John M. Vorys | |
|---|---|
 inWashington, D.C., July 1, 1939 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's12th district | |
| In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur P. Lamneck |
| Succeeded by | Samuel L. Devine |
| Member of theOhio Senate | |
| In office 1925–1926 | |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives | |
| In office 1923–1924 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Martin Vorys (1896-06-16)June 16, 1896 |
| Died | August 25, 1968(1968-08-25) (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Moritz College of Law Yale University |
John Martin Vorys (June 16, 1896 – August 25, 1968) was aU.S. Representative fromOhio.
Born inLancaster, Ohio, Vorys attended the public schools in Lancaster and Columbus, Ohio. During theFirst World War served overseas as a pilot in the famous "Yale Unit" of the United States Naval Air Service, retiring to inactive service in 1919 with rank of lieutenant. He graduated fromYale University in 1918, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones,[1][2] and fromOhio State University Law School atColumbus in 1923. He was a teacher in the College of Yale,Changsha,China, in 1919 and 1920. He served as assistant secretary, American delegation, Conference on Limitation of Armaments,Washington, D.C., in 1921 and 1922. He wasadmitted to the bar in 1923 and commenced practice inColumbus, Ohio, at the firm founded by his grandfather,Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease.[3]
He served as member of theOhio House of Representatives in 1923 and 1924, and in the Ohio Senate in 1925 and 1926. He served as director of aeronautics of Ohio in 1929 and 1930.
Vorys was elected as aRepublican to theSeventy-sixth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959). He did not seek reelection in 1958. Vorys voted in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1957.[4]
A confidential 1943 analysis of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee byIsaiah Berlin for the BritishForeign Office described Vorys as[5]
The real leader of the OppositionBloc on the committee. He voted against all major foreign policy measures and was the author of theamendment in June 1939 which provided for a mandatory embargo on the export of arms to belligerent nations. A shrewd and active member likely to prove the most stubborn member of the committee. He constantly presses (and for obvious reasons) for some sort of dollar and cent estimate of the current balance as betweenLend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid and proposed the amendments which were later defeated, whereby Congress alone could authorise the final settlement. A Methodist; age 47; a formidable nationalist.
In 1947–8, he served on theHerter Committee.[6]
Vorys served as delegate to theUnited Nations General Assembly in 1951, and as Regent of theSmithsonian Institution 1949–1959, before resuming the practice of law.
He died inColumbus, Ohio, August 25, 1968, and was interred inGreen Lawn Cemetery.[7]
On April 11, 1945, US forces liberated theBuchenwald Concentration Camp which was established in 1937 and caused the death of a least 56,545 people. GeneralEisenhower left rotting corpses unburied so a visiting group of US legislators could truly understand the horror of the atrocities. This group was visiting Buchenwald to inspect the camp and learn firsthand about the enormity of the NaziFinal Solution and treatment of other prisoners.
The legislators who visited included Alben W. Barkley,Ed Izac, John M. Vorys,Dewey Short,C. Wayland Brooks, andKenneth S. Wherry along withGeneral Omar N. Bradley and journalistsJoseph Pulitzer,Norman Chandler, William I. Nichols andJulius Ochs Adler.[8][9]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 12th congressional district January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959 | Succeeded by |
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