John G. Schmitz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's35th district | |
| In office June 30, 1970 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | James B. Utt |
| Succeeded by | Glenn M. Anderson |
| Member of theCalifornia State Senate | |
| In office January 4, 1965 – June 30, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | John A. Murdy Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Dennis Carpenter |
| Constituency | 35th district (1965–1967) 34th district (1967–1970) |
| In office December 4, 1978 – November 30, 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Dennis Carpenter |
| Succeeded by | Robert B. Presley |
| Constituency | 36th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John George Schmitz (1930-08-12)August 12, 1930 |
| Died | January 10, 2001(2001-01-10) (aged 70) |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | American Independent (1972) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 9, includingJohn,Joseph &Mary Kay |
| Education | Marquette University (BA) California State University, Long Beach (MA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  Marine Corps |
| Rank |  Lieutenant Colonel |
John George Schmitz (August 12, 1930 – January 10, 2001) was aRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives andCalifornia State Senate fromOrange County,California. He was also a member of theJohn Birch Society. In1972 he was the candidate forpresident of the United States of theAmerican Independent Party, later known as theAmerican Party.
Schmitz was notable for his extreme right-wing sympathies and for his slurs against African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, women, Jews and homosexuals. By one measure, he was found to be the third-most conservative member of Congress between 1937 and 2002,[1] and theultraconservativeJohn Birch Society, of which Schmitz was a longtime leader, later expelled him for extremist rhetoric.[2]
On October 25, 1971, Schmitz composed an introduction to the highly controversial bookNone Dare Call It Conspiracy written byGary Allen withLarry Abraham.[3]
In 1982, after it was revealed—and Schmitz admitted—that he had engaged in an extra-marital affair and fathered two children with one of his former college students, Schmitz's career as a politician effectively ended,[4] as did his wife Mary's as a conservative political commentator. His seven children with his wife include politiciansJohn P. Schmitz andJoseph E. Schmitz, and teacherMary Kay Letourneau, convicted in 1997 ofchild sexual abuse.[5]
Schmitz died in 2001 at the age of 70 fromprostate cancer; the formerMarine Colonel was buried with full military honors atArlington National Cemetery.
Schmitz was born inMilwaukee, the son of Wilhelmina (Frueh) and Jacob John Schmitz.[6] Schmitz graduated fromMarquette University High School in 1948.[7] He obtained hisB.S. degree fromMarquette University in Milwaukee in 1952 and anM.A. fromCalifornia State University, Long Beach, in 1960.
He served as aUnited States Marine Corpsjet fighter andhelicopterpilot from 1952 to 1960, and was alieutenant colonel in theUnited States Marine Corps Reserve from 1960 to 1983.[4] Schmitz was Catholic.[8]
After leaving the Marines, Schmitz took a job as an instructor inphilosophy andpolitical science atSanta Ana College. He also became active in theJohn Birch Society. His views attracted the attention of wealthy Orange County conservatives such as fast-food magnateCarl Karcher, sporting goods heir Willard Voit and San Juan Capistrano rancher Tom Rogers. His personal appearance, in particular the pencil mustache, led to remarks that he was a strong lookalike ofDavid Niven. While his academic career was mainly teaching teenagers and older adults, Schmitz had been noted for working well with children, and used this to his advantage by working part-time atDisneyland as a "Cobblestone Cop".
With their help, Schmitz managed to defeat 74th State AssemblymanBruce Sumner for the 35th district of theCalifornia State Senate, which had been vacated by John A. Murdy Jr, who much like Sumner, was part of the moderate to liberal wing of the California Republican Party.[9] His views were very right-wing even by the standards of Orange County. Schmitz once joked that he had joined the John Birch Society in order to court the moderate vote in Orange County. He opposedsex education in public schools. He believed citizens should be able to carry loaded guns in their cars. He was also critical of the civil unrest that characterized the mid-1960s. He called theWatts riots of 1965 "aCommunist operation," and a year later sponsored a bill, which failed to pass, to investigate the backgrounds of teachers suspected of Communist affiliations.[10] He also believed that state universities should be sold to private corporations as a curb against student protests.
