Melvin Robert LAIRD, Congress, WI (1922)

LAIRD Melvin Robert , a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebr., September 1, 1922; attended the public schools; B.A., Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., 1944; United States Navy, 1942-1946, Pacific Theater; awarded the Purple Heart; member, Wisconsin state senate, 1946-1952; delegate to the Republican National Conventions, 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-third and to the eight succeeding Congresses until his resignation on January 21, 1969 (January 3, 1953-January 21, 1969); Secretary of Defense in the Cabinet of President Richard M. Nixon, 1969-1973; domestic adviser to President Richard M. Nixon, 1973-1974; senior counselor for national and international affairs, Reader’s Digest Association; died on November 16, 2016, in Fort Myers, Florida.

Bibliography

Van Atta, Dale. With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace, and Politics. Foreword by Gerald R. Ford. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present