Robert B. Duncan

Robert Blackford Duncan ( born December 4, 1920 in Normal, Illinois, † April 29, 2011 in Portland ) was an American politician. Between 1963 and 1967 he represented the fourth and 1975-1981 the third electoral district of the state of Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years and rise in Oregon

Robert Duncan grew up in Bloomington, where he attended the public schools. He then studied at the University of Alaska, the Illinois Wesleyan University and the University of California. Finally, he finished his education in 1948 with a law degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His studies had been interrupted by his time in the Merchant Navy and then during the Second World War. During this war, he served in a flight unit of the U.S. Navy. Later, he remained a member of the Naval Reserve.

Prior to his admission to the bar in 1948, Robert Duncan worked temporarily in different occupations in Alaska and Illinois. He was hired, among others at a bank in Chicago. After qualifying as a lawyer, he moved to Oregon, where he worked in a group practice. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. Between 1956 and 1962 he was a member of the House of Representatives of Oregon.

Congressman

In 1962 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became the successor of Edwin Russell Durno on January 3, 1963. After a re-election in 1964 he was able to complete in Congress until January 3, 1967 two legislative sessions. Duncan was a supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and supporters of the Vietnam War. In 1966 he competed not to stand for reelection to the House of Representatives, but a seat in the U.S. Senate. But He defeated Governor Mark Hatfield, with his now unpopular views played a role on the Vietnam War. Even in the years 1968 and 1972 he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. In the meantime, he again worked as a lawyer. In the congressional elections of 1974 he ran successfully for the third constituency for his return to the House of Representatives. There he took over on January 3, 1975 the seat of Edith Green. After two elections Duncan was able to exercise his mandate until January 3, 1981. In the primaries of 1980, he was defeated in his party Ron Wyden, who was also elected as his successor.

Further CV

Between 1984 and 1988 Robert Duncan was a member since 1987 and Chairman of the Northwest Power Planning Council. Then he withdrew into retirement. Robert Duncan was married to the late 1990 Marijane Beverly Dill since 1942; the couple had seven children. Robert Duncan lived most recently in Portland.