniversity of Kentucky at Lexington in 1922.[3] He attended law school atColumbia University and returned to Williamsburg to be a small-town lawyer. Siler was a devout Baptist and became a renowned preacher. He abstained from alcohol, tobacco, and profanity; and, as a lawyer, rejected clients seekingdivorces or who were accused of alcohol-related crimes.
In 1945, Siler was elected ajudge of theCourt of Appeals of Kentucky. He refused his 150-dollar expense allotment, instead donating it to a special fund Siler set up forscholarships. As a judge, Siler frequently quotedscriptures from thebench. He did the same in his speeches during his 1951 run for governor. This, according to Beito, earned him "a statewide reputation as a 'Bible Crusader.'" First elected to the court in a special election, he was defeated for a full eight-year term in 1948 by Democratic candidate Roy Helm.
Siler was the Republican nominee forGovernor of Kentucky in 1951. He was defeated by Democratic incumbentLawrence Wetherby, Wetherby won by 58,331votes.
During his tenure in the House of Representatives, which began in 1955, Siler consistently stressedsocial conservatism. He sponsored a bill to banliquor andbeeradvertising in all interstate media. He stated that permitting these ads was akin to allowing the"harsh hussy" to advertise in"the open door of her place of business for the allurement of our school children". Additionally, he was"100 percent for Bible reading and the Lord's Prayer in ourpublic schools".
Like his friend and fellow Republican, RepresentativeHarold Royce Gross, Siler considered himself afiscal watchdog. He opposedjunkets, governmentdebt, and high spending. Siler made exceptions for his home district, however, by supporting flood control and other federal measures that aided his district.
Like Gross, Siler was aTaft Republican (orOld Right Republican) who was opposed to entanglingmilitary alliances and foreign interventions. Siler was a consistent opponent offoreign aid; he was one of only two congressmen to vote againstJohn F. Kennedy's call up of reserves during theBerlin crisis. He supportedBarry Goldwater in1964 but did not share hisinterventionist foreign policy views. Thisnon-interventionism did not seem to bother his constituents.
Siler did not sign the 1956Southern Manifesto, and voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957 and1960,[4][5] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[6] but did not vote on theCivil Rights Act of 1964.[7]
Siler was critical of U.S. involvement inVietnam. In 1964, after deciding not to seek reelection, he quipped, in jest, that he would run forPresident as an antiwar candidate—he pledged to resign after one day in office after ordering the troops brought home. He considered theGulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized PresidentJohnson to take "all necessary steps" in Vietnam, as a "buck-passing" pretext to "seal the lips of Congress against future criticism."
In 1968, the worsening situation in Vietnam prompted Siler to return to politics, unsuccessfully seeking the RepublicanU.S. Senate nomination. Siler ran on a platform calling for withdrawal of all U.S. troops byChristmas.Ernest Gruening (D.-Alaska) andWayne Morse (D.-Oreg.), the only two U.S. Senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, were also defeated that year.
Siler married Lowell Jones in 1925 at Williamsburg, and they had four children, one of whom,Eugene Edward Siler Jr., became a federal judge. He died at his daughter'sLouisville home on December 5, 1987.[8][9]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1951 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Representative, Kentucky 8th District January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1963 | Succeeded by seat lost to redistricting |
| Preceded by | U.S. Representative, Kentucky 5th District January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 | Succeeded by |
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