Richard Estep Lankford served as a Democrat in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1948 to 1954, and the United States House of Representatives from the 5th Congressional District for five terms from 1955 to 1965. Lankford was born in Wilmington, Delaware on July 22, 1914. He earned a B.S. from the University of Virginia in 1937, and an LL.B. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1940. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserves from 1942 to 1946. He died in Easton, Maryland on September 22, 2003.