{{Short description|American politician (1903–1976)}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=March 2013}} {{Lead too short|date=December 2015}} }} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Ralph Rivers |image = Ralph Julian Rivers.jpg |state = [[Alaska]] |district = {{ushr|AK|AL|at-large}} |term_start = January 3, 1959 |term_end = December 30, 1966 |predecessor = [[Bob Bartlett]] (Delegate)<br>Himself ([[Shadow congressperson|Shadow Representative]]) |successor = [[Howard Wallace Pollock|Howard Pollock]] |office1 = [[Shadow congressperson|Shadow Member]] of the<br>[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from the [[Alaska Territory]]'s<br>[[Alaska Territory's at-large congressional district|at-large]] district |term_start1 = October 6, 1956 |term_end1 = January 3, 1959 |predecessor1 = Seat established |successor1 = Himself (Representative) |office2 = [[List of mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska|Mayor of Fairbanks]] |term_start2 = 1952 |term_end2 = 1954 |predecessor2 = Robert Hoopes |successor2 = Douglas Preston |office3 = [[Alaska Attorney General|Attorney General of the Alaska Territory]] |governor3 = [[Ernest Gruening]] |term_start3 = 1945 |term_end3 = 1949 |predecessor3 = Henry Roden |successor3 = Gerald Williams |office4 = [[United States Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the District of Alaska|Fourth Division of Alaska Territory]] |president4 = [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] |term_start4 = 1933 |term_end4 = 1944 |predecessor4 = Julien Hurley<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/AK/ofc/usatty.html|title = The Political Graveyard: U.S. District Attorneys in Alaska}}</ref> |successor4 = [[Harry Arend]] |birth_name = Ralph Julian Rivers |birth_date = {{birth date|1903|5|23}} |birth_place = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1976|8|13|1903|5|23}} |death_place = [[Chehalis, Washington]], U.S. |party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] |education = [[University of Washington|University of Washington, Seattle]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]]) }} '''Ralph Julian Rivers''' (May 23, 1903 – August 13, 1976) was an American lawyer and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician who served as the first [[United States representative]] from [[Alaska]], serving from statehood in 1959 to his resignation in 1966 following his defeat by Republican [[Howard Pollock|Howard W. Pollock]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographical Guide to Members of Congress|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000282|publisher=U.S. Congress|access-date=April 21, 2017}}</ref> He previously served as the [[Shadow congressperson|shadow U.S. Representative]] from [[Alaska Territory]] from 1956 to 1959.
==Biography== Born in [[Seattle, Washington]] to Louisa Zenaide (née Lavoy) and Julian Guy Rivers,<ref> {{citation |url= https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRM7-KRB |title= Washington Birth Records, 1869-1950 |website= [[FamilySearch]] |access-date=April 6, 2018 }}</ref> Rivers attended grammar school in [[Flat, Alaska]], and [[Benjamin Franklin High School (Seattle)|Franklin High School]] in Seattle. He worked as a [[gold]] [[mining|miner]] in Flat from 1921 to 1923, and then earned an [[LL.B.]] from the [[University of Washington School of Law]] in 1929. He then worked as a lawyer in private practice for several years.
[[File:Celebrating alaska statehood.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Rivers, at bottom left, celebrating Alaska becoming a state on January 3, 1959. Behind Rivers is [[Bob Atwood]]. To his left are [[Fred Seaton]], [[Ernest Gruening]], [[Bob Bartlett]], [[Mike Stepovich]] and [[Waino Hendrickson]].]] Rivers was a lifelong civil servant, working in a number of public positions throughout his life. He served as [[United States Attorney]] for District of Alaska, from 1933 to 1944.<ref>{{cite web|title=District of Alaska|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/about_us|website=U.S. Department of Justice|date=29 January 2015|publisher=Office of the United States Attorneys|access-date=April 21, 2017}}</ref> He was then elected as the [[Alaska Attorney General|attorney general of Alaska]], serving from 1945 to 1949.<ref>{{cite web|title=Creating Alaska-entry for Ralph Rivers|url=http://www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/whos-who/alaskans/statehood-committee/rivers/|publisher=University of Alaska|access-date=April 21, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was the chair of the [[Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development|Employment Security Commission of Alaska]] from 1950 to 1952, and then became the [[mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska]] from 1952 to 1954. In 1954 he was also president of the League of Alaskan Cities. He was a member of the [[Alaska Senate|Alaska Territorial Senate]] in 1955, and was the second vice president of the [[Alaska Constitutional Convention]] at [[College, Alaska]] in 1955 and 1956. He was a delegate to the [[Democratic National Conventions]] in 1960, 1964, and 1968.
