L. Mendel Rivers
Encyclopedia
Lucius Mendel Rivers was a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 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 South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, representing the Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 based 1st congressional district
South Carolina's 1st congressional district
The 1st Congressional District of South Carolina is a coastal congressional district in South Carolina. It stretches from Seabrook Island in the south to the North Carolina border and includes parts of Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley and Georgetown counties and all of Horry county...

 for nearly thirty years. He was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
United States House Committee on Armed Services
thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...

 during the period of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 when the United States escalated its involvement in the war.

Early life and education

Mendel Rivers was born in Gumville, South Carolina
Gumville, South Carolina
Gumville is an unincorporated community in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. It is located approximately 2 miles west of Jamestown on US 17A. Gumville was made famous as the birthplace of L. Mendel Rivers, the longtime Representative of the 1st congressional district. When queried...

 to Lucius Hampton Rivers and Henrietta Marion McCay. The family moved to St. Stephen
St. Stephen, South Carolina
St. Stephen is a town in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,776 at the 2000 census.As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, St. Stephen is included within the Charleston-North...

 in 1907 and lived comfortably until 1915 when Lucious Hampton Rivers died from pneumonia. Mendel's older brother Earle was put in charge of running the farm, but was not interested in agriculture and as a result the family's assets declined. Eventually they were compelled to move to North Charleston
North Charleston, South Carolina
North Charleston is the 3rd largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina with incorporated areas in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. On June 12, 1972 the city of North Charleston incorporated and was the 9th largest city in South Carolina. According to the 2010 Census, North...

 where they opened up a boarding house on O'Hear Avenue.

Rivers went to the local schools and it took him six years to graduate from Charleston High School in 1926. He then attended the College of Charleston
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...

 for three years and the University of South Carolina School of Law
University of South Carolina School of Law
The University of South Carolina School of Law, also known as South Carolina Law or SC Law, is one of the professional schools of the University of South Carolina. South Carolina Law was founded in 1867 in Columbia, South Carolina and is the only public and non-profit law school in the state of...

 for two years, graduating from neither. The law school dean at the University of South Carolina advised Rivers to take up another profession because although he knew the assignments, he suffered from stage fright. Rivers was determined to become a lawyer so he returned to College of Charleston and took classes to prepare himself for the bar examination. He passed the exam in 1932, but was unable to find employment in Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 law firms so he started his own practice.

Entry into politics

Rivers first became involved in politics in 1930 when he participated in Ed Pritchard's unsuccessful campaign for the state legislature
South Carolina General Assembly
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and the upper South Carolina Senate. Altogether, the General...

 against Russell McGowan. He was an active member of the Charleston Young Democrats club and shortly after passing the bar, Rivers decided to run for one of the twelve state representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...

 spots on the Charleston County
Charleston County, South Carolina
Charleston County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. According to a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, its population was 330,368. Its county seat is Charleston. It is the third-most populous county in the state . Charleston County was created in 1901 by an act of the South...

 delegation. The politics of Charleston County
Charleston County, South Carolina
Charleston County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. According to a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, its population was 330,368. Its county seat is Charleston. It is the third-most populous county in the state . Charleston County was created in 1901 by an act of the South...

 in the 1930s were controlled by the political machine of Charleston mayor Burnet R. Maybank
Burnet R. Maybank
Burnet Rhett Maybank was a U.S. Senator, the 99th Governor of South Carolina, and Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Maybank was the direct descendant of six former South Carolinian governors. He was the first governor from Charleston since the Civil War...

 and gaining his endorsement was crucial to winning an election. Rivers sought the mayor's blessing, but was rejected because he was an unknown candidate from North Charleston. He ran as an Independent Democrat
Independent Democrat
Independent Democrat is a term occasionally adopted by American politicians to refer to their party affiliation. Several elected officials, including members of Congress, have identified as " Independent Democrats."...

 and was defeated in his bid for election.

