Earl Landgrebe
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Earl Fredrick Landgrebe (January 21, 1916 – July 1, 1986) was a politician and businessman. He served as an Indiana state senator and United States representative for the 2nd district. Langrebe was from Valparaiso in Porter County, Indiana. He is remembered unfavorably for his famous line at the Watergate hearings: "Don’t confuse me with the facts."[1] Landgrebe stuck with Richard Nixon until the bitter end.
Landgrebe was born in Valparaiso, Indiana in 1916, the son of Edward William Landgrebe and Benna Marie Landgrebe (née Broderman). He attended Wheeler High School of Valparaiso. He married Helen Lucille Field on July 12, 1936. He was elected to the state senate of Indiana in 1959 as a Republican and served there until 1968. In that year, he was elected to represent Indiana's 2nd district in the House of Representatives.
On August 5, 1974, Richard Nixon released certain documents revealing his orders to aides to hinder the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation of the Watergate break-in. When Landgrebe was asked on August 7 about the apparently unanimous support for impeachment of Nixon among his Republican colleagues following this disclosure, he said: "I'm going to stick with my President even if he and I have to be taken out of this building and shot." The next day, Richard Nixon announced his resignation. A few months later, Landgrebe was shown the door by his constituents. His re-election bid was derailed by Democrat Floyd Fithian.
After his defeat, Earl Landgrebe returned to his home in Valparaiso where he owned and managed Landgrebe Motor Transport Inc., a common carrier and freight hauling company. In February 1980, the Machinist Union was on strike at the Union Rolls Corporation in Valparaiso, Indiana. The former congressman personally confronted picketers with a tractor trailer. On February 13 he completed two trips into the Union Rolls plant to pick up and haul away merchandise. Both times, the Union unsuccessfully tried to prevent his entrance into the plant. On a third trip later that day, he was not so fortunate. Union members surrounded the truck. They swung clubs and broke mirrors and shattered glass. Landgrebe was showered with broken glass. A local sheriff broke up the incident.[2]
On July 1, 1986 he died at home of a heart attack. He was 70 years old.[3]
References
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- Earl Landgrebe at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Lance to Landoe
- Earl Landgrebe at Find a Grave
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Representative of Indiana's 2nd Congressional District 1969–1975 |
Succeeded by Floyd Fithian |
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- ↑ The exact quotation was: "Don't confuse me with the facts. I've got a closed mind." The reference was first published in 1977. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- Pages with reference errors
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana
- Indiana State Senators
- Indiana Republicans
- American Lutherans
- 1916 births
- 1986 deaths
- People from Valparaiso, Indiana
- Businesspeople from Indiana
- American transportation businesspeople
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- 20th-century American businesspeople
