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James B. Utt
Portrait byHarris & Ewing,c. 1950s
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
In office January 3, 1953 – March 1, 1970
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	John G. Schmitz
Constituency	28th district (1953–1963) 35th district (1963–1970)
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the74th district
In office January 2, 1933 – January 4, 1937
Preceded by	Archibald E. Brock
Succeeded by	Clyde A. Watson
Personal details
Born	James Boyd Utt (1899-03-11)March 11, 1899 Tustin, California, U.S.
Died	March 1, 1970(1970-03-01) (aged 70) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place	Santa Ana Cemetery inSanta Ana, California
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Southern California (BA,JD)
Occupation	Politician lawyer

James Boyd Utt (March 11, 1899 – March 1, 1970) was an American lawyer and politician. ARepublican fromOrange County, California, he served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1953 until his death from aheart attack in 1970.

Utt was born inTustin in Orange County. He attended public schools andSanta Ana Junior College. He worked in citrus processing, served in theCalifornia State Assembly from 1933 to 1937, and was an inheritance tax appraiser in the state controller's office during 1936 to 1952.

In 1946, at the age of forty-seven, Utt graduated from theUniversity of Southern California Law School, was admitted to the bar the next year, and practiced law inSanta Ana.

In 1952, Utt was first elected to the 83rd Congress. He polled 106,972 votes (63%) against theDemocratLionel Van Deerlin, who drew 62,779 votes (37%). Utt had no serious challengers in what became an increasingly "safe" seat for him. For instance, in the heavilyDemocratic year of 1958, he polled 152,855 votes (58%) to Democrat T. R. Boyett's 109,794 votes (42%).

In 1962, whenRichard M. Nixon lost the governorship toincumbent DemocratEdmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr., Utt won reelection with 133,737 (68.5%) to Democrat Burton Shamsky's 61,393 (31.5%). In the wake ofBarry Goldwater's landslide defeat in1964, Utt still polled 65 percent in his district. In 1966, whenRonald W. Reagan blocked a third term for "Pat" Brown, Utt received 73.1 percent in his district (his strongest showing ever). In 1968, when Nixon was elected president, Utt drew a similar vote of 72.5%. That turned out to be his last election, for he died in office before completing the 1969–1971 term.

One of the most right-wing members in the House of Representatives from his beginning in 1953 to his death in 1970, Utt opposed welfare programs provided by the federal government, likening them to a "child molester who offers candy before his evil act".^[1]

Utt voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1960,^[2]1964,^[3] and1968,^[4] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965,^[5] but did not vote on theCivil Rights Act of 1957 and abstained from voting on the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.^[6][7]

Utt had a penchant for conspiracy theories, claiming in 1963 that "a large contingent of barefooted Africans" might be training inGeorgia as part of a United Nations military exercise to take over the United States. That same year, he also claimed thatAfrican Americans might be training inCuba to invade the United States.^[8] Utt believed that theBeatles' music caused artificialneurosis in young people. While not a member of theJohn Birch Society, Utt often spoke in favor of it, and criticizedRichard Nixon's denunciations of the organization as ridiculous. During his time in Congress, Utt sponsored bills that would outlaw the income tax and prevent far-right CroatianAndrija Artuković from being deported. Utt also expressed opposition to statehood forHawaii (due to theTerritory having too many non-white people and not enough Christians),interracial sex andsex education.^[9][10] A supporter of theVietnam War, Utt told his grandson James that he'd rather see him dead and buried in Vietnam than have his political views. Unlike his grandfather, James opposed the war.^[11]

In 1964, he had been a strong supporter of fellow Republican Barry Goldwater for the presidency. Goldwater had also voted against the 1964 civil rights law on constitutional and libertarian grounds but later repudiated his position. Utt criticized Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedy's treatment of Mississippi GovernorRoss Barnett as "vicious" and described the Kennedy and Johnson administrations' positions on civil rights as "Hitlerite."^[12]

In 1966, journalistDrew Pearson reported that Utt was one of a group of four Congressmen who had received the "Statesman of the Republic" award fromLiberty Lobby for their "right-wing activities".^[13]

He died atBethesda Naval Hospital of a heart attack, which occurred as he was attending church just 10 days shy of his 71st birthday.^[14] Utt is interred at Santa Ana Cemetery in Santa Ana.

Utt was succeeded in the 35th Congressional District by fellow conservative RepublicanJohn G. Schmitz.

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)

• Memorial services held in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States, together with tributes presented in eulogy of James B. Utt, late a Representative from California. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1970)
• Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections

• United States Congress."James B. Utt (id: U000034)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Join California James B. Utt

• 1899 births
• 1970 deaths
• 20th-century American far-right politicians
• People from Tustin, California
• California lawyers
• USC Gould School of Law alumni
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• New Right (United States)
• 20th-century American lawyers
• American anti-communists
• American conspiracy theorists
• American segregationists
• American white nationalists
• American white supremacists
• Christian nationalists
• Republican Party members of the California State Assembly
• 20th-century members of the California State Legislature
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

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