Leslie C. Arends

Leslie C. Arends
United States House of Representatives Republican Whip
In office May 13, 1943 – December 31, 1974
Leader	Joseph W. Martin Charles Halleck Gerald Ford John J. Rhodes
Preceded by	Harry L. Englebright
Succeeded by	Robert Michel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 17th district
In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Frank Gillespie
Succeeded by	George M. O'Brien
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 15th district
In office January 3, 1973 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by	Cliffard D. Carlson
Succeeded by	Tim Lee Hall
Personal details
Born	Leslie Cornelius Arends (1895-09-27)September 27, 1895 Melvin, Illinois, United States
Died	Naples, Florida, United States
Political party	Republican

Leslie Cornelius Arends (September 27, 1895 – July 17, 1985) was a Republican politician from Illinois.

Life and career

Born in Melvin, Illinois, Arends was the youngest of 10 children born to George Teis Arends and Talea (née Weiss) Arends. His father was born in Peoria to parents who were both natives of Germany; his mother was born in Hanover, Germany.

Arends served in the United States Navy during World War I and earned a law degree while attending Oberlin College in Ohio and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Arends was the longest-serving whip in U.S. House of Representatives history, ranking second in the party in the House. He alternately served as majority whip and minority whip for House Republicans from 1943 to 1974. Arends was noted for his generally conservative voting record, his successful re-election as whip amid Republican in-fighting after the 1964 election, and his unwavering loyalty to President Richard M. Nixon at all stages of the Watergate scandal.

Arends represented a heavily Republican, largely rural downstate Illinois district in the US Congress from 1935 to 1974. A conservative but pragmatic Republican, he opposed much of the New Deal and remained a staunch isolationist until the American entry into World War II. Becoming minority whip in 1943, Arends helped create the powerful Conservative Coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats that controlled the domestic agenda from 1937 to 1964. He supported Robert A. Taft over Dwight D. Eisenhower for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, and was an early supporter of the party's nominees Richard M. Nixon and Barry Goldwater in the campaigns of the 1960s. He organized the GOP opposition to Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. Arends, however, supported civil rights legislation. He defended Richard Nixon throughout the Watergate affair; his close personal friendship with Gerald R. Ford ensured a good relationship with Nixon's successor.

Bibliography

• Lichtenstein, Nelson et al. Political Profiles. Volume 3, "The Kennedy Years." pg 14. New York: Facts On File, Inc, 1976.
• Schapsmeier, Edward L. and Frederick H. Schapsmeier, "Serving under Seven Presidents: Les Arends and His Forty Years in Congress." Illinois Historical Journal 1992 85(2): 105-118. Issn: 0748-8149

External links

• Leslie C. Arends at Find a Grave
• Leslie C. Arends at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by J. Frank Gillespie	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 17th congressional district January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1973	Succeeded by George M. O'Brien
Preceded by Cliffard D. Carlson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 15th congressional district January 3, 1973 – December 31, 1974	Succeeded by Tim Lee Hall
Party political offices
Preceded by Harry L. Englebright California	House Minority Whip May 13, 1943 – January 3, 1947	Succeeded by John W. McCormack Massachusetts
Preceded by John Sparkman Alabama	House Majority Whip January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	Succeeded by Percy Priest Tennessee
Preceded by John W. McCormack Massachusetts	House Minority Whip January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	Succeeded by John W. McCormack Massachusetts
Preceded by Percy Priest Tennessee	House Majority Whip January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955	Succeeded by Carl Albert Oklahoma
Preceded by John W. McCormack Massachusetts	House Minority Whip January 3, 1955 – December 31, 1974	Succeeded by Robert H. Michel Illinois