{{Short description|American politician (1935–1982)}} {{About|the politician|the musician|Adam Benjamin (musician)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Adam Benjamin Jr. | image = Adam Benjamin, Jr..jpg | state = Indiana | district = 1st | term_start = January 3, 1977 | term_end = September 7, 1982 | preceded = Ray J. Madden | succeeded = Katie Hall | office1 = Member of the Indiana Senate | term_start1 = 1971 | term_end1 = 1977 | predecessor1 = | successor1 = | office2 = Member of the Indiana House of Representatives | term_start2 = 1967 | term_end2 = 1971 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|08|06}} | birth_place = Gary, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1982|09|07|1935|08|06}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | resting_place = Calumet Park Cemetery<br>Merrillville, Indiana, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = Patricia | children = 3 | alma_mater = B.S. United States Military Academy,<br>J.D. Valparaiso University | profession = Lawyer | signature = Adam Benjamin signature.jpg | branch = United States Marine Corps<br>United States Army | rank = First lieutenant | battles = Korean War | unit = 101st Airborne Division | service_years = 1952–1961 }}
'''Adam Benjamin Jr.''' (August 6, 1935 – September 7, 1982) was an American politician and a United States representative from Indiana's 1st congressional district, serving from 1977 until his death from a heart attack in Washington, D.C. in 1982. Benjamin was the first Assyrian-American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives in American history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v10n2/yoab2.pdf |title=Assyrians in Middle America A Historical and Demographic Study of the Chicago Assyrian Community |publisher=jaas.org |access-date=December 14, 2012}}</ref> Benjamin served in the Indiana Senate from 1971 to 1977, the Indiana House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971, and was a member of the Democratic Party.
==Early life and career== Born to an Assyrian father, Adam Benjamin, and Armenian mother, Margaret Marjanian, in Gary, Indiana, on August 6, 1935, Adam Benjamin Jr. graduated from Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, in 1952.<ref name="Biographical Directory">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9MBIctdjjkC&q=Adam+Benjamin%2C+Jr.+Kemper+Military+School+in+Boonville%2C+Missouri&pg=PA641 |title=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774–2005 |isbn=9780160731761 |access-date=December 14, 2012|last1=Congress |first1=United States |last2=Dodge |first2=Andrew R. |last3=Koed |first3=Betty K. |year=2005 |publisher=Government Printing Office }}</ref> Benjamin joined the Marine Corps in 1952, and served as a corporal in the Korean War until he was honorably discharged in 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/IN/jaycees.html |title=Jaycees: Politician members in Indiana |publisher=politicalgraveyard.com |access-date= December 14, 2012 }}</ref> After serving in the Marine Corps, he gained an appointment to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, earning a B.S. degree in engineering in 1958. Following three years in the 101st airborne division the "Screaming Eagles", and ranger training in the U.S. Army, in 1961 Benjamin left the Army as a first lieutenant.
After his service in the Military, Benjamin returned to Gary in 1961 and began teaching math and physics at Edison High School. Two years later, he entered public service as Gary's zoning administrator from 1963 to 1965, and gained further experience in local government acting as Gary Mayor A. Martin Katz's executive secretary from 1965 through 1966.<ref name=cra126>{{cite web|url=http://www.iun.edu/~cra/cra_records/cra126.shtml |title=Calumet Regional Archives |publisher=iun.edu |access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref>
During his work in public service, Benjamin attended Valparaiso University Law School, graduated with his Juris Doctor and was admitted to the Indiana Bar Association in 1966. Shortly after Benjamin was admitted to the Indiana Bar, he ran for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives, winning two consecutive terms in 1966, and in 1968.<ref name="Biographical Directory"/> Benjamin served in the Indiana House until he won a seat in the Indiana Senate in 1970, winning reelection in 1974, and served in the Indiana Senate from 1971 to 1977. During his time in the Indiana Senate, Benjamin was named Outstanding State Senator by newsmen assigned to report on the Indiana General Assembly. As a state legislator, Mr. Benjamin developed a new code of ethics for legislators, worked on a new state medical malpractice act, and facilitated court reform for the Lake County Superior Court system.<ref name=cra126/> Two years after Benjamin won a seat in the Indiana Senate, he challenged incumbent 12-term Congressman Ray J. Madden for the Democratic nomination for Indiana's 1st congressional district, but eventually lost the hotly contested primary. By 1976, having gained significant name recognition as an Indiana legislator, Benjamin again challenged Madden in the Democratic primary, this time defeating him with 56% of the vote, compared with Madden's 34%. In the general election Benjamin beat evangelical Protestant educator, and co-founder of Moral Majority, Robert J. Billings, with a 40% margin of victory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/01/us/robert-j-billings-is-dead-at-68-helped-form-the-moral-majority.html |title=Robert J. Billings Is Dead at 68; Helped Form the Moral Majority |work=The New York Times |access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="1976 statistics">{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1976election.pdf |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976 |publisher=clerk.house.gov |access-date=14 October 2016 }}</ref>
==United States House of Representatives== Benjamin served in the 95th, 96th, and 97th Congresses from 1977 until his death in 1982. Benjamin sat on the House Appropriations Committee, and served as the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, aiding Northwest Indiana with projects such as improved Amtrak facilities, new South Shore Railroad commuter cars, and funding for an I-94 interchange to provide access to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as well as improvements in Gary's bus system and municipal airport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.auaf.us/Who%20is%20who/Politician/Politicians.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421175637/http://www.auaf.us/Who%20is%20who/Politician/Politicians.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 21, 2013 |title=WHO IS WHO |publisher=Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation |access-date=December 14, 2012 }}</ref> In addition, Benjamin chaired the executive committee of the Congressional Steel Caucus, a bi-partisan coalition of congressman that promotes the health and stability of the domestic steel industry. To encourage the Calumet Region's economic recovery, Benjamin worked to establish the Calumet Forum, with representatives of labor, industry, banking, publishing, education, politics, transportation, and the religious community seeking to promote the economic resurgence and development of the Region. Regarding the importance of the Forum, Benjamin commented, "I've put myself on the line for this ... I've got to do it. It just has to be done."
