Scope and Content Note
The John J. Rhodes Minority Leader Papers consist of correspondence files, printed legislation, speeches, press releases, and financial records extending from 1968 to 1980. The bulk of the material concerns Republican political leadership in the US House of Representatives and legislation on a variety of national issues between 1975 and 1980. Subjects represented include the federal deficit and budgetary matters, energy policy, political appointments, the US Bicentennial, Republican national conventions, and Watergate. The collection has been divided into two series: General Files and Legislative Committees (see Processing Note). Both of these series are divided into a number of subject-oriented subseries.
Dates
- Creation: 1968-1980
Language of Materials
Material in English
Access Restrictions
To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.
Copyright
Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.
Biographical Note
John Jacob Rhodes Jr. was born to John Jacob and Gladys (Thomas) Rhodes in Council Grove, Kansas on September 18, 1916. He earned his B.A. from Kansas State University in 1938 and his LL.D. from Harvard Law School in 1941. During World War II, Rhodes served with the United States Army Air Corps (1941-1946). He married Mary Elizabeth Betty
Harvey (1919-2013) on May 24, 1942 and the couple had four children: John Jacob III (1943-2011), Thomas H., Elizabeth (Rhodes) Reich, and J. Scott.
Soon after his release from the military, Rhodes founded Rhodes, Killian, and Legg in Mesa, Arizona. He also served as a Staff Judge Advocate for the Arizona National Guard (1947-1952), as the Vice Chairman of the Arizona Board of Public Welfare (1951-1952), and as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention (1952, 1964, 1968). In 1952, Rhodes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's first Congressional district. He served continuously until the close of the 97th Congress in 1983. During his time in office, Rhodes was a member of numerous Congressional Committees, including Appropriations, Education and Labor, and Interior and Insular Affairs.
Rhodes was closely associated with Goldwater's presidential campaign and the Nixon administration. In 1973 Rhodes' Republican colleagues unanimously elected him house minority leader, the post vacated by Gerald Ford after his appointment as vice president. Rhodes also co-authored the legislation that authorized the Central Arizona Project.
Rhodes was active in local civic affairs and fraternal organizations including the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, the Free and Accepted Masons, Scottish Rite, and the Elks, Moose, and Rotary clubs. He died in Mesa, Arizona on August 24, 2003.
Full extent
198 Box(es)
Full extent
99 Linear Feet
Abstract
The John J. Rhodes Minority Leader Papers consist of correspondence files, printed legislation, speeches, press releases, and financial records extending from 1968 to 1980. The bulk of the material concerns Republican political leadership in the US House of Representatives and legislation on a variety of national issues between 1975 and 1980. Subjects represented include the federal deficit and budgetary matters, energy policy, political appointments, the US Bicentennial, Republican national conventions, and Watergate. The collection has been divided into two series.
Arrangement
This collection consists of one hundred and ninety-eight boxes divided into two series:
- Series I: General Files
- Series II: Legislative Committees
Provenance
The John J. Rhodes Minority Leader Papers were probably received from Congressman Rhodes in 1975 as part of the John J. Rhodes Papers (MSS-2).
Separated Materials
The Rhodes Papers have been divided into the following collections:
John J. Rhodes Papers (MSS-2)
John J. Rhodes Minority Leader Papers (MSS-3)
John J. Rhodes and Howard H. Baker Jr. Joint Leadership Papers (MSS-4)
John J. Rhodes Press Office Papers (MSS-5)
Processing Note
This collection was originally inventoried as the Rhodes Minority Leader Papers and the Rhodes Minority Leader, Legislative Committees Papers. Each of these groups was assigned numbering beginning with Box #1. The provenance of this division of the files is unknown. In order to make these materials available in a timely manner the Rhodes Minority Leader section has been assigned the series title General Files
and the Legislative Committees section has been assigned the series title Legislative Committees.
The arrangement of the collection has not been changed since it was originally inventoried.
When the finding aid was recoded in 2013, sub-series with identical titles were combined in order to reduce confusion. The collection itself, however, was not physically rearranged.
- Title
- John J. Rhodes Minority Leader Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Robert P. Spindler (1994 June); machine-readable finding guide created by Catalina Oyler.
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding guide encoded in English.
Repository details
Part of the Greater Arizona Collection Repository
Contact
Arizona State UniversityP.O. Box 871006
Tempe AZ 85287-1006 United States
(480) 965-4932
archives@asu.edu