John M. Ashbrook

John Milan Ashbrook ( born September 21, 1928 in Johnstown, Licking County, Ohio, † April 24, 1982 ) was an American politician. Between 1961 and 1982 he represented the state of Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

John Ashbrook was the son of Congressman William A. Ashbrook (1867-1940) and husband of Jean Spencer Ashbrook who should be his successor in the House of Representatives in 1982. He attended until 1946, the Johnstown High School and then served from 1946 to 1948 in the U.S. Navy. During this time he held in the years 1946 and 1947, the Byrd Antarctic Expedition. In 1952 he graduated from the Harvard University. After studying law at Ohio State University in Columbus and his 1955 was admitted to the bar he began to work in Johnstown in this profession. In this city he also published a weekly newspaper. In contrast to his father, who was a member of the Democratic Party, he joined the Republicans. Between 1957 and 1961 he sat as an MP in the House of Representatives from Ohio. From 1957 to 1959 he was National Chairman of the Young Republican Club.

In the congressional elections of 1960 Ashbrook was in the 17th electoral district of Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Robert W. Levering on January 3, 1961. After ten elections he could remain until his death on 24 April 1982 at the Congress. In this time were, among others, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and in 1974, the Watergate affair. Ashbrook was considered a conservative MP. In the presidential election of 1972, he joined in some states in the primaries of his party against incumbent Richard Nixon. However, he only scored election results around 10 percent. When the Watergate scandal and the involvement of President Nixon were known Ashbrook called the first Republican congressman whose resignation.

In 1982, John Ashbrook announced to want to apply for a seat in the U.S. Senate. But for this it should not come. He died suddenly as a complete surprise from a stomach ailment.