John R. Murdock

John Robert Murdock (April 20, 1885 – February 14, 1972) was a U.S. Representative from Arizona.

John R. Murdock
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district
In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	Seat created
Succeeded by	John Rhodes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's at-large district
In office January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Isabella Greenway
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Personal details
Born	(1885-04-20)April 20, 1885 Lewistown, Missouri, USA
Died	February 14, 1972(1972-02-14) (aged 86) Phoenix, Arizona
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Myrtle Cheney Murdock
Alma mater	University of Iowa University of Arizona University of California, Berkeley

Born in Homestead near Lewistown, Missouri, Murdock attended the public schools. He graduated from State Teachers' College, Kirksville, Missouri, in 1912 and received a bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa in 1925. He attended graduate school at the University of Arizona and at the University of California at Berkeley.

He was an elementary school teacher and principal in Missouri before he went to the University of Iowa. He was an instructor in the Normal School at Tempe, Arizona, predecessor of Arizona State University. He was then Dean of this institution from 1933 to 1937. He wrote several textbooks on history and government.

Murdock was elected as a Democrat to the 75th Congress and to the seven succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1953. For his first six terms, he was one of two at-large congressmen from Arizona. When the state was split into two districts in 1948, Murdock was elected from the 1st District, comprising Phoenix and Maricopa County. He served as chairman of the Committee on Memorials (Seventy-eighth Congress), Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation (Seventy-ninth Congress), and Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Eighty-second Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1952 to the Eighty-third Congress, losing to Republican challenger John Jacob Rhodes. He was the first Democratic incumbent to lose a House election in the state.

He was married to Myrtle Cheney Murdock, who popularized the accomplishments of Constantino Brumidi.[1]

He retired and resided in Scottsdale, Arizona and died in Phoenix, Arizona on February 14, 1972. He was interred in Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe, Arizona.