Samuel L. Devine

Samuel Leeper Devine
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 12th district
In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	John M. Vorys
Succeeded by	Bob Shamansky
Chairman of the House Republican Conference
In office June 20, 1979 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	John B. Anderson
Succeeded by	Jack Kemp
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
In office 1951–1955
Personal details
Born	(1915-12-21)December 21, 1915 South Bend, Indiana
Died	June 27, 1997(1997-06-27) (aged 81)
Political party	Republican
Children	Carol Miller
Alma mater	Colgate University Ohio State University Notre Dame Law School

Samuel Leeper Devine (21 December 1915 – 27 June 1997) was an American politician of the Republican party who served in the United States House of Representatives as Representative of the 12th congressional district of Ohio from 3 January 1959 until 3 January 1981; he left office after being defeated by Democrat Bob Shamansky (who would lose the seat after a single (two-year) term to Republican John Kasich). During the 96th Congress, he was the Chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Biography

Devine was born in South Bend, Indiana, on 21 December 1915. His family moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1920. He attended Upper Arlington High School. Devine attended Colgate University in 1933 and 1934; and then the Ohio State University from 1934 to 1937. After being graduated from the Ohio State University, Devine went to law school at the University of Notre Dame, and received an LL.B. and J.D. in 1940. He was admitted to the bar in 1940 and began private legal practice in Columbus, but in 1940 was appointed a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He resigned from the Bureau in October 1945 and resumed private practice in Columbus.

Devine embarked on a political career in 1950, and was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, in which he served from 1951 to 1955. Thereïn, Devine was chairman of the Ohio Un-American Activities Committee, a joint committee of the Ohio House and the Senate, and modelled on the federal House Un-American Activities Committee. This committee was given extensive powers of interrogation. It declared in 1952 that approximately 1,300 Ohioans were members of the Communist Party. At Devine's urging, the state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a bill to impose prison terms and fines on Communists.

Devine served as Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County, Ohio, from 1955 until 1958, when he was elected to the United States Congress. Devine was also a college football official for 27 years. His daughter, Carol D. Miller, is a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, where she serves as majority whip.

External links

• United States Congress. "Samuel L. Devine (id: D000279)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.