Leonard Irving

For the Indian-born English cricketer, see Leonard Irvine.

Theodore Leonard Irving (March 24, 1898 – March 8, 1962) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.

Leonard Irving
Postcard photo from 1954 campaign for the US House
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 4th district
In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	C. Jasper Bell
Succeeded by	Jeffrey Paul Hillelson
Personal details
Born	Theodore Leonard Irving (1898-03-24)March 24, 1898 St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	March 8, 1962(1962-03-08) (aged 63) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Mount Moriah Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Democratic

Born in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, Irving moved with his parents to a farm in North Dakota, where he attended the public schools. He worked for a railroad as a boy and during the First World War; later, he left the railroad to become manager of a theater in Montana. Irving then moved to California and was manager of a hotel. He moved to Jackson County, Missouri, in 1934 and was employed as a construction worker and later became a representative of the American Federation of Labor.

Irving was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first and Eighty-second Congresses (January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953). He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1952 and in a bid for the Democratic nomination in 1954. He once again became a labor organizer, and later was president of a labor union in Kansas City, Missouri.

He died on March 8, 1962, in Washington, D.C., while on a business trip, and was interred in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City.

Electoral history

1948 Missouri's 4th congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Irving	74,725	64.1%
	Republican	Richard A. Erickson	41,576	35.7%
	Progressive	R.D. Farnsworth	252	0.2%
	Socialist Labor	Karl Oberheu	11	0.01%
Majority			—	—
	Democratic hold

1950 Missouri's 4th congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Irving	53,424	61.6%
	Republican	Vernon D. Fulcrut	33,367	38.4%
Majority			—	—
	Democratic hold

1952 Missouri's 4th congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Irving	84,899	46.7%
	Republican	Jeffrey P. Hillelson	96,988	53.3%
Majority			—	—
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress

References

• United States Congress. "Leonard Irving (id: I000037)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.