Gilbert Gude

Gilbert Gude
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 8th district
In office
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1977
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byNewton Steers
Member of the Maryland Senate
In office
1962–1967
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
In office
1954–1958
Personal details
Born(1923-03-09)March 9, 1923
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedJune 7, 2007(2007-06-07) (aged 84)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseJane Callaghan
Children5
Alma materUniversity of Maryland
Cornell University
George Washington University
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1943–1946
UnitArmy Medical Department
Battles/warsWorld War II

Gilbert Gude (March 9, 1923 – June 7, 2007) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district from 1967 to 1977. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and career

Gude was born in Washington, D.C., and was educated in the public schools of Rockville, Maryland, and Washington. He attended the University of Maryland, obtained his B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1948, and his M.A. degree from George Washington University for Public Administration in 1958. He later taught history and environment courses at Georgetown University and served on the Board of Trustees for The Catholic University of America. During World War II, Gude served in the Pacific Theater as a part of the United States Army Medical Department from 1943 to 1946.[1][2]

After the war, Gude was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates in January 1953, and was later elected to the House of Delegates in 1954, serving until 1958. He was elected to the Republican State Central Committee in 1958, and elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1962, serving until 1967. Gude accomplished numerous things while in office, including sponsoring legislation that led to the building of the Washington Metro system, leading efforts to save the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and create the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, and supporting D.C. home rule.[3] He was a delegate to the Republican State convention in 1952, and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1968.

Congressional career

Gude was elected as a Republican to the 90th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1967, until January 3, 1977, but was not a candidate for reelection in 1976 to the 95th Congress. Gude voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.[4] In 1970, he defeated the Democrat Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., later a prominent lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and the son of Gude's colleague, U.S. Representative Hale Boggs and then Lindy Boggs of Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, based about New Orleans.

Gude described himself as being socially liberal on civil rights and moderate on economical policies.

During his tenure in Congress, Gude served on the Government Operations Committee and its Conservation, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee; the House Environmental Study; the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission; the Select Committee on Aging and its Retirement Income and Employment Subcommittee; and the House District of Columbia Committee and its Commerce, Housing and Transportation Subcommittee.[3] Gude was a congressional observer at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, and later as director of the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service from 1977 to 1985. Gude served as a member and is former chairman of the Consultative Committee of Experts, International Centre for Parliamentary Documentation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union of Geneva.

After Gude left Congress in 1977, a person from Capitol Hill stated: "When you start losing the Gil Gudes, then Congress is in trouble."[5]

Death

Gude died on June 7, 2007, from congestive heart failure in Washington, D.C. He was survived by his widow, Jane, five children (Adrienne, Daniel, Sharon, Brett and Gregory) and three grandchildren (Edward W. Lewis IV, Alexandra Morgan Lewis, and Michael Gude).[2][6] His wife Jane was the daughter of U.S. Navy Vice Admiral William M. Callaghan.[7]

Election results

Maryland's 8th congressional district election (new district), 1966[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gilbert Gude 71,050 54.40
Democratic Royce Hanson 59,568 45.60
Total votes 130,618 100.00
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1968[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gilbert Gude (Incumbent) 109,167 60.89
Democratic Margaret C. Schweinhaut 70,109 39.11
Total votes 179,276 100.00
Republican hold
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1970[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gilbert Gude (Incumbent) 104,647 63.38
Democratic Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr. 60,456 36.62
Total votes 165,103 100.00
Republican hold
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1972[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gilbert Gude (Incumbent) 137,287 63.90
Democratic Joseph G. Anastasi 77,551 36.10
Total votes 214,838 100.00
Republican hold
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1974[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gilbert Gude (Incumbent) 104,675 65.92
Democratic Sidney Kramer 54,112 34.08
Total votes 158,787 100.00
Republican hold

References

  1. ^ Schudel, Matt (June 9, 2007). "Gilbert Gude, 84; GOP Legislator, Environmentalist". The Washington Post. p. B6.
  2. ^ a b Jacques Kelly; Frederick N. Rasmussen (June 9, 2007). "Gilbert Gude". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. ^ a b "Guide to the Gilbert Gude Papers, 1967-1976", Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
  4. ^ "TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES".
  5. ^ Statesmen and Mischief Makers: Officeholders and Their Contributions to History from Kennedy to Reagan; Scott Crass, 2015
  6. ^ "Gilbert Gude, 84; Republican congressman advocated for environment", Los Angeles Times June 11, 2007
  7. ^ Armed Forces Journal International, Volume 85, Issues 27-52 p. 1188
  8. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (March 31, 1967). "Statistics of the Contressional Election of November 8, 1966" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  9. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (July 1, 1969). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1968" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  10. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 1, 1971). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  11. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (March 15, 1973). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  12. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (August 1, 1975). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
District created after at-large representation
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 8th congressional district

January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1977
Succeeded by