John Martin Vorys

June 16, 1896 (age 72)

Lancaster, Ohio, United States

During the First World War served overseas as a pilot in the famous "Yale Unit" of the United States Naval Air Service, retiring to inactive service in 1919 with rank of lieutenant. He served as assistant secretary, American delegation, Conference on Limitation of Armaments, Washington, District of Columbia, in 1921 and 1922. He served as director of aeronautics of Ohio in 1929 and 1930. Vorys was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959). He did not seek reelection in 1958. A confidential 1943 analysis of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Isaiah Berlin for the British Foreign Office described Vorys as The real leader of the Opposition Bloc on the committee. He voted against all major foreign policy measures and was the author of the amendment in June 1939 which provided for a mandatory embargo on the export of arms to belligerent nations. He constantly presses (and for obvious reasons) for some sort of dollar and cent estimate of the current balance as between Lend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid and proposed the amendments which were later defeated, whereby Congress alone could authorise the final settlement. A Methodist; age 47; a formidable nationalist. Vorys served as delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1951, and as Regent of the Smithsonian Institution 1949-1959, before resuming the practice of law. He died in Columbus, Ohio, August 25, 1968, and was interred in Green Lawn Cemetery.

John Martin Vorys

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Background

Vorys, John Martin was born on June 16, 1896 in Lancaster, Ohio, United States. Son of Arthur Isaiah and Jeanny (McNeil) Vorys.

Education

Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Vorys attended the public schools in Lancaster and Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University in 1918, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and from Ohio State University Law School at Columbus in 1923.

Career

During the First World War served overseas as a pilot in the famous "Yale Unit" of the United States Naval Air Service, retiring to inactive service in 1919 with rank of lieutenant. He served as assistant secretary, American delegation, Conference on Limitation of Armaments, Washington, District of Columbia, in 1921 and 1922. He served as director of aeronautics of Ohio in 1929 and 1930.

Vorys was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959).

He did not seek reelection in 1958. A confidential 1943 analysis of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Isaiah Berlin for the British Foreign Office described Vorys as

The real leader of the Opposition Bloc on the committee.

He voted against all major foreign policy measures and was the author of the amendment in June 1939 which provided for a mandatory embargo on the export of arms to belligerent nations. He constantly presses (and for obvious reasons) for some sort of dollar and cent estimate of the current balance as between Lend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid and proposed the amendments which were later defeated, whereby Congress alone could authorise the final settlement.

A Methodist; age 47; a formidable nationalist.

Vorys served as delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1951, and as Regent of the Smithsonian Institution 1949-1959, before resuming the practice of law. He died in Columbus, Ohio, August 25, 1968, and was interred in Green Lawn Cemetery.

Achievements

John Martin Vorys has been listed as a noteworthy congressman by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Served as pilot, United States Naval Air Service, overseas, World War I. Member of the United States Delaware 6th General Assembly, United Nations, Paris, 1951. Member Columbus Bar Association (president, 1938), Ohio Bar Association, Psi Upsilon, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi, Delta Sigma Rho, Pi Sigma Alpha, Order of Coif.

Clubs: Rocky Fork Hunt and Country (Gahanna, Ohio).

Connections

Married Lois West, February 5, 1927. Children: Martin West, Jeanny Esther, Mary.

Father:: Arthur Isaiah Vorys
Mother:: Jeanny (McNeil) Vorys
Spouse:: Lois West
child:: Martin West Vorys
child:: Mary Vorys
child:: Jeanny Esther Vorys

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