L. Mendel Rivers

Lucius Mendel Rivers (September 28, 1905 – December 28, 1970) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from South Carolina, representing the Charleston-based 1st congressional district for nearly 30 years.

As chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Rivers developed a reputation for his unwavering support of American involvement in the Vietnam War.

His reputation suffered as the American public at large turned against further escalation in the Vietnam War.

The family moved to a farm in St. Stephen in 1907 and lived comfortably until 1915.

That year the father Lucius died from pneumonia.

Mendel's older brother Earle was put in charge of running the farm, but was not interested in agriculture.

At the same time, agriculture suffered financial pressures and the family's assets declined.

Eventually, they moved to North Charleston, where they opened a boarding house on O'Hear Avenue.

Rivers attended local public schools.

He took six years to graduate from Charleston High School in 1926.

He attended the College of Charleston for three years and the University of South Carolina School of Law for two years, graduating from neither.

The law school dean at the University of South Carolina advised Rivers to take up another profession because, although he knew the assignments, he suffered from stage fright.

Rivers was determined to become a lawyer so he returned to College of Charleston, took classes to prepare himself for the bar examination.

Rivers first became involved in politics in 1930 when he participated in Ed Pritchard's unsuccessful campaign for the state legislature against Russell McGowan.

He was an active member of the Charleston Young Democrats club and shortly after passing the bar, Rivers decided to run for one of the twelve state representative spots from Charleston County.

County politics in the 1930s were controlled by the political machine of Charleston mayor Burnet R. Maybank, and gaining his endorsement was crucial to winning an election.

Rivers sought the mayor's blessing, but was rejected because he was an unknown candidate from North Charleston.

He ran as an Independent Democrat and was defeated in his bid for election.

After passing the bar exam in 1932, he was unable to find work in Charleston law firms during the Great Depression, so he started his own practice.

A vacancy on the Charleston County delegation arose in 1933 when Ben Scott Whaley resigned to join the staff of Senator James Francis Byrnes.

Rivers won the special election by running against Charleston and campaigning on the slogan "Give the Northern End of the County Representation."

In 1934, Rivers ran for re-election and received the most votes of any state House candidate on the Charleston County ticket, making him chairman of the county delegation.

As a state Representative, Rivers served on the Judiciary and Education committees.

He became the state president of the Young Democrats in 1935 and was a delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention.

The rapid ascendancy of Rivers attracted the attention of 1st district Congressman Thomas S. McMillan who became worried when Rivers requested papers from the state Democratic secretary in 1936 to run for office.

McMillan arranged a meeting with Rivers and offered him a position as a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States.

Rivers accepted and worked throughout the South collecting unpaid criminal fines and forfeited bail bonds.

On September 29, 1939, McMillan died and Rivers immediately made plans to run for Congress.

He quit his federal job in February 1940 and opened a law practice in Charleston to provide a base for his campaign.

His opponent in the Democratic primary was Alfred von Kolnitz, who had the backing of the Charleston political establishment and Thomas McMillan's widow, Clara.

Rivers knew that he was not going to win the vote in Charleston, so he tried to maximize his vote outside of Charleston by making the theme of his campaign about the chicanery of the city.

Furthermore, with World War II raging in Europe, Rivers played up von Kolnitz's German name to make him appear as if a Nazi sympathizer.

He was aided in this effort by the fact that von Kolnitz was outspokenly antisemitic, and was in favor of isolationism (von Kolnitz advocated that the U.S. not help the United Kingdom in the British war effort against the Nazis.) On August 27, Rivers won the Democratic primary election by running up a huge margin in the counties outside of Charleston, which offset his loss in Charleston County.

In those days, victory in the Democratic primary was tantamount to election in South Carolina, and Rivers took office on January 3, 1941.

Making good on his pro-British campaign rhetoric, Rivers voted in favor of the first Lend Lease Act in 1941 to lend material military aid to the British Army and Royal Navy, as well as food aid for British soldiers and civilians.

He then voted to extend the lend lease act in 1944.

Once in Congress, Rivers sought a seat on the Agriculture committee, but it was full and he was instead placed on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries committee.

In 1968, Rivers condemned American servicemen who attempted to stop the My Lai massacre, labeling them as "traitors".

Rivers served in the House until his death in 1970.

Mendel Rivers was born in Gumville, South Carolina, to Lucius Hampton Rivers and Henrietta Marion McCay.