J. T.

Rutherford
James Thaddeus Rutherford (May 30, 1921  – November 6,
2006), was a Democratic United States Congressional J. T. Rutherford
Representative and state legislator from the state of Texas.

Biography
He was born to James Thaddeus Rutherford and the former Nancy
Lillian Johnson in Hot Springs, Arkansas.[1] In 1934, his family
relocated to Odessa, Texas, where he attended public schools. He
served as an enlisted man in the United States Marine Corps from
1942 to 1946, of which twenty-eight months were spent overseas.
He was awarded the Purple Heart. As an assault amphibian vehicle
crewman, he landed in the first waves on D-Day at Tarawa, Saipan,
where he was wounded, and Tinian. He retired as a major in the
United States Marine Corps Reserve.
Member of the
From 1946 to 1947, Rutherford studied at San Angelo College in U.S. House of Representatives

San Angelo. He then transferred to Sul Ross State College in from Texas's 16th district
Alpine, which he attended from 1947 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950, In office

he attended Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas.

January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1963
In 1948, Rutherford married the former Sara Jane Armstrong, and Preceded by Kenneth M. Regan
the couple had three children, Cleo Ann, Charles Lane Rutherford, Succeeded by Ed Foreman
and Jane Ellen.[1] Rutherford was a partner in an industrial
Member of the Texas Senate

electrical construction firm and also owned an advertising from the 29th district
business.
In office

Rutherford served in the Texas House of Representatives from January 13, 1953 – September 27,
1948 to 1952 and the Texas State Senate from 1953 to 1954. He was 1954
elected to the 84th to 87th United States Congresses from January Preceded by Hill D. Hudson
3, 1955, to January 3, 1963. An unsuccessful candidate for re-
Succeeded by Frank Owen, III
election in 1962 to the 88th United States Congress, Rutherford
was unseated by Republican Ed Foreman of Odessa, later of Dallas. Member of the
His loss to Foreman was attributed to the Billie Sol Estes scandal. Texas House of Representatives

from the 88th district

He missed only one floor vote of the several thousand cast while he
was a representative. In office

January 11, 1949 – January 13, 1953

He was one of the majority of the Texan delegation to decline to Preceded by George W. Elliott
sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing the desegregation of
public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Succeeded by Elbert Reeves
Education. Rutherford voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 Personal details
and 1960,[2][3] but voted in favor of the 24th Amendment to the Born James Thaddeus
U.S. Constitution.[4]
Rutherford

May 30, 1921

He was the first chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Hot Springs,
Parks. He was awarded the U.S. Department of Interior's Arkansas, U.S.
Conservation Service Award in 1962 for his efforts to spearhead
Died November 6, 2006
conservation legislation including laws that created a new national
(aged 85)

seashore on Padre Island, Cape Cod National Seashore, and Point

Reyes in California. Arlington, Virginia,
U.S.
Rutherford's district was the old jumbo 16th district, Midland Political party Democratic
being its eastmost point and El Paso at its westmost. It also
stretched hundreds of miles along the border with Mexico. The 19 Spouse(s) Sara Jane
Armstrong
counties it embraced covered 42,067 square miles—making it
(m. 1948; died 2004)​
geographically larger than Ohio or Tennessee, among others.
Children 3
After leaving Congress, he formed J. T. Rutherford and Associates,
Alma mater Angelo State
a government relations consulting firm. He was a director of the
University

Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation for Crippled Children, which

was established in 1943 in Gonzales County, Texas. He was also a Sul Ross State
Shriner, another group which promotes the welfare of crippled University

children.[1] Baylor Law School

Military service
Rutherford died of complications of Alzheimer's disease in
Arlington, Virginia, where he spent his later years. Allegiance  United States
Branch/service  United States
References Marine Corps
Years of 1942-1946
1. "J. T. Rutherford," Who's Who in America, Vol 31 (1960-1961), service
(Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1960), p. 2504
Rank Major
2. "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957" (https://www.govtrac
k.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42). GovTrack.us. Battles/wars
World War II
3. "HR 8601. PASSAGE" (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote
s/86-1960/h102). D-Day
4. "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957" (https://www.govtrac Pacific
k.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42). GovTrack.us.
Theater of
United States Congress. "J. T. Rutherford (id: R000547)" (htt Operations
p://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R00054
7). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

External links
Obituary (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111001675.ht
ml)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._T._Rutherford&oldid=1025909029"

This page was last edited on 30 May 2021, at 08:32 (UTC).

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