John Rarick
Encyclopedia
John Richard Rarick was a lawyer
who served as a Louisiana
state district court judge from 1961 to 1966 in St. Francisville, Louisiana
, the seat of West Feliciana Parish, and as a Democratic
U.S. representative from the Sixth Congressional District
from 1967 to 1975. A staunch conservative, he frequently quarreled with his party's increasingly liberal philosophy and leadership. In 1980, he sought the presidency as the nominee of the former American Independent Party
, originally founded in 1968 by George C. Wallace of Alabama
.
. He graduated from Goshen High School
in Goshen
, Indiana. He studied at Ball State University
(then Teacher's College) in Muncie
, Indiana.
Rarick then entered the United States Army
's Specialized Training Program and was sent to Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge, where he lived in the college barracks. He was then dispatched to the European Theater with the infantry
during World War II
. He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge
and later escaped from a German
prisoner of war
camp at Wurzburg. He was awarded the Bronze Star
and the Purple Heart
.
After his military service, Rarick obtained his bachelor's degree
from LSU. He then attended Tulane University Law School
in New Orleans
, from which he graduated with an LLB and then a Juris Doctor
degree in 1949. He was admitted to the Louisiana state bar later that year and set up a law practice in St. Francisville north of Baton Rouge. He was a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association for more than sixty years. On June 28, 1961, he was elected as a judge of the 20th Judicial District in East
and West Feliciana parishes. He resigned the judgeship on May 15, 1966, to declare his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives
.
(no relation to DeLesseps Story Morrison) of Hammond
in a closed Democratic primary runoff with 51.2 percent of the vote. Morrison had a "moderate racial record" and was attacked in the campaign by Rarick as an ally of "the black-power voting bloc" and being an "LBJ
rubber stamp". Rarick campaigned on "a segregationist, anti-President Johnson
and anti-federal government theme." Morrison accused Rarick of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan
, for which Rarick sued Morrison for libel.
Rarick's victory coincided with the selection of another controversial conservative, Lester Maddox
, as the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia. Incidentally, both Rarick and his 1966 Republican
opponent, Crayton G. "Sparky" Hall, later left their major parties— in 1976 Hall was the Sixth Congressional District elector for the Libertarian Party
, pledged that year to the Virginian Roger MacBride
.
Rarick quickly compiled a very conservative voting record, even by Louisiana Democratic standards. According to one scoring method, published in the American Journal of Political Science
, Rarick was the second most conservative Democrat of either chamber of Congress between 1937 and 2002. In a period of four years, 1971–1974, the American Conservative Union
gave Rarick a perfect score of 100 three times, and a score of 91 once (in 1973). Like colleague Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., of Bossier Parish
, Rarick was a former member of the pro-segregation White Citizens' Council
, founded in the middle 1950s by the State Senator
William M. Rainach
of Claiborne Parish
. Rarick spoke at events sponsored by the anticommunist
John Birch Society
.
During the primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor, three or four men in a car fired four quick shots at the congressman in a New Orleans parking lot. Rarick told the media: "The whole thing happened about like the flip of a finger. At first it sounded like someone threw a cherry bomb
. Then I turned around and looked at this car. This fellow was pointing a gun right at me. The shots kept coming. I jumped between cars ... I couldn't even tell you how many shots were fired. You don't count when you're looking down a gun barrel." A Rarick campaign aide suggested the assassination attempt might have been related to organized crime
.
On June 13, 1967, Rarick introduced H.R. 208 which asked Congress to renounce the validity of the 14th Amendment
; Rarick presented historical evidence gathered by Leander H. Perez
of Plaquemines Parish purporting to show that the 14th Amendment was never validly adopted.
In the midst of riots in Washington, D.C.
, following the 1968 assassination
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
, Rarick called for a congressional investigation into the violence in the capital, and remarked that the police and federal troops in the city had been "rendered ineffective" by orders which "utilized the forces of law and order to protect the looters and rioters from an angry citizenry." A year after King's death, Rarick called King "a Communist errand-boy" and a man "whose only claim to fame was disobedience of the law."
In 1969, Rarick was described as a "patsy" for neo-Nazis
for having spoken at several Liberty Lobby
rallies; similar charges were made against several other politicians of national standing. It was also alleged that Willis Carto
's United Congressional Appeal made $3,000 contributions to Rarick and two other U.S. representatives.
In 1970, Rarick gave a speech in support of Ian Smith
's white minority-rule government in the former Rhodesia
and denounced the U.S. policy of denying recognition to Smith's government.
In February 1971, when Captain Jerry B. Finley of Louisiana faced dismissal for refusing to shake hands with a black officer, Rarick called a news conference in Finley's defense. The Associated Press
reported that "John Rarick ... said that in his state it is not considered in good taste for a white person to shake hands with a black stranger."
In 1972, U.S. Representative Charles C. Diggs
, a Michigan
Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus
, called Rarick the "leading racist in this (92nd
) Congress." The remark was made during a hearing on home rule for the District of Columbia, which Rarick testified against—at one point, he described the district as a "sinkhole, rat infested ... the laughing stock of the free and Communist world." Diggs said that "We are stretching the First Amendment
even to permit you to speak before this committee." The local D.C. audience applauded Diggs' remarks, a fact which Rarick felt was "a perfect example of why we should prohibit home rule for the District of Columbia."
On January 3, 1973, Rarick introduced a resolution asking for a concurrent resolution by Congress stating that the federal government, the states, and local governments could not bar the song "Dixie
" from being played. The same day, he asked for a resolution that federal employees living in the District of Columbia must send their children to the predominantly black D.C. public schools.
