John Mills Houston

John Mills Houston (September 15, 1890 – April 29, 1975) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 5th congressional district of Kansas from 1935 to 1943. He was also a member of the National Labor Relations Board from 1943 to 1953, originally appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Early life and career John Houston was born to Samuel J. and Sarah H. (Nieves) Houston on a farm near the small town of Formoso in Jewell County, Kansas, in September 1890. His father was a wealthy businessman who owned a lumber yard. He attended public school in Wichita, Kansas, from the first to fifth grade. He graduated Fairmount College (now known as Wichita State University) in Wichita, Kansas, in 1906, having focused on business administration. He married Charlotte Stellhorn of St. Louis, Missouri, on May 28, 1919 Somewhat surprisingly, Houston easily defeated Republican Ira C. Watson 57 percent to 36.2 percent.

He won re-election two years later with 60 percent of the vote over Republican challenger J.B. Patterson. In a rematch in 1940, Houston more handily defeated Taylor by a 5,500-vote margin (58,436 to 52,901).

During his tenure in Congress, Houston was a member of the House Committee on Appropriations. Republican Clifford R. Hope, who had once held the 7th congressional district (it had been eliminated due to redistricting) won the new 5th district seat once held by Houston. United States Department of Labor solicitor general Gerard D. Reilly was appointed to the NLRB in September 1942 to replace the departing Edwin S. Smith. Reilly was deeply conservative, and some staff at the NLRB considered him reactionary. His renomination was seen as something of a restoration of a "New Deal" (e.g., liberal) coalition on the NLRB, one which would interpret federal labor law more expansively and in favor of labor unions.

Houston was involved in several important votes during his tenure on the NLRB. Almost immediately after joining the board, he allied with Chairman Millis in voting to overturn a previous decision of the NLRB and deny plant foremen the right to join unions (as they were supervisors and not employees). But just two years later, he and Millis allied again to overturn their 1943 decision. Houston and new NLRB Chairman Paul M. Herzog again combined in 1946 to uphold the 1945 decision. In 1945, he again allied with Millis to force the resignation of Charles T. Douds, the board's controversial and liberal Northeast regional director. In 1947, he was embroiled along with the Board in a major dispute over the Taft-Hartley Act. The Act had become law over President Truman's veto in the summer of 1947, and among its many provisions was a requirement that all elected union leaders file an affidavit with the NLRB asserting that they were not now and never had been a member of the Communist Party USA and that they disavowed any future attempt to overthrow the United States government by force. The question before the NLRB was whether this applied to union leaders who were elected not to sit on the executive board of their home union but to serve on the board of directors of some other federation, organization, or body. The NLRB's general counsel ruled that members of the boards of directors of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations must sign these oaths. This was a concern, since many of these individuals had been communists in their youth (although they were no longer). Since they did not hold elected positions on their home unions, they had escaped the Taft-Hartley Act's anti-communist oath provisions, but the general counsel's ruling put their service in jeopardy. Houston, along with three other members of the NLRB overruled the general counsel in a series of votes in September and October 1947.

Retirement and death Houston retired from the NLRB on August 27, 1953. Having divorced his first wife Charlotte, Houston married Ireta Robinson on November 16, 1945. He is interred in Melrose Abbey Cemetery, Anaheim, California.

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