John Melcher



John Melcher (born September 6 1924) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who represented Montana as a member of the United States House of Representatives, and as a United States Senator from 1977 until 1989.

John Melcher was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He attended the University of Minnesota, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and graduated from Iowa State University in 1950.

Later he moved to Forsyth, Montana and established a veterinary clinic. He became mayor of Forsyth in 1955.

In 1962 he was elected State senator. He was elected as a Democrat to the 91st Congress by special election, June 24 1969, to fill a vacancy created when the incumbent, Republican James F. Battin, resigned to accept an appointment to the Federal bench. Melcher was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses and served from June 24 1969, to January 3 1977.

In 1976 he was elected to the United States Senate for the term commencing January 3 1977. Melcher ran and was reelected in 1982 for the term ending January 3, 1989. A highlight of the latter campaign was the "moo cows for Melcher" ad. Melcher had been targetted by National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) as potentially vulnerable, and he was subjected to attack ads depicting him as "too liberal for Montana". Melcher's response became a classic of campaign advertizing, featuring a shot of an "out-of-stater" carrying a briefcase full of money, followed by a conversation among several cows deploring their intervention in the race.

His campaign for re-election was unsuccessful in 1988, when he was defeated by Republican Conrad Burns.