J.D. DeBlieux
of Baton Rouge. DeBlieux was one of the first white politicians in Louisiana to have endorsed the civil rights
agenda. By a 79-21 percent margin, Rarick then defeated the Republican congressional nominee, Loyd J. Rockhold (1922-2010), a civil engineer and LSU graduate originally from Jonesboro
, the seat of Jackson Parish
in north Louisiana. Rockhold later served on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and was a long-time advocate for the disabled. He established the Special Children's Foundation and the Loyd J. Rockhold Center for Child Development at LSU, which was subsequently expanded and relocated to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
and renamed for the late Education Superintendent Cecil Picard.
In 1968
, Rarick supported American Independent Party candidate George Wallace for president against Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey and Republican Richard M. Nixon. Like the Democratic Representatives Albert Watson and John Bell Williams
who had supported Republican Barry Goldwater
in the 1964 presidential election
, Rarick was also stripped of seniority by the House Democratic Caucus for having openly supported Wallace. The Democrats were somewhat hesitant to discipline Rarick, as they thought it might make him a martyr in his district. Rarick had only been elected in 1966, thus stripping his seniority was largely a symbolic gesture. Nonetheless, Rarick reportedly considered switching to the Republican Party but never did so. George Wallace carried the Sixth District that Rarick represented by 54 percent, and won Louisiana by a plurality vote of 48 percent statewide.
In 1969, Rarick wrote a letter of support to New York City
Democratic mayoral
candidate Mario Procaccino
, offering to campaign "either for or against you [Procaccino]—whichever will be more helpful."Procaccino was threafter defeated by the incumbent liberal Republican John V. Lindsay, who in 1971 defected to the Democrats and unsuccessfully sought his new party's presidential nomination in 1972.
In 1972
, as Rarick was re-elected to his fourth and final term, his home parish of West Feliciana was the only parish among the sixty-four parishes to support Democratic presidential nominee George S. McGovern for president over Richard Nixon.
. He spoke at pro-war rallies with fellow anticommunist Carl McIntire
. He remarked at an April 1970 rally that "A people with the intelligence, the skills, the financial resources and the organizational ability to place astronauts on the moon—not once, but repeatedly—is surely capable of military victory over a minor, backward, disorganized, fourth-rate dictatorship." At a May 1971 rally, he remarked that U.S. leaders "lack the guts to end the war in the five to six weeks every military leader says it will take." Rarick also joined McIntire at a rally urging Nixon to cancel his upcoming trip to China
.
Rarick testified in favor of strengthening the Internal Security Act of 1950
and charged that the Subversive Activities Control Board
was not doing its job.
Rarick, along with Representative John Ashbrook, an Ohio
Republican, regularly inserted accounts of terror tactics in the former South Vietnam into the Congressional Record
.
In April 1971, mere days after Lieutenant William Calley
was convicted of ordering the My Lai Massacre
, Rarick offered an amendment, dedicated to Calley, which would have outlawed the prosecution of soldiers for killings during wartime. "We must tell every mother we shall not let another soldier be disgraced in this manner," Rarick said in advocacy of the amendment, "Isn't premeditated murder what war is all about?" The amendment was defeated by a voice vote.
In September 1971, 21 Senators and 33 House members, led by James Buckley
(New York Conservative
) and William Brock
(Tennessee
Republican), called a press conference to urge that the Republic of China
(Taiwan
) not be expelled from the United Nations
; some congressmen, however, expressed support for President Nixon's efforts to improve relationships with the People's Republic of China
. The conference came to an abrupt end when Representative John G. Schmitz
(California
Republican) and Rarick stood up and walked out, with Schmitz saying, "Congressman Rarick and I are leaving, and you can take our names off that list. This is too weak a position."
Early in 1972, Rarick opposed President Nixon's latest peace proposal that would allow, when implemented in 1973, the acceptance of the Communist Party in a new government in South Vietnam. Rarick referred to Nixon as a "sellout" and one who catered to his own Democratic opponents. Colleague F. Edward Hebert, a Democrat from New Orleans, also known for his hawkish views on the war, however, defended Nixon's offer as sincere and workable.
and Parren Mitchell
of Maryland
to sponsor the "People Power Over War Act", a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a national referendum
on military action other than an invasion of the country. It was patterned after the former Ludlow Amendment
. From 1935 to 1941, Representative Louis Ludlow
, an Indiana Democrat, introduced legislation each year to oppose President Franklin D. Roosevelt
's interventionist foreign policy. The text of the measure reads in part: "Except in the event of an attack or invasion the authority of Congress to declare war shall not become effective until confirmed by a majority of all votes cast thereon in a nationwide referendum."
Early in 1972, U.S. Senator Sam Ervin
, of North Carolina
disclosed that Army intelligence surveillance
of civilian officials from late 1967 into 1970 was more extensive than had been previously revealed. In a brief filed with the United States Supreme Court
, Ervin said that the Army had watched the political activities of certain public officials and retired politicians, including Rarick. Ervin said that the main targets were persons and organizations either opposed to the Vietnam War
or considered "anti-establishment".
Among the measures that Rarick introduced in Congress were the following:
, signed into law by President Johnson.
Rarick supported prayer in public schools, backing a constitutional amendment to that end.
In 1973, Rarick introduced a bill to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations
. Earlier, in 1972, Rarick tried to bring John G. Schmitz's bill to withdraw from the U.N. to a vote. Rarick was against foreign aid, writing in 1971: "In my three terms in the House I have never seen a foreign aid bill that deserved passage. I have always felt that we should have Americans helping Americans first, not after they got through helping everyone else."
