J. T. Rutherford

James T. Rutherford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 16th district
In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1963
Preceded by	Kenneth M. Regan
Succeeded by	Ed Foreman
Texas State Representative from District 88 (Ector County)
In office 1949 – 1953
Preceded by	George W. Elliott
Succeeded by	Elbert Reeves
Texas Senate, District 29
In office 1953 – 1954
Preceded by	Hill D. Hudson
Succeeded by	Frank Owen, III
Personal details
Born	May 30, 1921(1921-05-30) Hot Springs Garland County Arkansas, USA
Died	November 6, 2006(2006-11-06) (aged 85) Arlington, Virginia
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Sara Jane Armstrong Rutherford (married 1948)
Children	Cleo Ann Rutherford Charles Lane Rutherford
Residence	Odessa, Texas Arlington County, Virginia
Alma mater	Angelo State University Sul Ross State University Baylor Law School
Occupation	Businessman
Military service
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Rank	Amphibian vehicle crewman Major
Battles/wars	D-Day and Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II

James T. Rutherford, known as J. T. Rutherford (May 30, 1921 – November 6, 2006), was a Democratic United States Representative from the state of Texas.

He was born to James Thadeus Rutherford and the former Allee Lillian Johnson in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1934, his family relocated to Odessa, Texas, where he attended public schools. He served as an enlisted man in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946, of which twenty-eight months were spent overseas. He was awarded the Purple Heart. As an assault amphibian vehicle crewman, he landed in the first waves on D-Day at Tarawa, Saipan, where he was wounded, and Tinian. He retired as a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

From 1946 to 1947, Rutherford studied at San Angelo College in San Angelo. He then transferred to Sul Ross State College in Alpine, which he attended from 1947 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950, he attended Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas.

In 1948, Rutherford married the former Sara Jane Armstrong, and the couple had two children, Cleo Ann and Charles Lane Rutherford. Rutherford was a partner in an industrial electrical construction firm and also owned an advertising business.

Rutherford served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952 and the Texas State Senate from 1953 to 1954. He was elected to the 84th to 87th United States Congresses from January 3, 1955 to January 3, 1963. An unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1962 to the 88th United States Congress, Rutherford was unseated by Republican Ed Foreman of Odessa, later of Dallas. His loss to Foreman was attributed to the Billy Sol Estes scandal. He missed only one floor vote of the several thousand cast while he was a representative.

He was the first chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks. He was awarded the U.S. Department of Interior's Conservation Service Award in 1962 for his efforts to spearhead conservation legislation including laws that created a new national seashore on Padre Island, Cape Cod National Seashore, and Point Reyes in California.

Rutherford's district was the old jumbo 16th district, Midland being its eastmost point and El Paso at its westmost. It also stretched hundreds of miles along the border with Mexico. The 19 counties it embraced covered 42,067 square miles—making it geographically larger than Ohio or Tennessee, among others.

After leaving Congress, he formed J. T. Rutherford and Associates, a government relations consulting firm. He was a director of the Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation for Crippled Children, which was established in 1943 in Gonzales County, Texas. He was also a Shriner, another group which promotes the welfare of crippled children.

Rutherford died of complications of Alzheimer's disease in Arlington, Virginia, where he spent his later years.

References

• J. T. Rutherford at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• Obituary

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by George W. Elliott	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 88 (Odessa) 1949–1953	Succeeded by Elbert Reeves
Texas Senate
Preceded by Hill D. Hudson	Texas State Senator from District 29 (Odessa) 1953–1954	Succeeded by Frank Owen, III
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Kenneth M. Regan	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 16th congressional district 1955–1963	Succeeded by Ed Foreman