Rivers appeared on the game show ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'' as contestant #1 in the second group of contestants on June 2, 1959.<ref>{{cite web|title=To Tell the Truth - Collegiate grandmother; First Alaskan in House of Representatives|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vySPLujfYUI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/vySPLujfYUI |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|publisher=YouTube|date=June 2, 1959|access-date=April 21, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Rivers died at his home in [[Chehalis, Washington]] on the morning of August 13, 1976.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituaries - Ralph Rivers |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1976/08-13/page-13 |access-date=September 5, 2024 |work=The Daily Chronicle |date=August 13, 1976 |page=12}}</ref>
==U.S. House of Representatives== In 1957 and 1958, Rivers was a [[U.S. House of Representatives|United States representative-elect]] under the [[Alaska Statehood Act#The Tennessee Plan|Alaska-Tennessee Plan]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on a provisional basis, pending statehood. Upon the admission of Alaska as a State into the Union, he was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the Eighty-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1959 until December 30, 1966.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Warren|editor1-first=Kenneth F.|title=Encyclopedia of U.S. Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior|date=2008|publisher=Sage Publications|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|isbn=978-1452265872|page=28|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lCh1AwAAQBAJ&q=Ralph+Julian+Rivers&pg=PA28|access-date=April 21, 2017|chapter=Alaska}}</ref> He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Ninetieth Congress in 1966, resigning days before the end of his term.
While in Congress, he voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102|title=HR 8601. PASSAGE.}}</ref> and the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h128|title=H.R. 7152. PASSAGE.}}</ref> He voted as well for the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193|title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87|title=TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT.}}</ref>
==Electoral history== {{Incomplete list|date=June 2014}}
Alaska's at-large congressional district: Results 1958–1966<ref name="clerkresults">{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html |title=Election Statistics |access-date=2008-10-24 |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" !|Year ! ! Republican ! Votes ! Pct ! ! Democrat ! Votes ! Pct |- | [[U.S. House election, 1958|1958]] | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Henry A. Benson]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |20,699 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{pct|20699|48647|1}} | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Ralph J. Rivers'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |27,948 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{pct|27948|48647|1}} |- |[[U.S. House election, 1960|1960]] | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Ron Rettig|R. L. Rettig]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |25,517 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{pct|25517|59063|1}} | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Ralph J. Rivers (inc.)'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |33,546 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{pct|33546|59063|1}} |- |[[U.S. House election, 1962|1962]] | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Lowell Thomas, Jr.]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |26,638 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{pct|26638|60591|1}} | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Ralph J. Rivers (inc.)'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |33,953 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{pct|33953|60591|1}} |- |[[U.S. House election, 1964|1964]] | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|Lowell Thomas, Jr.}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |32,556 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{pct|32556|67146|1}} | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Ralph J. Rivers (inc.)'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |34,590 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{pct|34590|67146|1}} |- |[[U.S. House election, 1966|1966]] | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|'''[[Howard Wallace Pollock|Howard W. Pollock]]'''}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |34,040 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{pct|34040|65907|1}} | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|Ralph J. Rivers (inc.)}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |31,867 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{pct|31867|65907|1}} |}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{CongBio|R000282}}
==External links== {{Portal|Alaska|Biography|Law|Politics}} * {{Find a Grave|6882091}} * [http://100years.akleg.gov/bio.php?id=1408 Ralph Rivers] at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-new|seat}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow congressperson|Shadow Member]] of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from the [[Alaska Territory]]'s [[Alaska Territory's at-large congressional district|at-large]] district|years=1956–1959}} {{s-aft|after=Himself|as=U.S. Representative}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Bob Bartlett]]|as=Delegate}} {{s-ttl|rows=2|title=Member of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Alaska's at-large congressional district]]|years=1959–1966}} {{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Howard Wallace Pollock|Howard Pollock]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=Himself|as=[[Shadow congressperson|Shadow Representative]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Alaska Representatives}} {{Alaska Attorneys General}} {{Signers of the Constitution of Alaska}} {{USCongRep-start| congresses = 86th–89th [[United States Congress]]es| state = Alaska}} {{USCongRep/AK/86}} {{USCongRep/AK/87}} {{USCongRep/AK/88}} {{USCongRep/AK/89}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Ralph Julian}} [[Category:1903 births]] [[Category:1976 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Alaska]] [[Category:20th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:Alaska attorneys general]] [[Category:American gold prospectors]] [[Category:Delegates to Alaska's Constitutional Convention]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Alaska]] [[Category:Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni]] [[Category:Lawyers from Fairbanks, Alaska]] [[Category:Mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska]] [[Category:Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature]] [[Category:People from Chehalis, Washington]] [[Category:People from Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska]] [[Category:Politicians from Seattle]] [[Category:United States attorneys for the District of Alaska]] [[Category:University of Washington School of Law alumni]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]