"Wisconsin Congressman" Melvin Laird Hand Signed TLS dated 1962 Todd Mueller COA

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Up for auction
"Wisconsin Congressman" Melvin Laird Hand Signed TLS dated 1962.
This item is authenticated by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-4059
Melvin Robert
Laird
(September 1, 1922 – November 16, 2016) was an American politician, writer and statesman. He was a
U.S. congressman
from
Wisconsin
from 1953 to 1969 before serving as
Secretary of Defense
from 1969 to 1973 under President
Richard Nixon
. Laird was instrumental in forming the administration's policy of withdrawing U.S. soldiers from the
Vietnam War
; he coined the expression "
Vietnamization
," referring to the process of transferring more responsibility for combat to the South Vietnamese forces. First elected in 1952, Laird was the last surviving Representative elected to the
83rd Congress
at the time of his death. Laird was born in
Omaha, Nebraska
, the son of
Melvin R. Laird Sr.
, a politician, businessman, and clergyman.
He grew up and attended high school in
Marshfield, Wisconsin
, although in his junior year he attended
Lake Forest Academy
in
Lake Forest, Illinois
. He was nicknamed "Bambino" (shortened to "Bom" and pronounced like the word 'bomb') by his mother.
Laird was the grandson of
William D. Connor
, the
Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
from 1907 to 1909, and the great-grandson of
Robert Connor
, a member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly
. His niece is Jessica Laird Doyle, wife of former
Wisconsin
Governor
Jim Doyle
.
He graduated from
Carleton College
in
Minnesota
in May 1944, having enlisted in the
United States Navy
a year earlier. Following his commissioning as an
ensign
, he served on a destroyer, the
USS
Maddox
, in the
Pacific
during the end of
World War II
. A recipient of the
Purple Heart
and several other decorations, Laird left the Navy in April 1946.