Lionel Van Deerlin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Duncan L. Hunter
Constituency	37th district(1963–73) 41st district(1973–75) 42nd district(1975–81)
Personal details
Born	Lionel Lathrop Van Deerlin July 25, 1914 Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Died	May 17, 2008(2008-05-17) (aged 93) San Diego, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Southern California (B.A.,journalism, 1937)
Occupation	Journalist, newspaper columnist
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Unit	Field Artillery
Battles/wars	World War IIMediterranean Theater

Lionel Lathrop Van Deerlin (July 25, 1914 – May 17, 2008) was an American journalist and politician who served nine terms as aDemocraticUnited States Representative fromCalifornia from 1963 to 1981, representing aSan Diego area district.

Born inLos Angeles, California, Van Deerlin graduated fromOceanside High School inOceanside, California, in 1933 and earned aBachelor of Arts in journalism in 1937 from theUniversity of Southern California, where he was editor of theDaily Trojan.^[1][2]

Van Deerlin served in theUnited States Army for four years duringWorld War II in theField Artillery, on the staff ofStars and Stripes newspaper (Mediterranean), and in the overseas service inItaly. He was a staff sergeant. After the war, he was a journalist inMinneapolis, Minnesota andBaltimore, Maryland.

Van Deerlin moved toSan Diego, where he first ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1952. He became city editor of the oldSan Diego Daily Journal, which was founded byClinton D. McKinnon. Later, Van Deerlin became news director ofXETV in Tijuana-San Diego, at that time San Diego'sABC affiliate, and later moved toNBC affiliateKFSD-AM-FM-TV. After a second unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1958, he returned to XETV as a newscaster and news director.^[3]

Van Deerlin was elected toCongress in 1962 from the newly created 37th District, becoming the first Democrat to represent a San Diego–based district in Congress since Clinton D. McKinnon left office in 1953. He was re-elected eight times from this district, which was renumbered the 41st in 1972 and the 42nd in 1974. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Van Deerlin encouraged competition in the telecommunications industry by conducting hearings that led to the breakup ofAT&T. He supported a broad interpretation ofFirst Amendment rights for broadcasters.

In 1980, Van Deerlin'sRepublican opponent was attorneyDuncan Hunter. Hunter's campaign was initially considered a longshot, but he gained considerable traction by painting Van Deerlin as weak on defense. This caught Van Deerlin flat-footed. Besides using the "weak on defense" label in a solid military-based economy that is omnipresent in the San Diego metropolitan area, Hunter's activities (such as helping the poor receive legal assistance) in the community were also an asset. By the time Van Deerlin began to take Hunter seriously (he hadn't really had to campaign since his first race), it was too late, and Hunter narrowly defeated him. Since then, Democrats have only cracked the 40 percent barrier twice in the district, which is now numbered as the 50th District after being redrawn several times since Van Deerlin's defeat.

Van Deerlin was aprofessoremeritus atSan Diego State University and had a weekly column (every Thursday) inThe San Diego Union-Tribune. The Lionel Van Deerlin Endowed Chair in Communications at San Diego State was named in his honor.

Van Deerlin died in 2008 at age 93 at his home in San Diego.^[4]

Twenty-five years ago in Congress you not only trusted the opposing party, you enjoyed their company. Today, they hardly speak.Speech before the Osher Forum, broadcast by UC-TV, April 23, 2004

• United States Congress."Lionel Van Deerlin (id: V000024)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Lionel Van Deerlin op-ed columns forUnion-Tribune
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1914 births
• 2008 deaths
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• American people of Dutch descent
• United States Army non-commissioned officers
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism alumni
• Politicians from Los Angeles
• Politicians from San Diego
• People from Oceanside, California
• San Diego State University faculty
• Journalists from California
• 20th-century American journalists
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 20th-century American male journalists

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