Representative H. R. Gross (Iowa
Republican) and Rarick were vocal opponents of legislation converting the U.S. to the metric system
, Rarick calling it "anti-American".
broadcaster
, Jeffrey Dean "Jeff" LaCaze (born c. 1944), who objected to Rarick's conservative voting record. LaCaze prevailed, 60,570 votes to 56,659. LaCaze was considered a liberal who enjoyed the support of organized labor and most African Americans in a district then almost one-third black.
LaCaze in turn lost to Republican W. Henson Moore, III
, of Baton Rouge in a disputed November 1974 general election
. In a special election rematch held in January 1975 to resolve the deadlock, LaCaze lost by nearly eight percentage points to Moore. The Sixth District seat was then in Republican hands for more than thirty years, first with Moore, then with Richard H. Baker, also of Baton Rouge, until state Representative Don Cazayoux
of New Roads
defeated former Republican state Representative Woody Jenkins
in a special election held on May 3, 2008. The seat returned to Republican hands in January 2009 after Cazayoux lost the regular general election on November 4, 2008, to Bill Cassidy
, a Baton Rouge physician
.
Rarick resumed the practice of law after his congressional defeat.
, against Robert Morris
(who had Richard Viguerie
as his running mate and the backing of National Review
-publisher William Rusher) and former Governor Lester Maddox. Maddox, who had been widely described as the front-runner prior to the convention, won the nomination on the first ballot, with the support of 177 delegates (52.2%). Morris had the support of 80 delegates (23.6%) and Rarick had 79 (23.3%). In the general election, Maddox would go on to win 170,274 votes (or 0.21%).
to throw the election to Democrat Richard Alvin Tonry
. In a surprise development, Tonry was forced to resign from the U.S. House in May 1977 because of allegations of electoral misconduct. Livingston thereafter won the seat in a special election held in August 1977.
, Rarick again sought the AIP nomination, competing against Percy L. Greaves, Jr.
, of New York (already the nominee of the American Party) and James Schumacher of Arizona
. Both Rarick and Greaves were described as advocating a "strictly defensive non-intervention[ist] foreign policy" while Schumacher spoke in favor of arming Israel
"to the teeth" and the "complete destruction of the next country that invades Israel." In a speech to 150 convention delegates, Rarick outlined a platform which opposed foreign aid and American participation in the United Nations, and citing his congressional votes against the Equal Rights Amendment
and funding for abortion
. Rarick easily secured the nomination, winning the support of 64 delegates (84.2%) on the first ballot; Greaves had the support of 11 delegates (14.5%) and Schumacher had only a single supporter (1.3%). Eileen Knowland Shearer of California (the wife of AIP founder William K. Shearer
) was chosen as Rarick's running mate.
On the ballot in only eight states, Rarick finished in seventh place, with 40,906 votes (or just 0.05 percent). Rarick's most respectable showings were in Louisiana, where he polled 10,333 votes (0.67 percent and about the same number that Maddox had received four years earlier) and in Alabama where he captured 15,010 votes (1.12 percent). Overall, his totals were so meager as to have been omitted from most presidential election tallies. He opposed the campaign of Republican Ronald Reagan
for president that year on the grounds that Reagan, a former governor of California
, was too accommodating to the welfare state
to address the pressing needs of the nation.
's candidacy for U.S. Senator against the Democrat J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.; Duke won 44 percent of the vote and launched a losing gubernatorial race in 1991.
. He received the "Medal of Freedom" Award from the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation, an organization named for the Hungarian
priest
, Jozsef Mindszenty, who was persecuted and exiled because of his opposition to Joseph Stalin
and communist abuses during the Cold War
. Rarick was given a "life achievement award" by the National Council of Conservative Citizens
, a group of which he was a charter member and frequently addressed, along with the late conservative columnist, Sam Francis. Rarick was named "Mason
of the Century" by the Feliciana Lodge 31, where he was active for more than a half century and twice served as its worshipful master. He was instrumental in organizing the lodge's annual "Day the War Stopped", an annual American Civil War
re-enactment.
Rarick died of cancer
at his St. Francisville home at 9:20 p.m., on September 14, 2009. Cherie Brumfield, his daughter and former law partner, told Baton Rouge Morning Advocate that her father stood up for his lifetime motto: "For God and the Constitution", words inscribed on his tombstone. Brumfield said that Rarick had tried to "wake up America to fight for America." She added that her father, despite his Indiana birth, considered himself "as proud a southerner as anyone born here. He would say, 'I'm a southerner by choice, not chance.
In addition to his second wife, Rarick is survived by one son, John Rarick, II, and wife Kay, and daughters Cherie Rarick Brumfield and husband, Bill, and Laurie Rarick Slattery and husband, John. He had nine grandchildren: John Rarick, III, and wife Tara; Parrish Rarick; Alecia Rarick Tortorich and husband, Louis; Jodie Brumfield Morrow and husband, Jude; William Brian Brumfield; H. Doyle Magee, III; John Slattery, III; Marguerite Slattery, and Patrick Rarick Slattery. He had six great-grandchildren: Brennan Morrow, Catherine Morrow, Christian Rarick, McKenna Rarick, John Challen Rarick, and Kaitlyn Tortorich. He is also survived by four stepchildren: Scott, Don, and Dave Campbell, and Lori Campbell Teufert; and one step-grandson, Derrick Hyde.
