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John Melcher



John Melcher (born September 6 1924) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who represented Montana as a member of the United States House of Representatives, and as a United States Senator from 1977 until 1989.

John Melcher was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He attended the University of Minnesota, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and graduated from Iowa State University in 1950.

Later he moved to Forsyth, Montana and established a veterinary clinic. He became mayor of Forsyth in 1955.

In 1962 he was elected State senator. He was elected as a Democrat to the 91st Congress by special election, June 24 1969, to fill a vacancy created when the incumbent, Republican James F. Battin, resigned to accept an appointment to the Federal bench. Melcher was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses and served from June 24 1969, to January 3 1977.[1]

In 1976 he was elected to the United States Senate for the term commencing January 3 1977. Melcher ran and was reelected in 1982 for the term ending January 3, 1989. A highlight of the latter campaign was the "moo cows for Melcher" ad. Melcher had been targeted by National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) as potentially vulnerable, and he was subjected to attack ads depicting him as "too liberal for Montana". Melcher's response became a classic of campaign advertising, featuring a shot of an "out-of-stater" carrying a briefcase full of money, followed by a conversation among several cows deploring their intervention in the race.[2]

His campaign for re-election was unsuccessful in 1988, when he was defeated by Republican Conrad Burns.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b
    • John Melcher at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  2. ^ O'Reilly, Jane (1982-11-15). "No Thunder from the Right". Time. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
Preceded by
James Franklin Battin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Montana's 2nd congressional district

June 24, 1969 – January 3, 1977
Succeeded by
Ron Marlenee
Preceded by
Mike Mansfield
United States Senator (Class 1) from Montana
1977 – 1989
Served alongside: Lee Metcalf, Paul G. Hatfield, Max Baucus
Succeeded by
Conrad Burns
Preceded by
H. John Heinz III
Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee
1987 – 1989
Succeeded by
David Pryor
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John_Melcher". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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