Beckworth, Lindley

Lindley Garrison Beckworth, 1913-1984, son of Otis Jefferson and Josie (Slaughter) Beckworth, was born in Kaufman County, Texas. In 1931, he graduated from Gilmer High School intent on entering politics. He began teaching in Upshur County, announced his candidacy for the Texas House of Representatives in 1936 and won over five other candidates in the first primary by eight hundred votes. In 1938, Beckworth defeated Morgan G. Sanders, the incumbent of the third Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives. At twenty-five he was the youngest member of Congress elected in the twentieth century. He continued in the House until 1952, when he campaigned for the Senate seat vacated by Tom Connally but lost by a three to one margin. In 1956, he ran for his old congressional seat and won, defeating R. E. Blount. He continued in Congress until 1965 when redistricting threw him into a race with Ray Roberts for the new Fourth District. Beckworth lost the election, but in 1966 he was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the U. S. Customs Court where he served until 1968. After practicing law in Longview for a year, he ran for the Texas Senate, second district, defeating Jack Warren. Beckworth served only one term in the state legislature, returning to his law practice in East Texas.

While in Congress, Beckworth was the second ranking Democrat and chairman of the Texas delegation from 1948 to 1952. He served on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Post Office and Civil Service, and Foreign Affairs committees, chairing the Subcommittee on Civil Service. Beckworth introduced legislation establishing Camp Fannin near Tyler, Harmon General Hospital in Longview, and the Army Radio Training Program at Tyler Commercial College. While on the Customs Court he handed down seventy-five decisions, and while in the Texas Legislature he wrote a bill authorizing the establishment of Texas Eastern University in Tyler, now the University of Texas at Tyler.

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