Services were held on September 18, 2009, at the First Baptist
Church of St. Francisville, of which Rarick was a member. He is interred beside his first wife at Star Hill Cemetery off U.S. Highway 61 and Louisiana Highway 966 near St. Francisville.
Rarick's papers have been donated to Southeastern Louisiana University
in Hammond.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
who served as a Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
state district court judge from 1961 to 1966 in St. Francisville, Louisiana
St. Francisville, Louisiana
St. Francisville is a town in and the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,712 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:St...
, the seat of West Feliciana Parish, and as a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
U.S. representative from the Sixth Congressional District
Louisiana's 6th congressional district
Louisiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in south-central Louisiana, the district contains the state capital of Baton Rouge and its suburbs and the western half of the Florida Parishes and areas west and south of Baton Rouge...
from 1967 to 1975. A staunch conservative, he frequently quarreled with his party's increasingly liberal philosophy and leadership. In 1980, he sought the presidency as the nominee of the former American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
, originally founded in 1968 by George C. Wallace of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Early years and military service
Rarick was born in rural Waterford in La Porte County in IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. He graduated from Goshen High School
Goshen High School (Indiana)
Goshen High School is a public high school in Goshen, Indiana, in the United States. As of 2009, total enrollment is at 1,700 students. Goshen High School has a large hispanic population, at 52%, and a student to teacher ratio of 17/1. The school's athletic teams compete in Class 5A...
in Goshen
Goshen, Indiana
Goshen is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northern...
, Indiana. He studied at Ball State University
Ball State University
Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
(then Teacher's College) in Muncie
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
, Indiana.
Rarick then entered 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...
's Specialized Training Program and was sent to Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge, where he lived in the college barracks. He was then dispatched to the European Theater with the infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
and later escaped from a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp at Wurzburg. He was awarded the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
and the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
.
After his military service, Rarick obtained his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from LSU. He then attended Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, from which he graduated with an LLB and then a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree in 1949. He was admitted to the Louisiana state bar later that year and set up a law practice in St. Francisville north of Baton Rouge. He was a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association for more than sixty years. On June 28, 1961, he was elected as a judge of the 20th Judicial District in East
East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
East Feliciana Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Clinton. In 2000, the population was 21,360.East Feliciana Parish is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Baton Rouge–Pierre Part Combined Statistical...
and West Feliciana parishes. He resigned the judgeship on May 15, 1966, to declare his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
Unseating Congressman Jimmy Morrison
Rarick had been a member of the Democratic Party in Indiana and for a time was the party's city chairman in Goshen. He remained a Democrat when he moved to Louisiana. In the summer of 1966, Rarick upset veteran Sixth District Congressman James Hobson "Jimmy" MorrisonJames H. Morrison
James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison, Sr. , was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the Sixth Congressional District of Louisiana, who served from 1943 to 1967...
(no relation to DeLesseps Story Morrison) of Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
in a closed Democratic primary runoff with 51.2 percent of the vote. Morrison had a "moderate racial record" and was attacked in the campaign by Rarick as an ally of "the black-power voting bloc" and being an "LBJ
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
rubber stamp". Rarick campaigned on "a segregationist, anti-President Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
and anti-federal government theme." Morrison accused Rarick of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, for which Rarick sued Morrison for libel.
Rarick's victory coincided with the selection of another controversial conservative, Lester Maddox
Lester Maddox
Lester Garfield Maddox was an American politician who was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971....
, as the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia. Incidentally, both Rarick and his 1966 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
opponent, Crayton G. "Sparky" Hall, later left their major parties— in 1976 Hall was the Sixth Congressional District elector for the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
, pledged that year to the Virginian Roger MacBride
Roger MacBride
Roger Lea MacBride was an American lawyer, political figure, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election....
.
Rarick quickly compiled a very conservative voting record, even by Louisiana Democratic standards. According to one scoring method, published in the American Journal of Political Science
American Journal of Political Science
The American Journal of Political Science is published by the Midwest Political Science Association. It was formerly known as the Midwest Journal of Political Science. According to the 2008 edition of the Journal Citation Reports, its impact factor is 2.397...
, Rarick was the second most conservative Democrat of either chamber of Congress between 1937 and 2002. In a period of four years, 1971–1974, the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
gave Rarick a perfect score of 100 three times, and a score of 91 once (in 1973). Like colleague Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., of Bossier Parish
Bossier Parish, Louisiana
Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, a 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.Bossier Parish was spared fighting on its soil during the American Civil War...
, Rarick was a former member of the pro-segregation White Citizens' Council
White Citizens' Council
The White Citizens' Council was an American white supremacist organization formed on July 11, 1954. After 1956, it was known as the Citizens' Councils of America...
, founded in the middle 1950s by the State Senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
William M. Rainach
William M. Rainach
William Monroe Rainach, Sr., known as Willie Rainach , was a state legislator from rural Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisiana's "Massive Resistance" to desegregation during the last half of the 1950s...
of Claiborne Parish
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Homer and as of 2000, the population is 16,851.-History:The parish is named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne....
. Rarick spoke at events sponsored by the anticommunist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
.
Challenging John McKeithen
In November 1967, with less than a year of congressional service to his credit, Rarick challenged popular Democratic Governor John J. McKeithen for renomination. Rarick secured the support of various "far right" groups in the state, but was badly defeated, winning only 17.3 percent of the two-candidate vote to McKeithen's 80.7 percent. (There were several minor candidates not included in the percent breakdown.) Rarick did not poll a gubernatorial majority even among those voters who expected to support Wallace for president in 1968.During the primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor, three or four men in a car fired four quick shots at the congressman in a New Orleans parking lot. Rarick told the media: "The whole thing happened about like the flip of a finger. At first it sounded like someone threw a cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry Bombs are approximately spherical shaped exploding fireworks, ranging in size from three-quarters-inch to one-and-one-half-inch in diameter...
