George V. Hansen

George V. Hansen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Idaho's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Orval Hansen
Succeeded by	Richard Stallings
In office January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by	Ralph Harding
Succeeded by	Orval Hansen
Personal details
Born	George Vernon Hansen (1930-09-14)September 14, 1930 Tetonia, Idaho
Died	Pocatello, Idaho
Nationality	United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Connie Hansen (†2013)
Residence	Pocatello
Alma mater	Ricks College, 1956
Profession	Insurance
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Air Force U.S. Naval Reserve
Years of service	1951–1954, USAF 1964–1970, USNR

George Vernon Hansen (September 14, 1930 – August 14, 2014) was a Republican politician from the state of Idaho. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years, representing Idaho's 2nd district from 1965 to 1969 and again from 1975 to 1985.

Biography

Born in Tetonia, Idaho, Hansen graduated from Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) in 1956 and did graduate work at Idaho State University. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1954 and the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1964 to 1970.

Hansen moved to Alameda, Idaho, and was established as a life insurance salesman by 1958. He was elected mayor in 1961 and supported its merger with Pocatello the following year. Following the merger, Hansen served as a Pocatello city commissioner until 1965.

Hansen was an unsuccessful candidate in the primary for the U.S. Senate in 1962, but won a seat in the House two years later in the 2nd district. He again ran for the U.S. Senate in 1968, but lost to two-term incumbent Frank Church, who would serve four terms. Hansen ran a third unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1972, losing the primary to 1st district congressman Jim McClure.

In 1974, Hansen upset three-term incumbent Orval Hansen in the August primary and won the general election to return to the U.S. House. In Washington, Hansen was known as one of the most conservative members of Congress, and a particularly vocal critic of the Internal Revenue Service.

Congressman Hansen went to Tehran in 1979 in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis to try to negotiate with hostage takers through the fence of the U.S. Embassy. In 1980 Hansen published a book titled To Harass Our People: The IRS and Government Abuse of Power.

Hansen was reprimanded by the House in 1984 for failing to include transactions on federal disclosure forms. He was defeated for re-election by less than 200 votes that year by Democrat Richard Stallings. Hansen tried unsuccessfully to challenge the election result. He was convicted of failing to file full disclosure forms and spent 15 months in prison. His imprisonment is alleged to have included torture through medical neglect and subjection to "diesel therapy," a form of punishment in which prisoners are painfully shackled and then transported for days or weeks without respite. The conviction was overturned in 1995 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hubbard v. United States, which adopted a narrower interpretation of the law under which Hansen was prosecuted. But it was not an automatic process; first Hansen filed an appeal based on ineffective assistance of counsel, in which most of his arguments were rejected but his sentence was reduced based on a change in the law, then in further litigation, his conviction was overturned based on the Hubbard decision.

In 1993, Hansen was convicted of 45 counts of bank fraud for a multimillion-dollar check-kiting scheme

In 2014, he died at a hospital in Pocatello, Idaho, aged 83.

Election results

U.S. House elections (Idaho's 2nd district): Results 1964–1966, 1974–1984

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
1964		Ralph Harding (inc.)	84,022	47.8%		George Hansen	91,838	52.2%
1966		A.W. "Bill" Brunt	33,348	29.7%		George Hansen (inc.)	79,024	70.3%
1974		Max Hanson	53,599	44.3%		George Hansen	67,274	55.7%
1976		Stan Kress	82,237	49.4%		George Hansen (inc.)	84,175	50.6%
1978		Stan Kress	60,040	42.7%		George Hansen (inc.)	80,591	57.3%
1980		Diane Bilyeu	81,364	41.2%		George Hansen (inc.)	116,196	58.8%
1982		Richard Stallings	76,608	47.7%		George Hansen (inc.)	83,873	52.3%
1984		Richard Stallings	101,266	50.03%		George Hansen (inc.)	101,133	49.97%

U.S. Senate elections in Idaho (Class III): Results 1968

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
1968		Frank Church (inc.)	173,482	60.3%		George Hansen	114,394	39.7%

Source:

Books

• To harass our people: The IRS and government abuse of power, Positive Publications, (1981).
• How the IRS seizes your dollars and how to fight back, Simon and Schuster, (1981), ISBN 0-671-42795-4.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

External links

• George V. Hansen at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Ralph R. Harding	United States House of Representatives, Idaho Second Congressional District January 4, 1965–January 3, 1969	Succeeded by Orval H. Hansen
Preceded by Orval H. Hansen	United States House of Representatives, Idaho Second Congressional District January 3, 1975–January 4, 1985	Succeeded by Richard H. Stallings
Party political offices
Preceded by Jack Hawley	Republican Party nominee, U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Idaho 1968 (lost)	Succeeded by Robert L. Smith