Lawrence Brooks HAYS, Congress, AR (1898-1981)

HAYS Lawrence Brooks , a Representative from Arkansas; born in London, Pope County, Ark., August 9, 1898; attended the public schools in Russellville, Ark.; University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, A.B., 1919; law school of George Washington University, Washington, D.C., J.D., 1922; was admitted to the bar in 1922 and commenced practice in Russellville, Ark.; served in the United States Army in 1918; assistant attorney general of Arkansas, 1925-1927; Democratic National committeeman for Arkansas, 1932-1939; NRA labor compliance officer for Arkansas in 1934; assistant to the administrator of resettlement in 1935; held administrative and legal positions in the Farm Security Administration, 1936-1942; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1943-January 3, 1959); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1957-1958; member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority 1959-1961; Assistant Secretary of State for congressional relations, 1961; Special Assistant to the President of the United States from December 1961 until February 1964, when he became professor of political science at Eagleton Institute of Rutgers University; visiting professor of government at University of Massachusetts, 1966-1967; director of Ecumenical Institute at Wake Forest University, 1968-1970; elected as co-chairman, Former Members of Congress, Inc., in 1970; chairman, Government Good Neighbor Council of North Carolina; unsuccessful candidate from North Carolina for election in 1972 to the Ninety-third Congress; resided in Chevy Chase, Md., until his death there on October 11, 1981; interment at Oakland Cemetery, Russellville, Ark.

Bibliography

Baker, James T. Brooks Hays. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1989; Hays, Brooks. Politics is My Parish: An Autobiography. Foreword by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981.

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