. Then I turned around and looked at this car. This fellow was pointing a gun right at me. The shots kept coming. I jumped between cars ... I couldn't even tell you how many shots were fired. You don't count when you're looking down a gun barrel." A Rarick campaign aide suggested the assassination attempt might have been related to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
Segregation and charges of racism
In both his campaign against Jimmy Morrison and against John McKeithen, Rarick was regarded as the segregationist candidate. As a judge, Rarick had condemned racial integration as "a tool of the Communist conspiracy." He referred to racial busing as a torture tactic.On June 13, 1967, Rarick introduced H.R. 208 which asked Congress to renounce the validity of the 14th Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
; Rarick presented historical evidence gathered by Leander H. Perez
Leander Perez
Leander Henry Perez, Sr. , was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission...
of Plaquemines Parish purporting to show that the 14th Amendment was never validly adopted.
In the midst of riots 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....
, following the 1968 assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent American leader of the African-American civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39...
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, Rarick called for a congressional investigation into the violence in the capital, and remarked that the police and federal troops in the city had been "rendered ineffective" by orders which "utilized the forces of law and order to protect the looters and rioters from an angry citizenry." A year after King's death, Rarick called King "a Communist errand-boy" and a man "whose only claim to fame was disobedience of the law."
In 1969, Rarick was described as a "patsy" for neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
for having spoken at several Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization founded in 1958 that went bankrupt in 2001. It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,-Antisemitic world-view:...
rallies; similar charges were made against several other politicians of national standing. It was also alleged that Willis Carto
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto is a longtime figure on the American far right. He describes himself as Jeffersonian and populist, but is primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.-Influences on Carto:...
's United Congressional Appeal made $3,000 contributions to Rarick and two other U.S. representatives.
In 1970, Rarick gave a speech in support of Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
's white minority-rule government in the former Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
and denounced the U.S. policy of denying recognition to Smith's government.
In February 1971, when Captain Jerry B. Finley of Louisiana faced dismissal for refusing to shake hands with a black officer, Rarick called a news conference in Finley's defense. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that "John Rarick ... said that in his state it is not considered in good taste for a white person to shake hands with a black stranger."
In 1972, U.S. Representative Charles C. Diggs
Charles Diggs
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. was an African-American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Diggs was an early member of the civil rights movement, having been present at the murder trial of Emmett Till and elected the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.Diggs resigned from the...
, a 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"....
Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
, called Rarick the "leading racist in this (92nd
92nd United States Congress
The Ninety-second 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...
) Congress." The remark was made during a hearing on home rule for the District of Columbia, which Rarick testified against—at one point, he described the district as a "sinkhole, rat infested ... the laughing stock of the free and Communist world." Diggs said that "We are stretching the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
even to permit you to speak before this committee." The local D.C. audience applauded Diggs' remarks, a fact which Rarick felt was "a perfect example of why we should prohibit home rule for the District of Columbia."
On January 3, 1973, Rarick introduced a resolution asking for a concurrent resolution by Congress stating that the federal government, the states, and local governments could not bar the song "Dixie
Dixie (song)
Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
" from being played. The same day, he asked for a resolution that federal employees living in the District of Columbia must send their children to the predominantly black D.C. public schools.
Supporting George Wallace
In 1968, Rarick won renomination by turning back a primary challenge from State SenatorLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
J.D. DeBlieux
J.D. DeBlieux
Joseph Davis DeBlieux, known as J.D. DeBlieux ,was a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate who represented East Baton Rouge Parish from 1956 to 1960 and again from 1964 to 1976. DeBlieux is remembered as a crusader for civil rights in Louisiana politics during the latter years of the era...
of Baton Rouge. DeBlieux was one of the first white politicians in Louisiana to have endorsed the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
agenda. By a 79-21 percent margin, Rarick then defeated the Republican congressional nominee, Loyd J. Rockhold (1922-2010), a civil engineer and LSU graduate originally from Jonesboro
Jonesboro, Louisiana
Jonesboro is a town in and the parish seat of Jackson Parish in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 3,914 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, the seat of Jackson Parish
Jackson Parish, Louisiana
Jackson Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes. In 2010, its population was 16,274. The parish seat is Jonesboro...
in north Louisiana. Rockhold later served on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and was a long-time advocate for the disabled. He established the Special Children's Foundation and the Loyd J. Rockhold Center for Child Development at LSU, which was subsequently expanded and relocated to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
and renamed for the late Education Superintendent Cecil Picard.
In 1968
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
, Rarick supported American Independent Party candidate George Wallace for president against Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey and Republican Richard M. Nixon. Like the Democratic Representatives Albert Watson and John Bell Williams
John Bell Williams
John Bell Williams was an American Democratic politician who was governor of Mississippi from 1968 to 1972.-Biography:...
who had supported Republican Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
in the 1964 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1964
The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
, Rarick was also stripped of seniority by the House Democratic Caucus for having openly supported Wallace. The Democrats were somewhat hesitant to discipline Rarick, as they thought it might make him a martyr in his district. Rarick had only been elected in 1966, thus stripping his seniority was largely a symbolic gesture. Nonetheless, Rarick reportedly considered switching to the Republican Party but never did so. George Wallace carried the Sixth District that Rarick represented by 54 percent, and won Louisiana by a plurality vote of 48 percent statewide.
