John Andrew Young (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2002) was aDemocratic politician fromTexas who served in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1979.
Born inCorpus Christi, Texas, Young attendedIncarnate Word Academy and Corpus Christi College-Academy. He earned hisB.A. atSt. Edward's University in 1937 and hisL.L.B from theUniversity of Texas School of Law in 1940. After starting his career as a lawyer, he served in theUnited States Navy from 1941 to 1945.
Young served as a lawyer forNueces County, Texas in various positions, asassistant county attorney in 1946,assistant district attorney from 1947 to 1950,county attorney from 1951 to 1952 and county judge from 1953 to 1956. He ran successfully as aDemocrat for theU.S. House of Representatives in 1956, defeating incumbentJohn J. Bell in theprimary election and winning thegeneral election. He took seat in 1957 and was reelected ten times. Young voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[1]1960,[2] and1964,[3] but voted in favor theVoting Rights Act of 1965 and theCivil Rights Act of 1968.[4][5]
Young came under fire in 1976 when a former female member of his staff, Colleen Gardner, accused him of requiring her to have sex with him in order to keep her job.[6] Young, who was married with five children at the time, denied the accusation and an investigation produced no evidence. His wife, Jane, committed suicide on July 13, 1977, by a gunshot to the head.[7]
The scandal caused his defeat toJoseph P. Wyatt, Jr. in theprimary election in 1978[8] and he left office in 1979.
Afterwards, he worked as aconsultant until his death on January 22, 2002. He was interred atArlington National Cemetery inArlington, Virginia.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 14th congressional district January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1979 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