Schmitz wrote the foreword forNone Dare Call It Conspiracy, a book written by Gary Allen, a self-described former "Americans for Democratic Action liberal", speechwriter for 1968 American Independent Party candidateGeorge Wallace and fellowJohn Birch Society member. Schmitz believed in Allen's conspiracy that socialists planned to set up a one-world government where they would control the banks, natural resources, commerce, finances and transportation, as well as the idea ofRichard Nixon being an agent of theRockefeller family, who, in Allen's opinion, had financed theBolshevik Revolution.[11]
Schmitz served in the state senate until 1970, when he won aspecial election to succeed the lateJames B. Utt in the House fromCalifornia's 35th congressional district. He won a full term in November. Much like his successor, Utt had a penchant for conspiracy theories and often spoke positively of theJohn Birch Society. Schmitz was one of twenty-four people in the House of Representatives to oppose theEqual Rights Amendment and described the bipartisanComprehensive Child Development Act as a "massive government intrusion".[12][13][14]
WhenRichard M. Nixon, whose permanent residence at the time was inSan Clemente—located in Schmitz's district— first went toChina in 1972, Schmitz was asked if he supported President Nixon's going to China. Schmitz replied, "I didn't care that Nixon went to China, I was only upset that he came back."[15] Nixon recruited Orange County Tax AssessorAndrew J. Hinshaw, a more mainstream Republican, to run against Schmitz in the Republican primary for the renumbered39th District. Hinshaw defeated Schmitz by 2.7 percentage points in the primary and went on to win the general election for the seat.
Schmitz, who believed Nixon had shifted to the left in social and economic issues, served as chairman ofJohn M. Ashbrook's 1972 campaign for theRepublican Party presidential nomination.[16] Ashbrook competed in the New Hampshire (9.8% of the vote), Florida (9%), and California (10%) primaries, then withdrew from the race.
Schmitz, angry at Nixon's role in his defeat and at Ashbrook's loss in the Republican primaries, changed his party registration to theAmerican Independent Party[16] after being nominated as their candidate for president in the1972 election. His running mate wasThomas J. Anderson, a fellow member of the John Birch Society. The pair received 1,100,868 votes for 1.42% of the total.[17] Three-time Academy Award winner and fellowJohn Birch Society memberWalter Brennan helped Schmitz with his campaign, serving as finance chairman.[18] Schmitz's best showings were inthe West. He received 9.30 percent of the vote inIdaho,[19] where he finished second ahead ofDemocratGeorge McGovern in the archconservative Mormon counties ofFremont,Jefferson,Madison andLemhi.[20] In Jefferson County, Schmitz achieved the best result for a third-party presidential candidate in any non-Southern county since 1936, whenWilliam Lemke surpassed 28 percent of the vote in the North Dakota counties ofBurke,Sheridan andHettinger.[21] Schmitz received 7.25 percent inAlaska,[22] 5.97 percent inUtah,[23] and between four and five percent inOregon,[24]Montana,[25]Washington State[26] and alsoLouisiana.[27]
Schmitz won the District 36 state senate seat in 1978, with 49.5% of the vote, and subsequently was named chairman of the Constitutional Amendments Committee.[28]
In 1981, Schmitz—who was staunchlyanti-abortion—chaired a committee hearing on abortion.Feminist attorneyGloria Allred testified at the hearing in support of thepro-abortion rights position, and afterward sarcastically presented Schmitz with a black leatherchastity belt. Schmitz's committee then issued a press release under the headline, "Senator Schmitz and His Committee Survive Attack of the Bulldykes", describing the hearing room as filled with "hard, Jewish and (arguably) female faces." Allred sued Schmitz for libel, claiming $10 million in damages, but settled for $20,000 and an apology. In his apology, Schmitz stated, "I have never considered her (Allred) to be ... a slick, butch lawyeress." Allred later appeared at a press conference called by Senator Schmitz regarding Mid-East issues, handed Schmitz a box of frogs and shouted, "A plague on the House of Schmitz!"[29]
The incident cost him his committee chairmanship and the John Birch Society stripped him of his membership for "extremism." Despite this, Schmitz announced plans to run for the Republican nomination for theUnited States Senate in 1982.
