John F. Baldwin Jr.

John Finley Baldwin Jr. (June 28, 1915 – March 9, 1966) was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California from 1955 to 1966.

He was a civil rights activist, and studied southern history.

Born in Oakland, California, in 1915 to John Finley Baldwin and Nellie Linekin, John F. Baldwin Jr. graduated from San Ramon Valley High School located in Danville, California.

He then went on to UC Berkeley, where he majored in accounting and finance.

He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1935 and soon after he became the assistant manager of South-Western Publishing Co.

Baldwin joined the United States Army in 1941 and served in the area of finance, first as a training director at the Army Finance School and later with the Office of Fiscal Director.

John and Mary were married at the Presidio of San Francisco in December 1944, while he was a Major in the Army and Mary was a secretary.

By the time of his retirement in 1946, he had attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

He then returned to school to study law, graduating from the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law in 1949.

He was elected as a Republican in 1954, and served from January 3, 1955, until his death from cancer at Bethesda Naval Hospital on March 9, 1966, aged 50.

Baldwin voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.