Robert Grier Stephens, Jr.

Robert Grier Stephens ( born August 14, 1913 in Atlanta, Georgia, † February 20, 2003 in Athens, Georgia ) was an American politician. Between 1961 and 1977 he represented the state of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Robert Stephens was a great-grandnephew of Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883) of the Congressman, Governor of Georgia, as well as Vice President of the Confederate States was. He attended until 1931, the Boys School in Atlanta and then studied until 1937 at the University of Georgia in Athens. Between 1935 and 1936 he attended the University of Hamburg. After Stephens studied until 1941 at the Georgia Law School Law. Between 1941 and 1946, he served during World War II in the U.S. Army. During the Nuremberg Trials, he was on the staff of Justice Robert H. Jackson. After his military Stephens practiced as a lawyer. Between 1947 and 1950 he was the legal representative of the city of Athens. In addition, he was a faculty member of the University of Georgia.

Politically, Stephens was a member of the Democratic Party. Between 1951 and 1953 he sat in the Senate of Georgia; 1953 to 1959 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the State. In 1964 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, was nominated to the President Lyndon B. Johnson for re-election.

In the congressional elections of 1960 Stephens was the tenth electoral district of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Paul Brown on January 3, 1961. After seven elections he could pass in Congress until January 3, 1977 eight legislatures. In this time were, among others, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the Watergate scandal. In addition, at the time the constitutional amendments were passed 23 to 26.

1976 Robert Stephens waived on a bid again for Congress. In the following years, he retired from politics. He died on 20 February 2003 in Athens.