In 1969, Rarick wrote a letter of support to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Democratic mayoral
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
candidate Mario Procaccino
Mario Procaccino
Mario Angelo Procaccino was a lawyer, comptroller, and candidate for mayor of New York City.Procaccino was born in Bisaccia, Italy. When he was nine years old, his family relocated to the United States, and despite poverty, he graduated from City College and Fordham Law School, becoming a lawyer...
, offering to campaign "either for or against you [Procaccino]—whichever will be more helpful."Procaccino was threafter defeated by the incumbent liberal Republican John V. Lindsay, who in 1971 defected to the Democrats and unsuccessfully sought his new party's presidential nomination in 1972.
In 1972
United States presidential election, 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
, as Rarick was re-elected to his fourth and final term, his home parish of West Feliciana was the only parish among the sixty-four parishes to support Democratic presidential nominee George S. McGovern for president over Richard Nixon.
Anti-communism and the Vietnam War
Once described as "a Communist-hater of mountainous rage," Rarick favored prosecution of the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He spoke at pro-war rallies with fellow anticommunist Carl McIntire
Carl McIntire
Carl McIntire was a founder of, and minister in, the Bible Presbyterian Church, founder and long president of the and the American Council of Christian Churches, and a popular religious radio broadcaster, who proudly identified himself as a fundamentalist.-Youth and education:Born in Ypsilanti,...
. He remarked at an April 1970 rally that "A people with the intelligence, the skills, the financial resources and the organizational ability to place astronauts on the moon—not once, but repeatedly—is surely capable of military victory over a minor, backward, disorganized, fourth-rate dictatorship." At a May 1971 rally, he remarked that U.S. leaders "lack the guts to end the war in the five to six weeks every military leader says it will take." Rarick also joined McIntire at a rally urging Nixon to cancel his upcoming trip to China
1972 Nixon visit to China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. It marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC, who at that time considered the U.S. one...
.
Rarick testified in favor of strengthening the Internal Security Act of 1950
McCarran Internal Security Act
The Internal Security Act of 1950, , also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act or the McCarran Act, after Senator Pat McCarran , is a United States federal law of the McCarthy era. It was passed over President Harry Truman's veto...
and charged that the Subversive Activities Control Board
Subversive Activities Control Board
The Subversive Activities Control Board was a United States government committee to investigate Communist infiltration of American society during the 1950s Red Scare....
was not doing its job.
Rarick, along with Representative John Ashbrook, an Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Republican, regularly inserted accounts of terror tactics in the former South Vietnam into the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
.
In April 1971, mere days after Lieutenant William Calley
William Calley
William Laws Calley is a convicted American war criminal and a former U.S. Army officer found guilty of murder for his role in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
was convicted of ordering the My Lai Massacre
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
, Rarick offered an amendment, dedicated to Calley, which would have outlawed the prosecution of soldiers for killings during wartime. "We must tell every mother we shall not let another soldier be disgraced in this manner," Rarick said in advocacy of the amendment, "Isn't premeditated murder what war is all about?" The amendment was defeated by a voice vote.
In September 1971, 21 Senators and 33 House members, led by James Buckley
James L. Buckley
James Lane Buckley is a retired judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and previously served as a United States Senator from the state of New York as a member of the Conservative Party of New York from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977...
(New York Conservative
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
) and William Brock
Bill Brock
William Emerson "Bill" Brock III is a former Republican United States senator from Tennessee, having served from 1971 to 1977. He is the grandson of William Emerson Brock I, who was a Democratic U.S. senator from Tennessee from 1929 to 1931.-Early life and career:Brock was a native of Chattanooga,...
(Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
Republican), called a press conference to urge that the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) not be expelled from the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
; some congressmen, however, expressed support for President Nixon's efforts to improve relationships with the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. The conference came to an abrupt end when Representative John G. Schmitz
John G. Schmitz
John George Schmitz was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and California State Senate from Orange County, California. He was also a member of the John Birch Society...
(California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Republican) and Rarick stood up and walked out, with Schmitz saying, "Congressman Rarick and I are leaving, and you can take our names off that list. This is too weak a position."
Early in 1972, Rarick opposed President Nixon's latest peace proposal that would allow, when implemented in 1973, the acceptance of the Communist Party in a new government in South Vietnam. Rarick referred to Nixon as a "sellout" and one who catered to his own Democratic opponents. Colleague F. Edward Hebert, a Democrat from New Orleans, also known for his hawkish views on the war, however, defended Nixon's offer as sincere and workable.
Anti-establishment congressman
In 1971, Rarick joined liberal Democratic U.S. Representatives Robert Leggett of CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Parren Mitchell
Parren Mitchell
Parren James Mitchell , a Democrat, was a U.S. Congressman who represented the 7th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1987. He was the first African-American elected to Congress from Maryland....
of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
to sponsor the "People Power Over War Act", a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a national referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on military action other than an invasion of the country. It was patterned after the former Ludlow Amendment
Ludlow Amendment
The Ludlow Amendment was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States which called for a national referendum on any declaration of war by Congress, except in cases when the United States had been attacked first. Representative Louis Ludlow introduced the amendment several times...
. From 1935 to 1941, Representative Louis Ludlow
Louis Ludlow
Louis Leon Ludlow was a Democratic Indiana congressman; he proposed a constitutional amendment early in 1938 requiring a national referendum on any U.S. declaration of war except in cases of direct attack...
