Chet Holifield

Chester E. Holifield
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 19th district
In office January 3, 1943 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by	Harry R. Sheppard
Succeeded by	Robert J. Lagomarsino
Personal details
Born	Chester Earl Holifield (1903-12-03)December 3, 1903 Mayfield, Kentucky
Died	February 6, 1995(1995-02-06) (aged 91) Redlands, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Vernice Caneer (marriage 1922-1991)[1]
Children	4

Chester Earl "Chet" Holifield (December 3, 1903 – February 6, 1995) was a businessman and politician, a United States representative from California's 19th congressional district. Holifield became known as "Mr. Atomic Energy" for his legislation promoting the development of nuclear power.^[2]

He was born in Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky. He moved with his family to Springdale, Arkansas in 1912. After attending public schools, he moved to Montebello, California in 1920. There he worked in the manufacture and selling of men's apparel from 1920 to 1943.

Becoming active in Democratic Party politics, Holifield was chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central committee of the 51st District from 1934 to 1938. He was chair of the California State Central committee of the 12th congressional district from 1938 to 1940. He was also a delegate to each Democratic National Convention from 1940 to 1964.

In 1942, Holifield was elected as a Democrat representing the 19th congressional district in California.^[3] He was one of the few congressmen in California who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.^[1]

Holifield was subsequently re-elected to the fifteen succeeding Congresses.

While in Congress, he was chair of the U.S. House Committee on Government Operations (91st through 93rd Congresses) and the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (87th, 89th, and 91st Congresses). He was a member of the President's Special Evaluation Commission on Atomic Bomb Tests at Bikini Atoll, 1946.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, as a member of the House Military Operations Subcommittee, he was a strong advocate of fallout shelters and said that the United States should "build a nationwide system of underground shelters".^[4] Holifield was also a congressional adviser to international conferences on uses of atomic energy, nuclear weapons testing, water desalinization, and disarmament.

Alvin M. Weinberg, who advocated inherent safety in reactor design, recounted an incident from 1972, where Holifield said: "if you are concerned about the safety of reactors, then I think it may be time for you to leave nuclear energy."^[5]

He served from January 3, 1943, until his resignation on December 31, 1974. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1974 to the 94th Congress. After leaving Congress, Holifield resumed the manufacture and selling of men's apparel.

In 1922,^[6] Holifield married Vernice Caneer with whom he would have four daughters.^[3][7] Following his retirement from politics, he lived in a beach house in Balboa, California.^[8] Vernice Holifield died in 1991.^[1] He died of pneumonia on February 6, 1995, in Redlands, California.^[8]

• In 1966, he was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Laws (L.L. D.) from Whittier College.^[9]
• The Chet Holified Library, named in his honor, opened 1969 in Montebello, California.^[10]
• The Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel, California was renamed in his honor in 1978.

• Dyke, Richard Wayne. Mr. Atomic Energy: Congressman Chet Holifield and Atomic Energy Affairs from 1945 to 1974. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989; Dyke, Richard Wayne and Francis X. Gannon.
• Chet Holifield: Master Legislator and Nuclear Statesman. With a foreword by Gerald R. Ford and an afterword by Carl Albert. Lanham, [Md.]: University Press of America, 1996.

• United States Congress. "Chet Holifield (id: H000713)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Chester E. "Chet" Holifield is available for viewing at the Internet Archive