PHIL (PHILIP M.) CRANE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 04/09/1979 - HFSID 34341

PHIL CRANE
The Congressman signed this letter, on his letterhead from the House of Representatives, in 1979. He sent it to the popular radio and TV host George R. Sanders in order to apologize for the delay in sending a photo and to thank him for a pamphlet.
Typed letter signed "Phil Crane". 1 page, 8x10¾, on Crane's letterhead from the Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. April 9, 1979. Addressed to Mr. George R. Sanders, Jr., Enka, North Carolina. Crane thanked Sanders for a pamphlet and questionnaire in this letter and apologized for not sending him an enclosed photograph [not included] sooner: "I well understand your concern. I can only presume that your August letter was not received or was in-advertently misplaced in this office." Phil Crane (b. 1930), born in Chicago, Illinois,was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives in three of Illinois' congressional districts from 1969 to 2005, making him the longest serving Republican congressmen in history as of this biography. His first seat, from the 13th Congressional District, was held by Donald Rumsfeld, future Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford and George W. Bush; he won the seat in a special election after Rumsfeld was appointed to a position in the administration of president Richard Nixon. Crane quickly established himself as a bastion of conservativism in the House, serving as the first chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus group for conservative Republican congressmen, and chairman of the American Conservative Union, a conservative citizen's lobby. Crane also opposed president Jimmy Carter's cession of the Panama Canal and the SALT II nuclear treaties. He ran for president in 1978, but dropped out early during the primaries. The 1980 presidential elections marked the zenith of Crane's power, and he was soon eclipsed by other conservative congressmen. Crane was defeated by Democrat Melissa Bean in the 2004 election, losing the 8th Congressional District seat. George R. Sanders, originally a disc jockey, became a prominent radio/TV interview host, first in Los Angeles and later in Portland. Lightly toned and creased. Light impression in lower right corner. Folded once and unfolded. Lightly soiled in fold. Otherwise in fine condition.