{{Short description|American politician (1912–1989)}} {{For|other persons named Ken(neth) Roberts|Kenneth Roberts (disambiguation){{!}}Kenneth Roberts}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2013}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Kenneth Roberts |image = Kenneth A. Roberts.jpg |office = Member of the<br />U.S. House of Representatives<br />from Alabama |constituency = {{ushr|AL|4|C}} (1951-1963)<br />{{ushr|AL|AL|At-large}} (1963-1965) |term_start = January 3, 1951 |term_end = January 3, 1965 |predecessor = Sam Hobbs |successor = Glenn Andrews (redistricting) |birth_name = Kenneth Allison Roberts |resting_place = Arlington National Cemetery |birth_date = {{birth date|1912|11|1}} |birth_place = Piedmont, Alabama, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1989|5|9|1912|11|1}} |death_place = Potomac, Maryland, U.S. |party = Democratic |education = Samford University (BA)<br>University of Alabama (LLB) }} '''Kenneth Allison Roberts''' (November 1, 1912 – May 9, 1989) was an American lawyer, World War II veteran and politician who served seven terms as a U.S. representative from Alabama from 1951 to 1965.
==Biography== Born in Piedmont, Alabama, Roberts attended the public schools and Howard College, Birmingham, Alabama. He was graduated from the University of Alabama Law School in 1935 and admitted to the bar in 1936. He practiced law in Anniston, Alabama (1936) and in Talladega (1937–1942).
=== World War II === Roberts was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1942 and resigned the same year to enter the United States Navy. He served in both Atlantic and Pacific Theaters until discharged as a lieutenant in 1945.
=== Early career === He was president of Piedmont Development Co. from 1945 to 1950. From 1948 to 1950 he served as member of Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs and city attorney of Piedmont, Alabama.
=== Congress === Roberts was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-second and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1965). He was wounded in the 1954 United States Capitol shooting. Having been a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''Brown v. Board of Education'', he voted against H.R. 6127, Civil Rights Act of 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42|title = HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. -- House Vote #42 -- Jun 18, 1957}}</ref> He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1964 to the Eighty-ninth Congress.
Roberts led the establishment of federal safety legislation through the House of Representatives subcommittee on traffic safety which was formed in 1956.<ref>{{cite book|last=Luger|first=Stan|title=Corporate power, American democracy, and the automobile industry|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK|page=64|isbn=0521023610|edition=reprint.}}</ref>
In 1963 he introduced the U.S. Clean Air Act.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} During his last year in Congress, Roberts advocated a vision care program for the needy; linking the need for one to the War on Poverty.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XhAdAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=rep+roberts+vision+care&article_id=4235,2612197&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY6syw5OOUAxUwUkEAHZtGAfAQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=rep%20roberts%20vision%20care&f=false The Tuscaloosa News 15 Dec 1964]</ref>
During his time in Congress, Roberts had a voting record that was a predominantly liberal one,<ref>[https://www.rightdatausa.com/bio?id=roberke01 RightDataUSA Ideology Data for Kenneth Roberts]</ref> and has been described as a “consistently prolabor” congressman.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Alabama_in_the_Twentieth_Century/Gjixu39X4tQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kenneth+roberts+alabama+labor&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover Alabama in the twentieth century By Wayne Flynt, 2004, P.69]</ref>
=== Later career === He resumed the practice of law until his retirement in 1979. From 1965 to 1972 he was Counsel for the Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission. He served as member of the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee from 1966 to 1970.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} thumb|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery
=== Death and burial === He was a resident of Anniston, Alabama until his death due to congestive heart failure in Potomac, Maryland, on May 9, 1989. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
==See also== *List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office
==Bibliography== {{CongBio|R000314}} *{{cite web |first=Howell |last=Heflin |authorlink=Howell Heflin |publisher=Library of Congress |work=Congressional Record - 101st Congress (1989-1990) |title=Tribute to Congressman Kenneth Roberts |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:S21JN9-76: |date=June 21, 1989 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Sam Hobbs}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives<br>from Alabama's 4th congressional district|years=1951–1963}} {{s-aft|after=Glenn Andrews}} |- {{s-non|reason=Constituency reestablished}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives<br>from Alabama's at-large congressional district|years=1963–1965}} {{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}} {{s-end}}
{{Bioguide}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 82nd–88th United States Congresses |state=Alabama}} {{USCongRep/AL/82}} {{USCongRep/AL/83}} {{USCongRep/AL/84}} {{USCongRep/AL/85}} {{USCongRep/AL/86}} {{USCongRep/AL/87}} {{USCongRep/AL/88}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Kenneth Allison}} Category:1912 births Category:1989 deaths Category:Democratic Party Alabama state senators Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Alabama Category:People from Piedmont, Alabama Category:Politicians from Anniston, Alabama Category:Samford University alumni Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:University of Alabama School of Law alumni Category:Signatories of the Southern Manifesto Category:20th-century United States representatives Category:20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature