Leslie C. Arends Explained

Birth Name:Leslie Cornelius Arends
Office1:House Minority Whip
Term Start1:January 3, 1955
Term End1:December 31, 1974
Leader1:Joseph W. Martin Jr.
Charles A. Halleck
Gerald Ford
John J. Rhodes
Predecessor1:John W. McCormack
Successor1:Robert H. Michel
Term Start2:January 3, 1949
Term End2:January 3, 1953
Leader2:Joseph W. Martin Jr.
Predecessor2:John W. McCormack
Successor2:John W. McCormack
Term Start3:May 13, 1943
Term End3:January 3, 1947
Leader3:Joseph W. Martin Jr.
Predecessor3:Harry L. Englebright
Successor3:John W. McCormack
Office4:House Majority Whip
Term Start4:January 3, 1953
Term End4:January 3, 1955
Leader4:Charles A. Halleck
Predecessor4:Percy Priest
Successor4:Carl Albert
Term Start5:January 3, 1947
Term End5:January 3, 1949
Leader5:Charles A. Halleck
Predecessor5:John Sparkman
Successor5:Percy Priest
Office6:Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois
Term Start6:January 3, 1935
Term End6:December 31, 1974
Predecessor6:Frank Gillespie
Successor6:Tim Lee Hall
Constituency6: (1935–1973)
(1973–1974)
Birth Date:27 September 1895
Birth Place:Melvin, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:Naples, Florida, U.S.
Party:Republican
Spouse:Betty Tychon
Children:1
Profession:Farmer
Banker

Leslie Cornelius Arends (September 27, 1895July 17, 1985) was a Republican politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1935 until 1974.

A native and lifelong resident of Melvin, Illinois, Arends attended Oberlin College and served in the United States Navy during World WarI. He was involved in farming and banking; in addition to renting out several farms he owned, he eventually became president of the local bank his father had started.

Arends was elected to the U.S. House in 1934. He served from 1935 until resigning on December 31, 1974. From 1943 until his retirement, Arends served as the Republican Whip, holding the post during periods of Republican majority (1947-1949, 1953–1955) and minority (1943-1947, 1949–1953, 1955–1974). In addition, Arends rose by seniority to become the ranking minority member of the House Armed Services Committee.

A party loyalist, Arends opposed much government spending, and provided strong support to the party's presidential candidates. He remained loyal to Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and indicated that he would not vote to impeach Nixon.

After resigning from the House, Arends served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, and lived in retirement in Melvin, Washington, DC, and Naples, Florida. He died in Naples, and was buried in Melvin.

Early life

Born in Melvin, Illinois, on September 27, 1895, Arends was the youngest of ten children (only seven lived to adulthood) born to George Teis Arends and Talea (née Weiss) Arends. His father was born in Peoria to parents who were both natives of Germany; his mother was born in Hanover, Germany.

Arends attended the local schools and from 1912 to 1913 was a student at Oberlin College in Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Navy during World WarI, where he played in the Navy band at numerous war bond rallies. After his discharge he acquired and rented out several farms, and became active in banking. He eventually became president of the Commercial State Bank in Melvin, which had been founded by his father. He was a member of the Ford County Farm Bureau, and a member of the board of trustees of Illinois Wesleyan University, which awarded him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1962.

Congressional career

In 1934, Arends was elected to the 74th Congress. He was reelected nineteen times, and served from January 3, 1935, until resigning on December 31, 1974, a few days before the end of his final term. He alternately served as majority whip and minority whip for House Republicans from 1943 to 1974, and was the longest-serving whip in U.S. House of Representatives history. He rose through seniority to become the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, where one of his pet projects was preventing the closure of Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois; it remained open until 1993.

Arends represented a heavily Republican, largely rural downstate Illinois district. Conservative but pragmatic, he opposed much of the New Deal and remained a staunch isolationist until America entered World WarII. After becoming minority whip in 1943, Arends helped create the powerful Conservative Coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats who controlled the domestic agenda from 1937 to 1964. He was reelected as whip amid Republican in-fighting following their large Congressional losses in the 1964 elections; after their setback, House Republicans replaced leader Charles Halleck with Gerald Ford. Ford backed Peter Frelinghuysen Jr. for Whip. Arends had usually been reelected Whip without opposition, and despite a strong challenge from Frelinghuysen relied on personal relationships forged over thirty years to provide the votes that enabled him to retain the post.

He supported Robert A. Taft over Dwight D. Eisenhower for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, and was an early supporter of the party's nominees Richard M. Nixon and Barry Goldwater in the campaigns of the 1960s. He organized the GOP opposition to Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. Arends voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[1] 1964,[2] and 1968,[3] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[4] while Arends did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and voted present on the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[5] [6] During the Watergate scandal, Arends provided unwavering loyalty to President Richard M. Nixon, and said he would not vote for impeachment, citing his strong personal friendship with Nixon and belief that Nixon had performed capably as president. Despite the Whip challenge following the 1966 elections, Nixon's successor Gerald Ford and Arends maintained a close personal friendship, ensuring Arends a good relationship with the White House after Nixon's resignation.

Post-Congressional career

After leaving Congress, Arends served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, and spent time at homes in Melvin, Naples, Florida, and Washington, DC.

Legacy

Arends's papers are part of the collections of Illinois Wesleyan University, and the university library's special collections room was named for him.

Death and burial

Arends died in Naples on July 17, 1985, and was buried at Melvin Cemetery in Melvin. He was survived by his wife Betty (Tychon) and daughter Leslie ("Letty").

Sources

Newspapers

Books

Internet

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us.
  2. Web site: H.R. 7152. PASSAGE..
  3. Web site: TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES..
  4. Web site: TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT..
  5. Web site: HR 8601. PASSAGE..
  6. Web site: S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.. GovTrack.us.