Thomas S. Gettys

Thomas Smithwick Gettys ( born June 19, 1912 in Rock Hill, York County, South Carolina, † June 8, 2003 ) was an American politician. Between 1964 and 1974 he represented the state of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Thomas Gettys attended the public schools of his home and then the Clemson College, and until 1933 the Erskine College. He then continued his education at Duke University and Winthrop College. Between 1935 and 1941 Gettys worked in the teaching profession as a teacher and in administration. From 1942 to 1951 he was a staff member on the staff of Congressman James P. Richards. This period was interrupted by his military service in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Between 1951 and 1954 Gettys postmaster was in his hometown of Rock Hill. At the same time he worked as a lawyer. From 1953 to 1960 he was curator of the public schools of Rock Hill. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. Following the resignation of Congressman Robert W. Hemphill on May 1, 1964 Gettys was in the fifth constituency of South Carolina as his successor in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC selected. There he joined November 3, 1964 at its new mandate. After four elections he could remain until his resignation on 31 December 1974 in Congress. This period was marked by the events surrounding the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. In 1974, shook the Watergate political America. The measures introduced by Congress steps for impeachment of President Richard Nixon then, however, never came to fruition because Nixon resigned in August 1974.

1974 renounced Gettys on another candidacy. He put on 31 December this year, four days before the expiry of its term on January 3, 1975, his mandate. Then he retired from politics. Thomas Gettys died on June 8, 2003 in his birthplace of Rock Hill.