, an Indiana Democrat, introduced legislation each year to oppose President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's interventionist foreign policy. The text of the measure reads in part: "Except in the event of an attack or invasion the authority of Congress to declare war shall not become effective until confirmed by a majority of all votes cast thereon in a nationwide referendum."
Early in 1972, U.S. Senator Sam Ervin
Sam Ervin
Samuel James "Sam" Ervin Jr. was a Democratic Senator from North Carolina from 1954 until 1974. A native of Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl...
, of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
disclosed that Army intelligence surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
of civilian officials from late 1967 into 1970 was more extensive than had been previously revealed. In a brief filed with the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, Ervin said that the Army had watched the political activities of certain public officials and retired politicians, including Rarick. Ervin said that the main targets were persons and organizations either opposed to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
or considered "anti-establishment".
Among the measures that Rarick introduced in Congress were the following:
- H.R. 10851: A bill to provide that paper money carry a designation in BrailleBrailleThe Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
to indicate the denomination - H.R. 6359: A bill to permit a deduction from gross annual income any expenses incurred in connection with the adoption of a child
- H.R. 118: A bill to permit citizens of the United States to acquire, hold, and dispose of goldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
- H.R. 119: A bill to vest in the U.S. government unconditional ownership of the twelve Federal Reserve banks
- H.R. 960: A bill to reduce the public debt each fiscal year by at least 10 percent of the estimated overall federal receipts
- H.R. 5164: A bill to exempt law enforcement officer and firefighters from paying federal taxes on their first $5,000 of compensation (1973 dollars)
Other issues
Rarick was an opponent of gun control and gun registration. Of the latter, he said in 1971, "History confirms that registration of firearms inevitably leads to confiscation, followed by enslavement of peoples." Also that year, he introduced a bill to repeal the Gun Control Act of 1968Gun Control Act of 1968
The Gun Control Act of 1968 , by president Lyndon Johnson, is a federal law in the United States that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners...
, signed into law by President Johnson.
Rarick supported prayer in public schools, backing a constitutional amendment to that end.
In 1973, Rarick introduced a bill to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations
United States withdrawal from the United Nations
The United States of America has been a member-state of the United Nations since its inception as a supranational entity in 1945. Since the 1990s, amidst the high unpopularity of the UN within the United States, there has been a growing movement for United States withdrawal from the United Nations....
. Earlier, in 1972, Rarick tried to bring John G. Schmitz's bill to withdraw from the U.N. to a vote. Rarick was against foreign aid, writing in 1971: "In my three terms in the House I have never seen a foreign aid bill that deserved passage. I have always felt that we should have Americans helping Americans first, not after they got through helping everyone else."
Representative H. R. Gross (Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
Republican) and Rarick were vocal opponents of legislation converting the U.S. to the metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
, Rarick calling it "anti-American".
Losing renomination in 1974
In 1974, voters denied Rarick renomination, as they had done to Morrison eight years earlier. Rarick was unseated by a young Baton Rouge televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, Jeffrey Dean "Jeff" LaCaze (born c. 1944), who objected to Rarick's conservative voting record. LaCaze prevailed, 60,570 votes to 56,659. LaCaze was considered a liberal who enjoyed the support of organized labor and most African Americans in a district then almost one-third black.
LaCaze in turn lost to Republican W. Henson Moore, III
Henson Moore
William Henson Moore III , is a retired attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented the Baton Rouge-based Sixth Congressional District, from 1975-1987. He is only the second Republican to have represented Louisiana in the House since...
, of Baton Rouge in a disputed November 1974 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
. In a special election rematch held in January 1975 to resolve the deadlock, LaCaze lost by nearly eight percentage points to Moore. The Sixth District seat was then in Republican hands for more than thirty years, first with Moore, then with Richard H. Baker, also of Baton Rouge, until state Representative Don Cazayoux
Don Cazayoux
Donald J. 'Don' Cazayoux, Jr. is a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district. He is currently US Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana....
of New Roads
New Roads, Louisiana
New Roads is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana is located in New Roads . The population was 4,996 at the 2000 census. The city's ZIP code is 70760...
defeated former Republican state Representative Woody Jenkins
Woody Jenkins
Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
in a special election held on May 3, 2008. The seat returned to Republican hands in January 2009 after Cazayoux lost the regular general election on November 4, 2008, to Bill Cassidy
Bill Cassidy
William "Bill" Cassidy is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...
, a Baton Rouge physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
.
Rarick resumed the practice of law after his congressional defeat.
Candidate for AIP presidential nomination, 1976
Rarick ran for the American Independent Party (AIP) nomination in 1976United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, against Robert Morris
Robert J. Morris
Robert John Morris was an American anti-Communist activist who served as chief counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security from 1951 to 1953 and from 1956 to 1958, was President of the University of Dallas and founded the now-defunct University of Plano.-Biography:Morris...
(who had Richard Viguerie
Richard Viguerie
Richard Art Viguerie is a conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on American politics...
as his running mate and the backing of National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
-publisher William Rusher) and former Governor Lester Maddox. Maddox, who had been widely described as the front-runner prior to the convention, won the nomination on the first ballot, with the support of 177 delegates (52.2%). Morris had the support of 80 delegates (23.6%) and Rarick had 79 (23.3%). In the general election, Maddox would go on to win 170,274 votes (or 0.21%).