A vacancy on the Charleston County delegation arose in 1933 when Ben Scott Whaley resigned to join the staff of Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 James Francis Byrnes. Rivers won the special election by running against Charleston and campaigning on the slogan "Give the Northern End of the County Representation." In 1934, Rivers ran for re-election and became the chairman of the delegation for having received the most votes of any state House candidate on the Charleston County ticket. As a state Representative, Rivers served on the Judiciary and Education committees. He became the state president of the Young Democrats in 1935 and was a delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention
1936 Democratic National Convention
The 1936 Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 23 to 27, 1936. The convention resulted in the re-nomination of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner....

.

The rapid ascendancy of Rivers attracted the attention of 1st district
South Carolina's 1st congressional district
The 1st Congressional District of South Carolina is a coastal congressional district in South Carolina. It stretches from Seabrook Island in the south to the North Carolina border and includes parts of Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley and Georgetown counties and all of Horry county...

 Congressman Thomas S. McMillan
Thomas S. McMillan
Thomas Sanders McMillan was a lawyer and a United States Representative from South Carolina.Born in the town of Ulmer in Allendale County, McMillan received his early childhood education at the schools in Ulmer. He graduated from the Orangeburg Collegiate Institute in 1907 and taught school for...

 who became worried when Rivers requested papers from the state Democratic secretary in 1936 to run for office. McMillan arranged a meeting with Rivers and offered him a position as a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. Rivers accepted and worked throughout the South collecting unpaid criminal fines and forfeited bail bonds.

1940 election

On September 29, 1939, McMillan died and Rivers immediately made plans to run for Congress. He quit his federal job in February 1940 and opened a law practice in Charleston to provide a base for his campaign. His opponent in the Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 was Alfred von Kolnitz, who had the backing of the Charleston political establishment and Thomas McMillan's widow, Clara
Clara G. McMillan
Clara Gooding McMillan was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, wife of Thomas S. McMillan.Born in Brunson, South Carolina, Mcmillan attended the public schools, Confederate Home College, Charleston, South Carolina, and Flora MacDonald College, Red Springs, North Carolina.Mcmillan was...

. Rivers knew that he was not going to win the vote in Charleston, so he tried to maximize his vote outside of Charleston by making the theme of his campaign about the chicanery of the city. Furthermore, with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 raging in Europe, Rivers played up von Kolnitz's German name to make him appear as if a Nazi sympathizer. On August 27, Rivers won the Democratic primary election
United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1940
The 1940 South Carolina United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 1940 to select six Representatives for two-year terms from the state of South Carolina. All five incumbents who ran were re-elected and the open seat in the 1st congressional district was retained by...

 by running up a huge margin in the counties outside of Charleston, which offset his loss in Charleston County. In those days, victory in the Democratic primary was tantamount to election
Tantamount to election
"Tantamount to election" is a phrase to describe a situation in which one political party so dominates the demographics of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election...

 in South Carolina, and Rivers took office on January 3, 1941.

Domestic legislation

Once in Congress, Rivers sought a seat on the Agriculture committee
United States House Committee on Agriculture
The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of some federal agencies, and it can recommend funding...

, but it was full and he was instead placed on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries committee. In March, he was appointed to the Naval Affairs committee which was later combined with the Military Affairs committee to form the House Armed Services Committee
United States House Committee on Armed Services
thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...

. His first legislative success was in 1942 when he authored a bill to build an oil pipeline from Mississippi to the Southeast coast to reduce the transportation costs of the product. The bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

, but Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

 Harold L. Ickes
Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...

 refused to construct the pipeline because of the opposition by Big Oil
Supermajor
Supermajor is a name commonly used to describe the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies.-Composition:Trading under various names around the world, the supermajors are considered to be:* BP p.l.c...

.

Rivers first major success was the repeal of the federal tax on colored oleomargarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...