Early in 1982, John George Stuckle, an infant born on June 10, 1981, was treated at anOrange County hospital for an injured penis. A piece of hair was wrapped so tightly around the organ—"in a square knot," according to one doctor—that it was almost severed. The surgery went well and the baby suffered no permanent injury. However, the baby's mother, Carla Stuckle, a 43-year-old Swedish-born immigrant and longtime Republican volunteer, was not allowed to take John George home since some of the attending doctors were convinced the hair had been deliberately tied around his penis. Detectives threatened to arrest Carla and take the infant away permanently unless she identified the father. Carla then identified Schmitz as John George's father.[30]
During acustody hearing, Schmitz acknowledged fathering John George out of wedlock. He was also the father of Carla's daughter, Eugenie. The admission effectively ended his political career, though he made an unsuccessful run for the 38th Congressional District in 1984. He was defeated by former CongressmanBob Dornan in the Republican primary 65% to 11%, with another candidate earning 24%. Dornan would go on to defeat Democratic incumbent Rep.Jerry M. Patterson in November.
Schmitz's affair also ended his wife Mary's career as a political commentator on television, where she advocated from the conservative position on the political roundtable debate showFree for All. Before entering television, Mary had already become known as the "West CoastPhyllis Schlafly", having campaigned vigorously against theEqual Rights Amendment. When the ERA deadline ran out, Mary had altered a cardboard tombstone Halloween decoration to show the ERA going down in defeat and displayed it prominently on her front lawn. The Schmitzes briefly separated over the affair but reconciled.[31]
Schmitz neither financially supported nor helped raise his two children with Carla Stuckle. When the detective investigating the possible child abuse claim against Stuckle confronted Schmitz about fathering J. George, Schmitz confirmed parentage and reportedly told the officer, "I do not and will not support him financially. It is her [Carla Stuckle's] responsibility to take care of him." Stuckle was not charged with any crime, and authorities returned J. George to her care. Schmitz denied any abuse to the child or any knowledge of the injury; and was eventually ruled out as being suspect to abuse. Stuckle raised both J. George and E. on her own, working long hours at two different jobs. In 1994, when J. George and E. were 13 and 11 respectively, Carla Stuckle died from complications of Type I diabetes. Schmitz refused custody of the children. Mary Schmitz's close friend, high-profile astrologer and alleged psychicJeane Dixon, took in the children. When Dixon died in 1997, the children becamewards of the state and went to anorphanage.[32][33]
After leaving the State Senate, Schmitz taught political science courses atRancho Santiago andSanta Ana. In 1988, Schmitz, sporting a beard in honor ofRobert Bork, blamed the fall ofSouth Vietnam on the media's failure to report communist involvement in the anti-war movement and calledWatergate a plot to distract Nixon from focusing on the Vietnam War.[34]
In the 1980s, Schmitz moved to Washington, where he lived in a house formerly owned byJoseph McCarthy, his political idol.
In the early 1990s, Schmitz worked part time at Political Americana, a political memorabilia store, and served as president of Chapelle Charlemagne, a family-owned vineyard in Virginia, from 1995 to his death in 2001.[citation needed]
Schmitz died of cancer at the age of 70 on January 10, 2001.[35] Following a packed funeral service at the Fort Myer post chapel, he was buried with fullmilitary honors atArlington National Cemetery.[36]
An obituary printed in theJournal of Historical Review, a publication of the organization theInstitute for Historical Review, described Schmitz as a "good friend of the Institute." Schmitz attended at least two IHR Conferences, and was a subscriber for many years to theJournal."[37]
By wife Mary:[4]
Children by Carla Stuckle:
California's 35th congressional district special election, 1970
Note: All candidates ran in the same primary. Since no candidate won a majority, the top two finishers from both parties (Schmitz and Hartman) went to a runoff election.
California's 35th congressional district special election, 1970 (Runoff)
California's 35th congressional district election, 1970
California's 35th congressional district Republican primary election, 1972
1972 American Independent Party National Convention
1972 United States presidential election
Republican primary for theUnited States Senate fromCalifornia, 1980
Republican primary for theUnited States Senate fromCalifornia, 1982
But a few days before Vili's 13th birthday, the sexual abuse began.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 35th congressional district 1970–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | American Independent nominee forPresident of the United States 1972 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
