Charles Chamberlain, R.I.P.

Human Events, Dec 16, 2002 by Gizzi, John

It's rare that a candidate for Congress is pictured on the cover of Time magazine, but that is precisely what happened to Republican Charles E. Chamberlain in 1956. A hard-hitting conservative, Ingham County Prosecutor Chamberlain's eventually triumphant challenge to Democratic Rep. (1954-56) Donald Hayworth in Michigan's 6th District (Lansing) was the subject of a Time cover story titled "How to Run for Congress." That was just one of the recollections friends had of former Rep. (1956-74) Chamberlain when hearing of his death from heart failure November 25.

Chamberlain, whose family had settled in Michigan before statehood, graduated from the University of Virginia and its law school. Following service as commander of a Coast Guard subchaser in World War II, he returned home and plunged into Lansing politics. He served as city attorney for Lansing, legal counsel to the state senate Judiciary Committee and was then elected prosecutor.

In Congress, Armed Services Committee member Chamberlain quickly established himself as a strong supporter of the military and pushed aid to Taiwan. In later years, he became an outspoken backer of the U.S. effort in Vietnam and critic of the antiwar movement. But Chamberlain was perhaps best known for his long fight to repeal the 10% federal excise tax on automobiles and trucks, finally achieving success in 1971 when President Nixon signed the bill repealing the World War II-era tax.

Chamberlain narrowly survived a rematch with Hayworth in 1958, but easily beat the former congressman in 1962 in their third meeting. By then, redistricting had removed union-laden Flint from the 6th District, making re-election easier for Chamberlain. But in 1972, the just-enacted 18-year-old vote and Chamberlain's unyielding pro-Vietnam stance nearly brought down the Republican incumbent. Backed by battalions of college volunteers from Michigan State University in Lansing, Democratic lawyer Democrat Bob Carr came within 2,500 votes of unseating the seemingly invincible Chamberlain. Two years later, Chamberlain announced his retirement (whereupon Carr won the first of seven terms, edging out Republican and present State Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor by just under 700 votes).

Chamberlain then launched a high-powered law firm in Washington and he and his wife sold Christmas trees from their Leesburg, Va., house. He was 85.