James Colgate Cleveland

James Colgate Cleveland (1920-1995) was a United States Congressman from 1962 to 1980.

Cleveland was born June 13, 1920 to Dr. Mather Cleveland and Susan Colgate Cleveland. He was the second of six children and the eldest son (brother to actress Patience Cleveland). James C. Cleveland graduated from Colgate University in 1942, after which he attended Yale Law School for a graduate degree. During his time at Yale, James C. Cleveland fought in the Army abroad in World War II, and he finished his degree upon his return.

Upon graduation from Yale, James C. Cleveland began practicing law in New London, New Hampshire, and from 1950 to 1962 he was a member of the New Hampshire State Senate.

In 1950, Cleveland married Hilary Paterson, also of New London, New Hampshire. They had five children: Cotton Mather, James Colgate (James Jr.), David Paterson, Lincoln Mather, and Susan Sclater.

In 1951, Cleveland was called back to fight for the Army in the Korean War.

In 1960, Cleveland ran for his first term in the United States House of Representatives. He won in 1960 and held the seat continuously until his retirement in 1980. According to Cleveland, he only ran because none of the other candidates struck him as good choices for the position; he did not run out of any particular desire to be a member of congress. His actions while in congress, however, won him the respect of the majority of his constituents in the Second District of New Hampshire. Cleveland made it his duty to fairly and accurately represent his constituents even when it went against his own personal opinion of a given issue. His extreme consideration of those whom he represented was apparent in the efforts he made to understand his constituents; he sent out bi-annual questionnaires of a simple format that helped him and his staff understand which issues mattered most to the people of New Hampshire's Second District.

The appreciation of Cleveland's dedication to his work as a Representative was made formal and public on two different occasions. The first was the renaming of the United States Post Office and Court House building in New Hampshire's capitol city, Concord, to the "James C. Cleveland Federal Building" in 1980. The second occasion on which Cleveland's constituents expressed their appreciation was the construction of the James C. Cleveland Bridge in Berlin, New Hampshire in 1982.

James C. Cleveland died on December 3, 1995 in New London, New Hampshire.

The James C. Cleveland Papers are held by the [Cleveland, Colby, Colgate Archives] of [Colby-Sawyer College] in New London, New Hampshire.

External links

*CongBio|C000512