Richard Bolling | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theHouse Rules Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | James J. Delaney |
| Succeeded by | Claude Pepper |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's5th district | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Albert L. Reeves Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Alan Wheat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Walker Bolling (1916-05-17)May 17, 1916 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 21, 1991(1991-04-21) (aged 74) Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Stratton Jim Grant Akin Prudie Luther Orr Nona Goddard |
| Education | University of the South (BA,MA) Vanderbilt University |
Bolling on the rule for debate of theTax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. Recorded August 19, 1982 | |
Richard Walker Bolling (May 17, 1916 – April 21, 1991) was a prominent AmericanDemocratic Congressman fromKansas City, Missouri, andMissouri's 5th congressional district from 1949 to 1983. He retired after serving for four years as the chairman of the powerfulUnited States House Committee on Rules.
Born inNew York City as the great-great-grandson ofJohn Williams Walker and great-great-nephew ofPercy Walker, he attendedPhillips Exeter Academy,Exeter,New Hampshire. At the age of fifteen, upon his father's death, he returned to the family home in Huntsville, Alabama. He then attended theUniversity of the South, inSewanee, Tennessee, where he studied literature and French, earning a B.A. in 1937 and an M.A., 1939. He went on to further graduate studies, atVanderbilt University inNashville,Tennessee, in 1939–1940.
An educational administrator by profession, Bolling taught atSewanee Military Academy in 1938 and 1939, and then served as assistant to the head of the Department of Education atFlorence State Teachers College, inAlabama, in 1940.
After retiring from Congress, Bolling was a visiting professor of political science at theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City and a professor of politics atBoston College inMassachusetts.[1]
In April 1941, Bolling entered theUnited States Army as a private and served until discharged as a lieutenant colonel in July 1946, with four years' overseas service as assistant to the chief of staff to GeneralDouglas MacArthur inAustralia,New Guinea,Philippines, and inJapan. He was awarded theLegion of Merit andBronze Star. He served as veterans' adviser at theUniversity of Kansas City in 1946 and 1947.
Bolling was elected as a Democrat to the81st Congress in 1948 and to the sixteen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1949 until January 3, 1983. In Congress, he served as chairman of the Select Committee on Committees of the House (in the93rd Congress), Joint Economic Committee (in the95th Congress); and the Committee on Rules (in the96th and97th Congresses). He introduced the discharge petition that released theCivil Rights Act of 1964 from the Senate's committees chaired by southern Democrats, a vital step to passing the act. He was twice a candidate for House Majority leader, losing toCarl Albert in 1961 and toJim Wright (by three votes) in 1977.[2]
Bolling did not sign the 1956Southern Manifesto, and voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[3]1960,[4]1964,[5] and1968,[6] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965,[7] but voted present on the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[8]
Due to heart disease, in 1981 he announced his retirement and was not a candidate for reelection in 1982 to the98th Congress.[2] In 1983, Bolling was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. He remained a resident ofWashington, D.C., until his death there on April 21, 1991.
Bolling resided in Washington, D.C., and maintained a summer home atPortage Point, Michigan. During the 1970s, Congressman Bolling owned a cottage on St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies, which he also rented to other vacationers.
On June 7, 1945, Bolling married Barbara Stratton, the sister of the author andOSS agentArthur Stratton. They had one daughter, Andrea Walker Bolling.[9] He subsequently married Jim Grant Akin, a Congressional liaison officer for the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare, who later served as his legislative affairs assistant. Following her death in 1978, psychologist Dr. Prudie Luther Orr and he were married in Memphis, Tenn. His spouse at the time of his death was Nona Herndon, of Dallas.
TheRichard Bolling Federal Building inKansas City, Missouri is named in his honor.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 5th congressional district 1949–1983 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of the House Committee on Committees 1973–1974 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Economic Committee 1977–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Rules Committee 1979–1983 | Succeeded by |
Chairs of theU.S. House Committee on Rules (1880–present) | ||
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