James Grant O'Hara was a soldier and politician from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, serving as U.S. Representative from 1959 to 1977.

Early life

O'Hara was born in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. He moved with his parents to Michigan in 1939 and graduated from University of Detroit High School

University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy

The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, founded in 1877, is one of two Jesuit high schools in the city of Detroit, Michigan...

 in 1943. During the Second World War, he served as an enlisted man in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 with Company B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 11th Airborne Division

U.S. 11th Airborne Division

-Knollwood Maneuver:The 11th Airborne, as the attacking force, was assigned the objective of capturing Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield near Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The force defending the airfield and its environs was a combat team composed of elements of the 17th Airborne Division and a...

, seeing action in the Pacific Theater of Operations

Pacific Theater of Operations

The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...

.

After the war, O'Hara graduated from the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 in 1954 and from the law department of the same university in 1955. He was admitted to the bar in 1955 and commenced the practice of law in Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 and Macomb County

Macomb County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 788,149 people, 309,203 households, and 210,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,640 people per square mile . There were 320,276 housing units at an average density of 667 per square mile...

. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s in 1960

1960 Democratic National Convention

The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...

 and 1968

1968 Democratic National Convention

The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...

.

Political career

In 1958, he defeated incumbent Republican Robert J. McIntosh

Robert J. McIntosh

Robert John McIntosh was a politician and pilot from the U.S. state of Michigan.McIntosh was born in Port Huron, Michigan and graduated from Port Huron High School in 1940. He attended Michigan State University, East Lansing from 1940 to 1944. He received a J.D...

 to be elected as a Democrat to the 86th United States Congress

86th United States Congress

The Eighty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1961, during the last two years...

. He was subsequently re-elected to the eight succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1977. He represented Michigan's 7th congressional district

Michigan's 7th congressional district

Michigan's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan. It consists of all of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, and Lenawee counties, and includes most of Calhoun and a large portion of western and northern Washtenaw counties.In the November 2, 2010...

 from 1959 to 1965 and after redistricting due to the 1960 census

United States Census, 1960

The Eighteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 179,323,175, an increase of 18.5 percent over the 151,325,798 persons enumerated during the 1950 Census.-Census questions:...

, he represented Michigan's 12th congressional district

Michigan's 12th congressional district

Michigan's 12th congressional district is a United States Congressional District located in Detroit's inner suburbs to the north, along the Interstate 696 corridor in Macomb and Oakland counties, as well as a portion of Macomb north of the corridor....

 from 1965 to 1977. Both districts were part of the Metro Detroit

Metro Detroit

The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...

 area.

O'Hara was not a candidate for reelection in 1976, but instead chose to run for a seat in the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, after Philip A. Hart chose not to seek re-election. O'Hara lost in the Democratic primary election to Donald W. Riegle, Jr.

Donald W. Riegle, Jr.

Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. is an American politician from Michigan, who served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator.-Early life:...

, who went on to win in the general election. O'Hara resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C. He was a member, and later chairman, Federal Minimum Wage Study Commission, 1978-1981.

Personal life

O'Hara was a resident of Hollin Hills

Hollin Hills

Hollin Hills is a neighborhood of approximately 450 houses conceived and built by the visionary builder Robert C. Davenport, and designed by D.C.-based architect Charles M...

 near Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, until his death at age 63 from lung cancer at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

.