Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by
Wendell Wyatt
Succeeded by
Elizabeth Furse
Majority Leader of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office 1973–1975
Preceded by
Thomas Young
Succeeded by
Ed Lindquist
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 4th district
In office 1971–1975
Preceded by
David Frost
Succeeded by
Bill Ferguson
Personal details
Born
Walter Leslie AuCoin
(1942-10-21) October 21, 1942 (age 81) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Spouse
Sue Swearingen
(m. 1964)
Children
2 (including Kelly)
Education
Portland State University Pacific University (BA)
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Branch/service
United States Army
Walter Leslie AuCoin (/oʊˈkɔɪn/oh-KOYN; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st congressional district, since it was formed in 1892.[1] The seat has been held by Democrats ever since.[2]
AuCoin's 18-year tenure—from the 94th United States Congress through the 102nd[3]—is the sixth-longest in Oregon history. In his career, AuCoin took a prominent role in abortion rights,[4] local and national environmental issues,[5] multiple-use management of federal forests,[6] and national security. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, he wrote the ban to stop Interior Secretary James Watt's plan to open the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf to oil exploration.[7] AuCoin was an early advocate of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China[8] and arms control with the Soviet Union,[9] and a critic of U.S. support for the Nicaraguan Contras and the rightist government of El Salvador in the 1980s.[10] At the time of his retirement in 1993, he was 84th in overall House seniority, dean of the Oregon House delegation,[11] a majority whip-at-large, and a veteran member of the House Appropriations Committee.
AuCoin was a two-term member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974. In his second term, he was House Majority Leader, at the age of 31. He is a full-time author, writer, lecturer and occasional blogger. AuCoin is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[12] He and his wife Susan live in Portland.[13]
^"The House: New Faces and New Strains". Time magazine. November 18, 1974. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
^Official database of U.S. Congress Archived April 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^"AuCoin, Les". United States Congress. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
^Phillips, Don (December 8, 1989). "AuCoin: Ready to 'Kick Ankles' for Abortion Rights; Oregon Democrat Says Legal Restrictions Have Made Women 'Victims of Tyranny'". The Washington Post.
^"Sierra Club Awards" (PDF). 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
^"Compromised Reached on Spotted Owl". New York Times. September 30, 1974.
^Chu, Keith (June 15, 2008). "Through Ups and Downs, Oregon Has Helped Steer Energy Policy". The Bulletin (Bend).
^"To amend and extend the Export-Import Bank act of 1945": hearings the House Subcommittee on International Trade, Investment, and Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session on H.R. 11384, March 13, 15-17, 1978
^Secter, Bob (August 16, 1986). "House Votes For Defense Bill Loaded With Arms Curbs". Los Angeles Times.
^House Committee Hearings by Date, Digest, Congressional Record, 101st Congress, January 23, 1990-January 3, 1991.
^Swisher, Larry (July 22, 1991). "Northwest's Senate races will be dirty". Spokane Chronicle. p. A6. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
^"Issue One – ReFormers Caucus".
^McInally, Mike (September 22, 2019). "Think Too Much: AuCoin reflects on a life in politics". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
since. AuCoin's 18-year tenure—from the 94th United States Congress through the 102nd—is the sixth-longest in Oregon history. In his career, AuCoin took...
Jury Award for Ensemble Acting. AuCoin was born in the Portland suburb of Hillsboro, Oregon, the son of Les and Susan AuCoin, and grew up in Oregon and Washington...
political science. He worked from 1984 to 1985 as a legislative aide to LesAuCoin, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Silver then attended...
Kevyn Aucoin (1962–2002), American make-up artist and photographer LesAuCoin (born 1942), United States Congressman from Oregon Louis M. Aucoin, United...
positions. He held top fundraising positions at the 1992 Senate campaign of LesAuCoin and Barney Frank's 1990 Congressional campaign. Solmonese began his career...
Oregon's other Senate seat in 1990, emerged as AuCoin's principal rival; Wetzel, who criticized Packwood and AuCoin as long-term, ineffective members of Congress...
Sasser Response to the State of the Union address 1983 Served alongside: LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Barbara Kennelly,...
Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Don Riegle, Paul Sarbanes, Jim Sasser Succeeded by LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara...
at the time. Packwood defeated the Democratic nominee, Representative LesAuCoin, 52.1% to 46.5%–easily his closest race since his initial run for the...
Hatfield, Governor Barbara Roberts, and Congressmen Mike Kopetski and LesAuCoin. The opening theme of the aquarium was following the path of a raindrop...
1st district In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999 Preceded by LesAuCoin Succeeded by David Wu Personal details Born (1936-10-13)October 13, 1936...
avalanche researcher and forecasting pioneer Montgomery Atwater, Congressman LesAuCoin, mountaineer and teacher who helped develop equipment for the 10th Mountain...
1983–1993 Succeeded by Lynn Woolsey Party political offices Preceded by LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara...
Johnston, Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Paul Sarbanes, Jim Sasser Succeeded by LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara...
Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Don Riegle, Paul Sarbanes, Jim Sasser (1982), LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara B. Kennelly...
Trial". The New York Times. February 13, 1999. Retrieved May 25, 2009. Aucoin, Don (February 22, 2009). "Chapter 7: The Patriarch: Their sorrows, his...
House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill III (MA), Rep. George Miller (CA), Rep. LesAuCoin (OR), Rep. Paul Simon (IL), Rep. Timothy Wirth (CO), and Rep. Bill Hefner...
Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Don Riegle, Paul Sarbanes, Jim Sasser Succeeded by LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara...
Sasser Response to the State of the Union address 1983 Served alongside: LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara Kennelly, George...
Johnston, Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Don Riegle, Paul Sarbanes Succeeded by LesAuCoin, Joe Biden, Bill Bradley, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Bill Hefner, Barbara...
Global Information
United States
United States Army