Richard Nichols was a one-term U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

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Born in Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott, Kansas

Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States, south of Kansas City, on the Marmaton River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,087. It is the home of the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Fort Scott National...

, Nichols attended public schools.
He earned his B.S. from Kansas State University

Kansas State University

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...

 in 1951.
He was ensign in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 from 1944 to 1947.
He was informational counsel to the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.
He served as associate farm director of a radio and television station in Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

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He was agricultural representative of a bank in Hutchinson, Kansas

Hutchinson, Kansas

Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch"...

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He served as president and chairman of the board of Home State Bank, McPherson, Kansas

McPherson, Kansas

McPherson is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States, in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,155. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general...

, 1969–present.
He served as member of the Kansas State Republican Executive Committee.
He served as delegate, Republican National Convention, 1988.
He was in the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 chair of the Fifth Congressional District, 1986 to 1990.

Nichols was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the One Hundred Second Congress

102nd United States Congress

-House of Representatives:- Senate :* President:Dan Quayle * President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell* Majority Whip: Wendell Ford- Minority leadership :...

 (January 3, 1991–January 3, 1993), representing Kansas's 5th congressional district

Kansas's 5th congressional district

Kansas's 5th congressional district is an obsolete district for representation in the United States House of Representatives.It existed from 1885 to 1993.-List of representatives:-References:*...

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In the reapportionment following the 1990 Census

United States Census, 1990

The Twenty-first United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 Census....

, the size of Kansas' congressional delegation was reduced from 5 to 4, eliminating the 5th district. In 1992, Rep. Nichols ran for the Republican nomination to challenge Dan Glickman

Dan Glickman

Daniel Robert "Dan" Glickman is an American businessman and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas as a Democrat in Congress for 18 years. He was Chairman and CEO of the...

 in the 4th congressional district

Kansas's 4th congressional district

Kansas's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas. Based in the south central part of the state, the district encompasses 11 counties including the city of Wichita....

, but lost in the primary to Eric R. Yost, who lost to Glickman in the general election.

Nichols is a resident of McPherson, Kansas.