James W. Symington
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James Wadsworth Symington (born 1927) is a U.S attorney and politician who served as U.S. Representative (1969-1977) representing Missouri.
Born in Rochester, New York on September 28, 1927, James Symington is the son of the late-Senator Stuart Symington and grandson of New York Congressman James W. Wadsworth, Jr.. He served in the United States Marine Corps as a PFC from 1945 to 1946. He received a B.A. from Yale in 1950 and a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1954.
After completing his law studies, he served as an assistant city counselor in St. Louis, Missouri (1954-1955), after which he was in private practice from 1955 to 1958. He then worked in London, England in the United States Foreign Service (1958-1960). Upon his return to the States, he practiced law in Washington, D.C.
He served in a series of roles in government from 1961 to 1968: deputy director, Food for Peace (1961-1962); administrative assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (1962-1963); director, President’s Committee on Juvenile Delinquency (1965-1966); consultant, President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1965-1966); and chief of protocol, Department of State (1966-1968).
In 1968, he was elected to Congress as a Democrat representing the state of Missouri. He served three terms in Congress, from January 3, 1969 until January 3, 1977.
He ran in 1976 to succeed his father in the U.S. Senate in a Democratic Party primary race with Missouri Governor Warren Hearnes and Congressman Jerry Litton. Litton won the primary but was killed when his plane crashed en route to the victory party. Hearnes was named the Democractic candidate and ultimately lost to Republican Party candidate John Danforth.
Symington then resumed practicing law in Washington, D.C.
He appeared as a commentator in the Ken Burns film The Civil War.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the U.S. government publication, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present.
| Preceded by: Thomas B. Curtis |
United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Missouri 1969–1977 |
Succeeded by: Robert A. Young |
