Thomas N. Downing

Thomas Nelms Downing (February 1, 1919 – October 23, 2001) was an American lawyer and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic Congressman from from 1959 to 1977.

He was most notable for his role as chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations during his time in Congress.

Biography

Downing was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Newport News High School, and graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1940. After serving in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946, he attended and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1948. He practiced as a lawyer, as well as a substitute judge of the municipal court of Warwick, Virginia.

Congress In 1958 he was elected as a Democrat to Congress and was re-elected eight times, before declining to run in 1976. Downing served 18 years in Congress prior to retiring in 1977.

Elections 1958; Downing was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives unopposed. 1960; Downing was re-elected unopposed. 1962; Downing was re-elected unopposed. 1964; Downing was re-elected with 78.71% of the vote, defeating Republican Wayne C. Thiessen. 1966; Downing was re-elected unopposed. 1968; Downing was re-elected with 72.96% of the vote, defeating Republican James S. Stafford and Independent J. Cornelius Fauntleroy. 1970; Downing was re-elected unopposed. 1972; Downing was re-elected with 78.09% of the vote, defeating Republican Kenneth D. Wells. 1974; Downing was re-elected unopposed.

House Select Committee on Assassinations Downing was appointed Chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations by Carl Albert, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. and after In August 1976, he released affidavits from two men who stated that Richard Nixon approved the plan of a right-wing Cuban exile to "eliminate" left-wing Cuban exiles after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Downing said that he was skeptical that Lee Harvey Oswald could accurately fire a bolt-action rifle within a short span of time, and he believed the Zapruder film of the assassination showed that Kennedy was struck from the front and the rear.

Later life and death He died from the complications of intestinal surgery at the age of 82, and is interred in Peninsula Memorial Park Cemetery, Newport News, Virginia.