| Order 1 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 5th congressional district |
|---|---|
| Term start 1 | March 4, 1933 |
| Term end 1 | May 8, 1951 |
| Predecessor 1 | Hugh Ike Shott |
| Successor 1 | Elizabeth Kee |
| Office 2 | Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs |
| Term start 2 | March 7, 1949 |
| Term end 2 | January 3, 1951 |
| Predecessor 2 | Sol Bloom |
| Successor 2 | James P. Richards |
| State senate 3 | West Virginia |
| District 3 | 7th |
| Term start 3 | December 1, 1922 |
| Term end 3 | December 1, 1926 |
| Predecessor 3 | Joseph M. Sanders |
| Successor 3 | T. H. Lilly |
| Birth date | August 22, 1874 |
| Birth place | Glenville, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Death date | May 8, 1951 (aged 76) |
| Death place | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Simpkins (m. 1926) |
| Alma mater | Glenville State Normal School West Virginia University |
| Party | Democrat |
John Kee (August 22, 1874 – May 8, 1951) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 until his death in Washington, D.C., in 1951.
Biography
He was born in Glenville, West Virginia. He attended Glenville State Normal School and West Virginia University, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa, and was admitted to the bar in 1897. Kee was a member of the West Virginia Senate 1923–1927 He was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia and served from March 4, 1933, until his death, serving the Fifth Congressional District of West Virginia in the 73rd through the 82nd U.S. Congress. He was chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Eighty-first and Eighty-second Congresses.
A confidential 1943 analysis of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Isaiah Berlin for the British Foreign Office stated that[1]
Judge Kee has been in the House for ten years, and, while he has voted steadily for all the President's foreign policies, he is not either a forceful, influential or noticeably active member of the committee.
Kee died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 1951.[2] His wife, Elizabeth Kee, succeeded him as U.S. Representative after winning a special election to replace him. She served until 1965 when she was succeeded by their son, James Kee, who served until 1973 when the 5th district was abolished.
See also
- West Virginia's congressional delegations
- List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)
References
- ^ Hachey, Thomas E. (Winter 1973–1974). "American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943". Wisconsin Magazine of History. 57 (2): 141–153. JSTOR 4634869. Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Rep. John Kee, Glenville Graduate, Dies Suddenly". Glenville Mercury. May 15, 1951. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.