. The tax was first implemented because margarine was a much cheaper substitute of butter which threatened the interests of the dairy farmers. When Rivers first introduced the bill in 1944 to repeal the tax, it was vigorously opposed by Midwestern Representatives and the bill died in the agriculture committee. Undeterred, Rivers reintroduced the bill every year and made so many speeches in favor of the repeal of the tax that he was nicknamed "Oleo" Rivers. In 1949, he circulated a petition in the House to force the bill out of the agriculture committee and to the full House for a vote. The bill passed the house and was signed into law by President Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 in 1950. The manufacturers of margarine were forever grateful to Rivers and sent him complimentary boxes of oleo until the day he died.

Views regarding race

Like most South Carolina politicians of his era, Rivers was an ardent segregationist. He voted against every civil rights bill, and joined the entire South Carolina delegation in signing the Southern Manifesto
Southern Manifesto
The Southern Manifesto was a document written February–March 1956 by Adisen and Charles in the United States Congress opposed to racial integration in public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 politicians from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South...

 in 1954. He attempted to have Charleston federal judge Waities Waring impeached for having ruled that blacks had to be allowed to vote in the Democratic primary and that segregated schools were unconstitutional. When President Truman integrated the U.S. Army in 1948, Rivers called him a "dead chicken" and a "bankrupt politician". Rivers was so incensed by Truman that he supported Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...

 in the 1948 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1948
The United States presidential election of 1948 is considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way...

. After Truman's victory, he lost his patronage privileges and was lucky to retain his seat on the Armed Services Committee.

Rivers attended the 1952 Democratic National Convention
1952 Democratic National Convention
The 1952 Democratic National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 21 to July 26, 1952, which was the same arena the Republicans had gathered in a few weeks earlier for their national convention...

 and believed that Adlai Stevenson would reverse the policies of Truman by returning to traditional Democratic principles. However, Rivers became disillusioned with Stevenson and he openly supported Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 in the 1952 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...

 because he said that he would be sensitive to Southern concerns. Rivers' long-held distrust of Republicans was reinforced shortly after Eisenhower became president when he ordered the desegregation of all schools on military bases and did not grant Rivers patronage privileges, despite Rivers being the only Democrat to support Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower's continual push for integration infuriated Rivers. When asked if he would back Eisenhower again in 1956, Rivers responded "Hell no! Ain't no education in the second kick of a mule."

In the 1960s, Rivers softened his vocal opposition to civil rights legislation. He had risen in the ranks and his power in the House depended upon the continual support of national Democrats. Rivers shifted his approach from defending segregation to the maintenance of law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...

. He found a kindred spirit in George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...

 and he attended one of Wallace's fundraising dinners in 1968. Wallace asked Rivers in July to be his running mate for the 1968 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...

, but Rivers dared not risk losing his chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee and declined the offer.

Vietnam War, and the My Lai Massacre cover-up

Rivers was initially skeptical of America's escalation of the Vietnam War and the sending of combat troops to Vietnam, but once the war was commenced, he became one of the strongest supporters of the war. He enjoyed referring to himself as "The Granddaddy of the War Hawks." He urged the President to use nuclear weapons against the North Vietnamese and to invade and occupy Hanoi.

He criticized Army helicopter pilot and My Lai Massacre
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...

 CWO Hugh Thompson, Jr.
Hugh Thompson, Jr.
Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr., DFC, BSM, PH, AM was a United States Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. He is most well known for his role in stopping the My Lai Massacre, in which a group of US Army soldiers tortured and killed several hundred unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mutilating their...

 for giving the order to his men to fire upon American soldiers at My Lai if they continued to shoot unarmed Vietnamese civilians, calling him a traitor and saying he should be prosecuted. Rivers was unable to believe that American soldiers would do such a thing and publicly expressed doubt that any massacre ever happened. He attempted to protect the perpetrator of My Lai, Army 2nd Lt. William Calley
William Calley
William Laws Calley is a convicted American war criminal and a former U.S. Army officer found guilty of murder for his role in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War.-Early life:...

