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RICHARD HARLESS
1939-1942
Richard Harless started out with a medical degree in mind, but switched to law, receiving his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1933. He was appointed Assistant City Attorney in 1935, then became the Assistant Attorney General in 1936. By New Year's Eve 1938, he was Maricopa County Attorney, and by 1940 he had prosecuted one of the largest cases to date: the Robert Burgunder murder case. After four years as County Attorney, Mr. Harless was elected to the United States Congress, where he co-authored the GI Bill of Rights, obtained the vote for Native Americans, obtained funds to build Sky Harbor International Airport and was responsible for bringing a veterans hospital to Phoenix.

 

PICTURE TAKEN 1930: Harless, Richard Fielding (1905-1970) -- also known as Richard F. Harless -- of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Born in Kelsey, Upshur County, Tex., August 6, 1905. Democrat. U.S. Representative from Arizona at-large, 1943-49; candidate for Governor of Arizona, 1948. Died in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz., November 24, 1970. Interment at Greenwood Memorial Park, Phoenix, Ariz HARLESS, Richard Fielding, a Representative from Arizona; born in Kelsey, Upshur County, Tex., August 6, 1905; moved to Thatcher, Ariz., in 1917 and attended the grade and high schools; was graduated from University of Arizona at Tucson in 1928; taught school at Marana, Ariz., 1928-1930; was graduated from the law school of the University of Arizona in 1933; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Phoenix, Ariz.; assistant city attorney of Phoenix, Ariz., in 1935; assistant attorney general of Arizona in 1936; county attorney of Maricopa County, Ariz., 1938-1942; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, and Eightieth Congresses (January 3, 1943-January 3, 1949); did not seek renomination in 1948 but was unsuccessful for the gubernatorial nomination; unsuccessful for the Democratic nomination in 1954 for the Eighty-fourth Congress; Democratic nominee in 1960 for the Eighty-seventh Congress; resumed the practice of law; died in Phoenix, Ariz., November 24, 1970; interment in Greenwood Memorial Park. Submitted by Kathy Lynn

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