Richard L. Roudebush

Richard Roudebush
Administrator of Veterans Affairs
In office October 12, 1974 – January 20, 1977
President	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Donald Johnson
Succeeded by	Max Cleland
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana
In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1971
Preceded by	Fred Wampler
Succeeded by	Bud Hillis
Constituency	6th district (1961–1967) 10th district (1967–1969) 5th district (1969–1971)
Personal details
Born	Richard Lowell Roudebush (1918-01-18)January 18, 1918 Noblesville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	January 28, 1995(1995-01-28) (aged 77) Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Butler University (BA)

Richard Lowell Roudebush (January 18, 1918 – January 28, 1995) was an American World War II veteran who served five terms as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1961 to 1971.

Early life and education

Born on a farm in Hamilton County, near Noblesville, Indiana, Roudebush attended Hamilton County schools. He graduated from Butler University, Indianapolis, in 1941.

World War II

He served in the United States Army from November 18, 1941, to August 12, 1944, as a demolition specialist for the Ordnance Department in Middle Eastern, North African, and Italian campaigns. He was a farmer and a partner in a livestock commission company. He served as National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1957–1958, and as chairman of the Indiana Veterans Commission from 1954 to 1960.

Congress

Roudebush was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-seventh and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1971). He was not a candidate in 1970 for reelection, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate against incumbent Democrat Vance Hartke in the closest Senate election in Indiana history.

Later career and death

He later served as the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration from 1974 to 1977.

He died on January 28, 1995, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The Richard L. Roudebush V.A. Medical Center in Indianapolis was named in his honor.

See also

• List of members of the House Un-American Activities Committee

Sources

• United States Congress. "Richard L. Roudebush (id: R000464)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• 
  Wernher von Braun and Roudebush (L) discuss Apollo models.
• 
  Representative Roudebush and other members of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics visit the Marshall Space Flight Center on March 9, 1962 to gather first-hand information of the nation's space exploration program.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress