George V. Hansen

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George V. Hansen
George V. Hansen

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1975 – January 4, 1985
Preceded by Orval H. Hansen
Succeeded by Richard H. Stallings

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's 2nd district
In office
January 4, 1965 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by Ralph R. Harding
Succeeded by Orval H. Hansen

Born September 14, 1930 (1930-09-14) (age 77)
Tetonia, Idaho
Political party Republican
Residence Pocatello
Profession Insurance
Religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

George Vernon Hansen (born September 14, 1930) is a Republican politician from the state of Idaho. He served in the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1969 and again from 1975 to 1985.

Hansen was born in Tetonia, Idaho. He graduated from Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) in 1956 and did graduate work at Idaho State University. Hansen served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1954 and the United States Naval Reserve from 1964 to 1970.

Hansen moved to Alameda, Idaho, and was established as a life insurance salesman by 1958. He was elected mayor of Alameda in 1961 and supported its merger with Pocatello the following year. Following the merger Hansen served as a Pocatello city commissioner until 1965.

Hansen was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senate in 1962 but won a seat in the House two years later. He again ran for the Senate in 1968 but lost to Democratic incumbent Frank Church. Hansen ran a third unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1972.

In 1975 Hansen returned to the House. In Washington Hansen was known as one of the most conservative members of Congress. He was a particularly vocal critic of the Internal Revenue Service.

Hansen took it upon himself to go to Tehran 1979 in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis to try to negotiate with militants through the fence of the U.S. Embassy, and once called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination "the chickens coming home to roost."[citation needed]

In 1984 Hansen was censured by the House for failing to include transactions on federal disclosure forms. He was defeated for reelection by less than 200 votes that year by Democrat Richard H. Stallings [1] . Hansen tried unsuccessfully to challenge the election result. He was convicted of failing to file full disclosure forms and spent 15 months in prison. His imprisonment allegedly included torture through medical neglect and subjection to "diesel therapy," a form of punishment in which prisoners are painfully shackled and then transported for days or weeks without respite. [2] The conviction was overturned in 1995 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hubbard v. United States [3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Justice Dept. Rebuts Rep. Hansen of Idaho, New York Times, November 9, 1984. [1]
  2. ^ "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" http://www.constitution.org/ghansen/conghansen.htm
  3. ^ findlaw: HUBBARD v. UNITED STATES, May 15, 1995. [2]

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Ralph R. Harding
United States House of Representatives, Idaho Second Congressional District
January 4, 1965–January 3, 1969
Succeeded by
Orval H. Hansen
Preceded by
Jack Hawley
Republican Party nominee, U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Idaho
1968 (lost)
Succeeded by
Robert L. Smith
Preceded by
Orval H. Hansen
United States House of Representatives, Idaho Second Congressional District
January 3, 1975–January 4, 1985
Succeeded by
Richard H. Stallings