Larry McDonald

Lawrence Patton McDonald (April 1 1935 – September 1 1983) was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the seventh congressional district of Georgia. McDonald was killed in the shoot-down of Korean Air Flight 007.

Early life and career
Larry McDonald was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, more specifically in the eastern part of the city that is in DeKalb County. He graduated from Davidson College in 1954, Emory University School of Medicine in 1957 and trained at Grady Memorial Hospital as an urologist. From 1959 to 1961 he served as a Flight Surgeon in the US Navy stationed at the Keflavík naval base in Iceland. After his tour of service he practiced medicine at the McDonald Urology Clinic in Atlanta. McDonald made one unsuccessful run for Congress in 1972 before being elected in 1974. While in Congress, he became the President of the John Birch Society, a conservative organization, and founded the Western Goals Foundation. McDonald served as a member on the Georgia State Medical Education Board, the National Historical Society and the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce and received numerous civil honors.

Member of the Congress of the United States of America
In the elections held in November 1974 Larry McDonald was elected to the Ninety-fourth Congress of the United States of America as a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Congressman in seventh district of Georgia, which lies north of Atlanta. He was re-elected four times and served from January 3, 1975, until his death, on September 1, 1983.

Larry McDonald was known for his conservative views, even by Southern standards. His anti-communist fervor was probably second only to that of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He took the communist threat seriously and considered it an international conspiracy. Such a view was later echoed in the words of President Ronald Reagan who called the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire". In another sense, McDonald may be viewed as a precursor of the Reagan supply-side (market liberalization) revolution that swept through the country in the 1980s. An admirer of Austrian economics, he was an advocate of tight monetary policy in the late 1970s to get the economy out of "stagflation" - a mixture of low growth and high inflation. He was also a passionate advocate of laissez-faire or market based policies. His staunch conservative views on social issues attracted controversy. For instance, McDonald is noted for using amendments to stop government aid to homosexuals. During his terms in Congress, McDonald founded the Western Goals Foundation which was intended to combat the threat from Communism. He also advocated the use of a non-approved drug Laetrile to treat patients in advanced stages of cancer.

Death
On September 1, 1983, Larry McDonald died when Korean Air Flight KAL-007 was shot down by Soviet fighters after the plane entered Soviet airspace. McDonald was the only U.S. congressman ever killed by the Soviets during the Cold War. North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms and Idaho Senator Steve Symms, both conservative Republicans and Congressman Carroll Hubbard, a Democrat of Kentucky, all staunch critics of the Soviet Union, were scheduled to fly to Seoul on KAL 007, but instead flew on KAL 015 which, with KAL 007, stopped at Anchorage airport for refueling before the next leg of the trip to Seoul (Shootdown, R.W. Johnson, Viking Penguin, New York, N.Y. 1986, pg. 3-4). The trip was on the invitation of the President of South Korea for the 30th year celebration U.S.-South Korean Mutual Defense Treaty. A few hours after the shootdown, Media reported that KAL 007 had landed safely on Sakhalin Island. Larry McDonald's press aid, Tommy Toles, was informed by the U.S.Embassy in Korea, relaying the report from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that "the plane had landed safely in Korea". In addition, the Washington based Federal Aviation Administration informed McDonald's press aid that their Japanese counterpart organization, the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau had informed them that KAL 007 had made a safe landing on Sakhalin and "it is confirmed by the Manifest that Congressman McDonald is on board". Within a few short hours, this had been broadcast by the media, only to have, within another few short hours, the media broadcasting that all passengers and crew had perished in an explosion over the waters off Sakhalin and subsequent crash in the sea. After McDonald's death, a special election was held to fill his seat in Congress. McDonald's widow, Kathy, was a candidate, but she lost to George "Buddy" Darden. Much of the congressional district McDonald represented would later be represented by Newt Gingrich.

Tribute
On March 18, 1998, the Georgia House of Representatives, "as an expression of gratitude for his able service to his country and defense of the US Constitution", passed a resolution naming the portion of Interstate Highway 75, which runs from the Chattahoochee River northward to the Tennessee state line in his honor, the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway.

Quotations about Larry McDonald

 * "There is a real question in my mind that the Soviets may have actually murdered 269 passengers and crew on the Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in order to kill Larry McDonald." - Jerry Falwell, 2 September 1983, Washington Post
 * "McDonald has fine credentials: a good education, a successful career as a urologist. But his views on issues are so far out, and his political skill so limited, that he has little impact." - Michael Barone, The Almanac of American Politics 1984

Quotations by Larry McDonald

 * "We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box." - Jim Poz quote repository.
 * "The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and communism under the same tent, all under their control...Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."

Books by Larry McDonald

 * Lawrence Patton McDonald, 1976, "We Hold These Truths: a reverent review of the U.S. Constitution," '76 Press, Seal Beach, California. ISBN 0-89245-005-3.
 * Rep. Lawrence Patton McDonald, 1977, "Trotskyism and Terror: The Strategy of Revolution," ACU Education and Research Institute, Washington, DC.