Benjamin continued to gain a reputation for hard work, dedication, effectiveness, and loyalty among both his colleagues and his constituents. He retained his seat in the 1978 and 1980 elections, and was seeking a fourth congressional term in 1982. However, on September 7, 1982, he was found dead in his Washington apartment, aged 47; the cause was arteriosclerosis.<ref name = UPI>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/08/obituaries/adam-benjamin-congressman-dies.html |title=Adam Benjamin, Congressman, Dies |newspaper=New York Times|agency = United Press International |date=September 8, 1982}}</ref><ref name = AP>{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/762287909/|title = Benjamin buried, eulogized as 'tower of strength to us'|date = September 11, 1982|page = 17|newspaper = Evansville Courier & Press|agency = Associated Press|via = Newspapers.com|url-access = subscription|accessdate = March 5, 2025}}</ref> He is buried in Merrillville, Indiana's Calumet Park Cemetery.<ref name = AP/>
Gary Metro Center in downtown Gary, Indiana and the Veterans Affairs clinic in Crown Point, Indiana,<ref>{{cite web |title=Adam Benjamin Jr., Veterans' Administration Outpatient Clinic |url=https://www.va.gov/chicago-health-care/locations/adam-benjamin-jr-veterans-administration-outpatient-clinic/ |website=Veterans Administration |access-date=7 June 2024}}</ref> are named in his honor. Indiana State Road 51 in Hobart, Indiana is signed as the Adam Benjamin Highway.
==Personal life== Benjamin and his wife, Patricia, had three children.<ref name = UPI/>
==Electoral history==
===1976=== {{Election box begin | title= Indiana's 1st congressional district election, 1976<ref name="1976 statistics"/>}} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Adam Benjamin Jr. |votes = 121,155 |percentage = 71.3 |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert J. Billings |votes = 48,756 |percentage = 28.7 |change = }} {{Election box end}}
===1978=== {{Election box begin | title= Indiana's 1st congressional district election, 1978<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1978election.pdf |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1978 |publisher=clerk.house.gov |access-date=14 October 2016 }}</ref>}} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Adam Benjamin Jr. |votes = 72,367 |percentage = 80.2% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert J. Billings |votes = 17,419 |percentage = 19.3 |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = U.S. Labor Party |candidate = Christopher Martinson |votes = 384 |percentage = 0.4% |change = }} {{Election box end}}
===1980=== {{Election box begin | title= Indiana's 1st congressional district election, 1980<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1980 |publisher=clerk.house.gov |access-date=14 October 2016 }}</ref>}} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Adam Benjamin Jr. |votes = 112,016 |percentage = 72.0% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Joseph Douglas Harkin |votes = 43,537 |percentage = 28.0% |change = }} {{Election box end}}
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} *Assyrian Church of the East *List of ethnic Assyrians *List of Arab and Middle Eastern Americans in the United States Congress *List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)
== References == <references />
==External links== {{commons category}} *{{Find a Grave|6824591|access-date=September 3, 2010}} *[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000363 Entry from Congressional Biographical Database] *{{C-SPAN|1001627}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box|state=Indiana |district=1 |before=Ray J. Madden |years=1977–1982 |after=Katie B. Hall}} {{s-end}} {{IndianaUSRepresentatives}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 95th-97th United States Congress |state=Indiana}} {{USCongRep/IN/95}} {{USCongRep/IN/96}} {{USCongRep/IN/97}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Adam Jr.}} Category:1935 births Category:1982 deaths Category:20th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly Category:20th-century United States representatives Category:American people of Armenian descent Category:American politicians of Assyrian descent Category:Deaths from arteriosclerosis Category:Democratic Party Indiana state senators Category:Democratic Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Indiana Category:Kemper Military School alumni Category:Politicians from Gary, Indiana Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:Valparaiso University alumni