Lionel Van Deerlin

Lionel Van Deerlin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Clair Burgener
Succeeded by	Duncan L. Hunter
Constituency	37th district (1963–73) 41st district (1973–75) 42nd district (1975–81)
Personal details
Born	July 25, 1914 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	May 17, 2008(2008-05-17) (aged 93) San Diego, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Southern California (B.A., journalism, 1937)
Occupation	Journalist, newspaper columnist
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Unit	Field Artillery
Battles/wars	World War II Mediterranean Theater

Lionel Van Deerlin (July 25, 1914 – May 17, 2008) was an American journalist and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic United States Representative from California from 1963 to 1981, representing a San Diego area district.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Van Deerlin graduated from Oceanside High School of Oceanside, California, in 1933 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Southern California in 1937, where he was editor of the Daily Trojan.^[1][2]

Van Deerlin served in the United States Army for four years during World War II in the Field Artillery, on the staff of Stars and Stripes newspaper (Mediterranean), and in the overseas service in Italy. He was a staff sergeant. After the war, he was a journalist in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Baltimore, Maryland.

Van Deerlin moved to San Diego where he was city editor of the old San Diego Journal, which was founded by Clinton D. McKinnon. Later, Van Deerlin became news director of XETV, then the ABC affiliate in San Diego, and later moved to NBC affiliate KFSD-AM-FM-TV. After he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1958, he became newscaster and news director for XETV in Tijuana-San Diego.^[3]

Van Deerlin was elected to Congress in 1962 from the newly created 37th District, becoming the first Democrat to represent a San Diego–based district in Congress since Clinton D. McKinnon left office in 1953. He was reelected eight times from this district, which was renumbered the 41st in 1972 and the 42nd in 1975. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Van Deerlin encouraged competition in the telecommunications industry by conducting hearings that led to the breakup of AT&T. He supported a broad interpretation of First Amendment rights for broadcasters.

In 1980, Van Deerlin's Republican opponent was attorney Duncan Hunter. Hunter's campaign was initially considered a longshot, but he gained considerable traction by painting Van Deerlin as weak on defense. This caught Van Deerlin flat-footed. Besides using the "weak on defense" label in a solid military-based economy that is omnipresent in the San Diego metropolitan area, Hunter's activities (such as helping the poor receive legal assistance) in the community were also an asset. By the time Van Deerlin began to take Hunter seriously (he hadn't really had to campaign since his first race), it was too late, and Hunter narrowly defeated him. Since then, Democrats have only cracked the 40 percent barrier twice in the district, which is now numbered as the 50th District after being redrawn several times since Van Deerlin's defeat.

Van Deerlin was a professor emeritus at San Diego State University and had a weekly column (every Thursday) in The San Diego Union-Tribune. The Lionel Van Deerlin Endowed Chair in Communications at San Diego State was named in his honor.

Van Deerlin died at age 93 at his home in San Diego.^[4]

Twenty-five years ago in Congress you not only trusted the opposing party, you enjoyed their company. Today, they hardly speak. Speech before the Osher Forum, broadcast by UC-TV, April 23, 2004

• United States Congress. "Lionel Van Deerlin (id: V000024)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Lionel Van Deerlin op-ed columns for Union-Tribune
• Appearances on C-SPAN