, by quickly holding hearings of his subcommittee on My Lai, calling every major witness to the event (including Thompson) before the subcommittee, and then refusing to release the transcripts of the testimony, so that military prosecutors would be prohibited from calling those persons as witnesses at Calley's court martial.

House Armed Services Chairman

Rivers became the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 1965 following the retirement of Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives...

. Upon moving into the Rayburn House Office Building
Rayburn House Office Building
The Rayburn House Office Building is a congressional office building for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., between South Capitol Street and First Street....

, Rivers placed a plaque of Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

 that specified the role of the legislative process with the military. He felt that the Congress should not delegate its powers to the President nor the Secretary of Defense and that a vigorous Congress would make the President perform his job better. As Rivers inspected the committee room, he became incensed when he discovered cloakrooms adjoining the chamber for the Democratic and Republican Party members to discuss strategy. Rivers viewed national defense as a non-partisan issue and had the cloakrooms turned into offices.

By the time Rivers became the chairman, he was well known for being a strong supporter of the American military in general, and of enlisted military service members in particular. In 1963 he established, through the vehicle of the House-Senate Conference Committee, the principle of linking military retired pay to increases in the Consumer Price Index, similar to the practice for retired federal civil servants. In 1964 he championed the cause of "hospital rights," guaranteeing medical care in military hospitals for military retirees and their dependents. After becoming chairman, he helped secure the first military pay raise since 1952 in 1965 despite opposition from the Secretary of Defense McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...

 and President Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

. Rivers was instrumental in establishing the additional enlisted pay grade of E-9, and he helped secure mobile home allowances and cheap air fares for soldiers returning from Viet Nam.

He strongly supported the constant upgrading of US military preparedness, regardless of the cost. He supported making all US Navy ships nuclear powered, and he championed development of the C5A Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...

 military airlift jet airplane, despite huge cost overruns. In his last speech to his colleagues in the US House of Representatives on December 7, 1970, delivered just before he departed for Birmingham, Alabama to have heart surgery, he stated, "While we debate the question of maintaining our military capability, the Soviet Union forges ahead. We seem hell-bent on national suicide....We cannot as a nation afford to spend one penny less on national defense than that amount which is required to insure that you and I, and our children, can convince the Soviets they dare not pull the trigger when a Soviet gun is placed against our heads."

In that same speech, he delivered the quote for which he is best remembered: "The final measure of our ability to survive as a nation in a hostile world will not be how well we have managed our domestic resources and domestic programs, but whether or not we have avoided and frustrated the forces of evil which would draw us into the crucible of war with the Soviet Union. If we fail in that endeavor, we will have failed in everything."

Rivers died in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, almost two months after being elected for his 16th term. He was buried at St. Stephen Episcopal Church Cemetery in St. Stephen, South Carolina
St. Stephen, South Carolina
St. Stephen is a town in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,776 at the 2000 census.As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, St. Stephen is included within the Charleston-North...

.

Personal life

Rivers married Margaret Middleton (called Marguerite by Mendel, but Marwee by family and friends) on September 1, 1938. They had first met in 1930 at Camp Kanuga
Kanuga Conference Center
Kanuga Conference Center is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, USA. It is located on near Hendersonville, North Carolina, with scenic Kanuga Lake at its center. Yearly, more than 35,000 guests utilize the facilities, which include the Conference Center, Camp Kanuga , Camp Bob Summer, and the...

, near Hendersonville, North Carolina
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, USA, southeast of Asheville. In 1900, 1,917 persons lived in Hendersonville; in 1910, 2,818; and in 1940, 5,381 people lived here. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,223, up fivefold in one century. It is the county...

, where Mendel impressed Marwee by being elected Best Boy Camper, despite being 24 and a law school student. The couple had three children: Peggy in 1939, Marion in 1943, and Mendel Jr. in 1947.

Rivers was an Episcopalian, and a member of the Freemasons (Landmark Lodge No.76, A.F.M.), the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...

