James I. Dolliver

James Isaac Dolliver (August 31, 1894 – December 10, 1978) served six terms as a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district, beginning in 1944. He was the nephew of U.S. Senator Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver of Iowa.

Born in Park Ridge, Illinois, to Rev. and Mrs. Robert H. Dolliver, he received elementary education in Illinois schools at Lanark, Pawpaw, Eochelle, Lockport and Joliet before moving to Hot Springs, South Dakota. He graduated from Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa, in 1915. He taught school at Alta, Iowa, and Humboldt, Iowa, until 1918, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was enrolled in signal officers' training school at New Haven, where he was when the First World War ended.

In 1942, Dolliver ran against Governor George A. Wilson and two others for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. In the primary election, Dolliver finished a distant third.

Two years later, Dolliver ran for the U.S. House for a seat held by Fred C. Gilchrist, an incumbent member of Dolliver's own party who was then completing his seventh term in office. In a primary characterized by light turnout, Dolliver defeated Gilchrist in a close race. He then ran against Charles Hanna in the general election, defeating him handily. Dolliver was re-elected five times before losing in 1956 to Democrat Merwin Coad, in an extraordinarily close race. Coad won by 198 votes, out of over 129,000 cast. In all, Dolliver served from January 3, 1945, to January 3, 1957.

After his loss, he served as regional legal counsel for the International Cooperation Administration in the Middle East from 1957 until his retirement in 1959. In retirement, he resided in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Dolliver died in Rolla, Missouri on December 10, 1978. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery, Fort Dodge, Iowa.