Lee Metcalf - U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1952, when Mike Mansfield decided to run for the Senate against Zales Ecton, Metcalf successfully campaigned for the U.S. House of Representatives in Montana's 1st congressional district. In the general election, he narrowly defeated his Republican opponent, Wellington D. Rankin, by a margin of 50%-49%. He was subsequently re-elected to three more terms in 1954, 1956, and 1958, never receiving less than 56% of the vote.

During his tenure in the House, Metcalf served on the Education and Labor Committee (1953–1959), Interior and Insular Affairs Committee (1955–1959), Select Astronautics and Space Exploration Committee (1958), and Ways and Means Committee (1959–1960). He became known as one of Congress's "Young Turks" who promoted liberal domestic social legislation and reform of congressional procedures. He introduced legislation to provide health care to the eldery ten years before the creation of Medicare. He earned the nickname "Mr. Education" after sponsoring a comprehensive bill providing for federal aid to education. He also voted against legislation that would have raised grazing permits on federal lands, and led the opposition to a bill that would have swapped forested public lands for cutover private lands. He was elected chairman of the Democratic Study Group in 1959.