 (BPOE), and the Exchange Club. He was an enthusiast of boxing and was friends with Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...

 and Gene Tunney
Gene Tunney
James Joseph "Gene" Tunney was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1926-1928 who defeated Jack Dempsey twice, first in 1926 and then in 1927. Tunney's successful title defense against Dempsey is one of the most famous bouts in boxing history and is known as The Long Count Fight...

. He enjoyed playing baseball and he batted well over .300 in the Congressional baseball games.

Alcoholism plagued Rivers for much of his life. He was the "binger" variety of alcoholic, one who is generally sober but relapses periodically. Washington syndicated columnist Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson (journalist)
Andrew Russell Pearson , known professionally as Drew Pearson, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round," in which he attacked various public persons, sometimes with little or no objective proof for his...

 called him a "security risk" and devoted eight uncomplimentary pages to him in his 1968 book The Case Against Congress.

Honors

Rivers received numerous accolades and honors to commemorate his service to the nation and to the 1st congressional district. In 1948, a stretch of highway from the crossing of U.S. Route 78
U.S. Route 78
U.S. Highway 78 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 715 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. Between Memphis and Birmingham, Alabama, it is being upgraded to become Interstate 22....

 over Meeting Street (known as the Five-Mile Viaduct) to where U.S. Route 52
U.S. Route 52
U.S. Route 52 is a United States highway that runs across the northern, eastern and southeastern regions of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S...

 meets the Berkeley County line was named as Rivers Avenue because Rivers was key in getting funds from Congress to pave it as the first four-lane road in North Charleston. The town of St. Stephen held a day long celebration for Rivers in 1964 and named the secondary road that ran from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church to the house he grew up in as Mendel Rivers Road.

A seven story office building located across Meeting Street from Marion Square
Marion Square (Charleston)
Marion Square is greenspace in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, spanning six and one half acres. The square was established as a parade ground for the state arsenal under construction on the north side of the square. It is best known as the former Citadel Green because The Citadel occupied the...

 was named the L. Mendel Rivers Federal Building in 1964 The building was vacated in 1999 following damage by Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the third largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached...

 and it was purchased in January 2008 by a private developer. The L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School in Altus, Oklahoma
Altus, Oklahoma
Altus is a city in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County....

 was named for Rivers because he prevented the Altus Air Force Base
Altus Air Force Base
Altus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-northeast of Altus, Oklahoma.The host unit at Altus AFB is the 97th Air Mobility Wing , assigned to the Nineteenth Air Force of the Air Education and Training Command...

 from closing by making it the location of the training school for the C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...

. Charleston Southern University
Charleston Southern University
Charleston Southern University, founded in 1964 as Baptist College, is an independent comprehensive university located in North Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston Southern enrolls a maximum of 3,200 students. Affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the university's mission is...

 honored Rivers continual support of the institution by naming its college library as the L. Mendel Rivers Library in October 1970.

Rivers was greatly admired by the soldiers and they would repay his strong support by their adulation. They felt that he was their congressman and called him the "Serviceman's Best Friend." A road in Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...

, Vietnam was called the Mendel Rivers Parkway and the soldiers gave Rivers a captured Viet Cong carbine that he prominently displayed in his office. For obtaining drastically reduced air fares for soldiers on furlough, they gave him a cap with six stars and "The Big Boss" inscribed on it, indicating that Rivers outranked all military officials.

After his death, the Navy honored his dedication by naming the submarine USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686)
USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686)
USS L. Mendel Rivers , a Sturgeon-class attack submarine in commission from 1975 to 2001, is the only ship of the United States Navy thus far to have been named for L. Mendel Rivers , U.S. Representative from South Carolinas 1st Congressional District .-Construction and commissioning:The contract...

 in his honor in 1971. His friends raised money create a small park and have a bust placed adjacent to the O.T. Wallace County Office Building in downtown Charleston. Rivers was named as one the "Magnificent Ten Charlestonians Who Shaped the 20th Century" by Charleston Magazine in December 1999 for his efforts to expand the military in his district.

External links

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