Charles O. Porter
From 1957'sPocket Congressional Directory of the Eighty-Fifth Congress.
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOregon's4th district
In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1961
Preceded by	Harris Ellsworth
Succeeded by	Edwin Russell Durno
Personal details
Born	(1919-04-04)April 4, 1919 Klamath Falls, Oregon, U.S.
Died	January 1, 2006(2006-01-01) (aged 86) Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Priscilla Porter
Occupation	Attorney

Charles Orlando Porter (April 4, 1919 – January 1, 2006) was an American lawyer,World War II veteran, andpolitician from theU.S. state ofOregon. He served in theUnited States House of Representatives for two terms from 1957 to 1961.

Born inKlamath Falls, Oregon, to Frank Porter and Ruth Peterson, he graduated fromhigh school inEugene, Oregon and then went on to graduate fromHarvard University with aB.S. in 1941. From there he went on to serve in theUnited States Army duringWorld War II from 1941 to 1945. He then went back toHarvard Law School and graduated with anLL.B. in 1947. At Harvard Law, he partnered with several other returning veterans to found theHarvard Law Record, using the nascent paper to argue for more student housing.

He entered politics when he ran for theCongressional Representative forOregon's 4th congressional district as aDemocrat in 1954. He lost that race, but he ran again in 1956. In a major upset, he narrowly defeated incumbent RepublicanHarris Ellsworth. In association with Robert J. Alexander, he wroteThe Struggle for Democracy in Latin America, which was published in 1961.

When he was in Congress from 1957 through 1961, Porter quickly became known as a strong liberal. He backed admittingChina to theUnited Nations, opening trade with China and haltingnuclear testing.^[1] Partly as a result, he was defeated for reelection in 1960 by RepublicanEdwin R. Durno.

In 1980, Porter made an unsuccessful attempt to win the Democratic primary in theUnited States Senate election, but lost the nomination to state SenatorTed Kulongoski, who lost the general election.^[2] Porter made several other attempts to return to Congress: in 1964, he lost the Democratic primary toRobert Duncan, and lost again in 1966, 1972, 1976, and 1980.

After returning to private law practice in Eugene in 1965, Porter was noted as one of the main proponents for the removal of a controversialChristiancross fromSkinner Butte in Eugene. He also fought against building a nuclear power plant near Eugene, fought for thedecriminalization of marijuana, and was opposed to theVietnam War.^[1] In 2001, he wrote a resolution calling for theimpeachment of the five "transparently political"Supreme Court justices who halted the2000 presidential election recount in Florida.^[1]

He was married to Priscilla Porter, who died in 2002. They had four children: Don, Chris, Sam, and Anne. He died onNew Year's Day, 2006, in Eugene, ofAlzheimer's disease.^[1]

• United States Congress."Charles O. Porter (id: P000439)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Cached version of Priscilla Porter's obituary^{[permanent dead link]} fromThe Register-Guard
• Guide to the Charles O. Porter papers at the University of Oregon
• Charles O. Porter atFind a Grave

• 1919 births
• 2006 deaths
• Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Oregon
• Politicians from Klamath Falls, Oregon
• Harvard Law School alumni
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Oregon
• Harvard College alumni
• 20th-century United States representatives
• United States Army personnel of World War II

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