Running for Congress again, 1976
Rarick then turned his attention to returning to Congress. He ran in the suburban New Orleans-based First District in 1976 as an independent. The seat had come open when 36-year incumbent F. Edward Hébert announced his retirement. Rarick polled only 12,227 votes (9.4 percent). However, he siphoned off enough votes that presumably otherwise would have gone to Republican Robert L. "Bob" LivingstonBob Livingston
Robert Linlithgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and a former Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana...
to throw the election to Democrat Richard Alvin Tonry
Richard Alvin Tonry
Richard Alvin Tonry is a former Louisiana politician affiliated with the Democratic Party and a one-term congressman.Tonry was born in New Orleans. He graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, in 1962. He earned a law degree from Loyola University of New Orleans in 1967...
. In a surprise development, Tonry was forced to resign from the U.S. House in May 1977 because of allegations of electoral misconduct. Livingston thereafter won the seat in a special election held in August 1977.
AIP presidential nominee, 1980
In 1980United States presidential election, 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
, Rarick again sought the AIP nomination, competing against Percy L. Greaves, Jr.
Percy L. Greaves, Jr.
Percy L. Greaves, Jr. was an American free-market economist, historian, and presidential candidate.Greaves was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 24, 1906. He received a B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from the Syracuse University School of Business Administration...
, of New York (already the nominee of the American Party) and James Schumacher of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. Both Rarick and Greaves were described as advocating a "strictly defensive non-intervention[ist] foreign policy" while Schumacher spoke in favor of arming Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
"to the teeth" and the "complete destruction of the next country that invades Israel." In a speech to 150 convention delegates, Rarick outlined a platform which opposed foreign aid and American participation in the United Nations, and citing his congressional votes against the Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
and funding for abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. Rarick easily secured the nomination, winning the support of 64 delegates (84.2%) on the first ballot; Greaves had the support of 11 delegates (14.5%) and Schumacher had only a single supporter (1.3%). Eileen Knowland Shearer of California (the wife of AIP founder William K. Shearer
Bill Shearer
William Kennedy Shearer of California was the chairman of the Constitution Party from 1996 to 1999, and founded the American Independent Party in 1967 with his wife Eileen to support George C. Wallace's presidential campaign. In 1970 Shearer was the California AIP's first candidate for Governor,...
) was chosen as Rarick's running mate.
On the ballot in only eight states, Rarick finished in seventh place, with 40,906 votes (or just 0.05 percent). Rarick's most respectable showings were in Louisiana, where he polled 10,333 votes (0.67 percent and about the same number that Maddox had received four years earlier) and in Alabama where he captured 15,010 votes (1.12 percent). Overall, his totals were so meager as to have been omitted from most presidential election tallies. He opposed the campaign of Republican Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
for president that year on the grounds that Reagan, a former governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
, was too accommodating to the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
to address the pressing needs of the nation.
Later politics
In 1990, Rarick supported David DukeDavid Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
's candidacy for U.S. Senator against the Democrat J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.; Duke won 44 percent of the vote and launched a losing gubernatorial race in 1991.
Honors
Rarick was awarded the "Medal of Honor" from the National Society for the Daughters of the American RevolutionDaughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
. He received the "Medal of Freedom" Award from the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation, an organization named for the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Jozsef Mindszenty, who was persecuted and exiled because of his opposition to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and communist abuses during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Rarick was given a "life achievement award" by the National Council of Conservative Citizens
Council of Conservative Citizens
The Council of Conservative Citizens is an American political organization that supports a large variety of conservative and paleoconservative causes in addition to white nationalism, and white separatism...
, a group of which he was a charter member and frequently addressed, along with the late conservative columnist, Sam Francis. Rarick was named "Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
of the Century" by the Feliciana Lodge 31, where he was active for more than a half century and twice served as its worshipful master. He was instrumental in organizing the lodge's annual "Day the War Stopped", an annual American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
re-enactment.
Death
On December 27, 1945, Rarick married the former Marguerite Pierce (September 10, 1924 – April 13, 2003), the mother of his three children. On January 21, 2004, the widower Rarick married the former Frances Eldred Campbell, a long-time family friend. In addition to his first wife, he was preceded in death by a grandson, Marc Magee Slattery.Rarick died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at his St. Francisville home at 9:20 p.m., on September 14, 2009. Cherie Brumfield, his daughter and former law partner, told Baton Rouge Morning Advocate that her father stood up for his lifetime motto: "For God and the Constitution", words inscribed on his tombstone. Brumfield said that Rarick had tried to "wake up America to fight for America." She added that her father, despite his Indiana birth, considered himself "as proud a southerner as anyone born here. He would say, 'I'm a southerner by choice, not chance.
In addition to his second wife, Rarick is survived by one son, John Rarick, II, and wife Kay, and daughters Cherie Rarick Brumfield and husband, Bill, and Laurie Rarick Slattery and husband, John. He had nine grandchildren: John Rarick, III, and wife Tara; Parrish Rarick; Alecia Rarick Tortorich and husband, Louis; Jodie Brumfield Morrow and husband, Jude; William Brian Brumfield; H. Doyle Magee, III; John Slattery, III; Marguerite Slattery, and Patrick Rarick Slattery. He had six great-grandchildren: Brennan Morrow, Catherine Morrow, Christian Rarick, McKenna Rarick, John Challen Rarick, and Kaitlyn Tortorich. He is also survived by four stepchildren: Scott, Don, and Dave Campbell, and Lori Campbell Teufert; and one step-grandson, Derrick Hyde.
Services were held on September 18, 2009, at the First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church of St. Francisville, of which Rarick was a member. He is interred beside his first wife at Star Hill Cemetery off U.S. Highway 61 and Louisiana Highway 966 near St. Francisville.
Rarick's papers have been donated to Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
in Hammond.