Eleventh Generation
13113. 
Richard Montgomery SCAMMON119 was born on 17 July 1915 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.119
He appeared in the census on 7 January 1920 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota. Age 4 years 6 months, born Minnesota, parents born Missouri, living with parents. Name on census: Richard M. Scammon.
He appeared in the census on 2 April 1930 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota. Age 14, born Minnesota, parents born Missouri, living with parents. Name on census: Richard M. Scammon.
Richard served in the US Army from 4 November 1941 to 4 November 1945.119 He attained the rank of Captain.
He died at home on 27 April 2001 at the age of 85 in Gaithersburg, Montgomery, Maryland.119
His obituary was published on 30 April 2001 in the New York Times in New York City, New York, New York.
Richard M. Scammon, 85; Blended Politics and Statistics
By DEAN E. MURPHY
Richard M. Scammon, an influential political scientist and elections analyst who had the ear of politicians and journalists in the turbulent 1960's and 70's, died Friday in a retirement community in Gaithersburg, Md. He was 85.
The cause was Alzheimer's disease, said his daughter, Anne Scammon. Mr. Scammon last worked as an elections analyst for NBC News in 1988, Ms. Scammon said.
Once described as "a one-man think tank" by David Broder, the Washington Post political reporter, Mr. Scammon in 1955 founded and directed a nonprofit organization called the Elections Research Center. His knowledge of statistics -- election results, public opinion polls and census data -- was legendary, making him a prized source for reporters covering Washington and a consultant to presidents and members of Congress.
"There are politicians and journalists in Washington who believe that Richard M. Scammon was manufactured a few years ago at an IBM plant in Poughkeepsie," William Whitworth wrote in The New Yorker in 1969.
Mr. Scammon, who was appointed director of the Census Bureau by President John F. Kennedy, told Mr. Whitworth that he left that post after four years because it kept him too far removed from the numbers.
Ms. Scammon said her father's love for numbers and politics began when he was a boy in Minneapolis, where he was born. She said he once disappeared into his bedroom for an entire weekend. When his mother finally broke his solitude to deliver sandwiches, she discovered that the young Richard had been reorganizing the entire world into voting districts.
"My dad always answered the phone, 'Scammon, elections,' " Ms. Scammon said. "His life was about elections."
Mr. Scammon got his first experience with elections after serving in the Army in World War II. He worked for the United States military government to set up the machinery for the first elections in West Germany.
A Democrat, Mr. Scammon gained perhaps his greatest fame in 1970 when he wrote, with Ben J. Wattenberg, "The Real Majority." The book argued that for the Democratic Party to survive it needed to look beyond the economic issues that dominated the American electoral scene in the first half of the 20th century toward social issues that deeply disturbed voters in middle America.
In that book Mr. Scammon described the typical voter as "unyoung, unpoor and unblack," a phrase that shocked many Democrats but resonated true with others.
"He turned what was an anecdotal sport into an analytical profession," Mr. Wattenberg said Saturday of Mr. Scammon's blending of political trends with statistics.
In addition to his daughter, who lives in Alexandria, Va., Mr. Scammon is survived by his wife, Mary Allen Scammon, and his sister Jean Hyland of Warwick, R.I.
He was buried on 3 July 2003 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Arlington, Virginia.119
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard M. Scammon (1915–2001) was an author, political scientist and elections scholar. He served as Director of the U.S. Bureau of the Census from 1961 to 1965. Afterwards, he worked for decades directing election analysis for NBC News.
Scammon was born in Minnesota, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1935. He later earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan, also in political science.[1]
Scammon enlisted in the Army during World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He served in occupied Germany after the war, rising to head the military government's office of elections and political parties. After his discharge, he served as chief of the research division in Western Europe for the U.S. Department of State from 1948 to 1955.[1]
After leaving government service, Scammon founded the Elections Research Center in 1955. Its enduring contribution was the long-running series of volumes, America Votes, which for the first time provided standard and reliable statistics for the results of major elections in all 50 states. (The biennial compilations, published by Congressional Quarterly's imprint, CQ Books, were later co-produced with Scammon associate Alice McGillivray. After Scammon closed the Center in 1995, Rhodes Cook has continued to oversee production of America Votes.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Scammon as Census Director, which he continued until 1965, during the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. According to the Washington Post, while serving as Director of the Census, Scammon was "a personal adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on public opinion and political trends."[2]
Returning to his voting research, Scammon was hired by NBC News to direct its extensive election-night coverage in November 1968. He continued his work as a consultant for NBC until 1988.[3]
As an author, Scammon's most famous work was The Real Majority: An Extraordinary Examination of the American Electorate (1970),[4] co-authored with Ben J. Wattenberg. The New York Times described it as "arguing that, for the Democratic Party to survive, it needed to look beyond the economic issues that dominated the American electoral scene in the first half of the 20th century, [and] toward social issues that deeply disturbed voters in middle America." In Scammon's words, the typical voter was "unyoung, unpoor and unblack." His blunt phrasing "shocked many Democrats, but resonated true with others."[3]
In some ways, The Real Majority served as an answer to Kevin Phillips's 1969 volume, The Emerging Republican Majority.[5] And it presaged a shift away from the politics of the New Deal, and towards a more ideological politics, especially at the presidential level, that largely benefited Republicans in 1972, 1980, 1984 and 1988.[6]
Scammon was married to Mary Allen Scammon and lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland for five decades. He died of Alzheimer's disease at a rest home in Gaithersburg.[2]
References
1: Scammon biography in U.S. Census Bureau retrospective, http://www.census.gov/history/www/census_then_now/director_biographies/directors_1950_-_1965.html#scammon
2: Scammon Obituary, 29 April 2001, Washington Post
3: Murphy, Dean, New York Times, 29 April 2001, Richard Scammon, 85, Analyst of Political Trends and Statistics
4 Published by Coward-McCann, 1970, ISBN 0-698-10308-4)
5 Published by Arlington House, 1969
6 Silva, Ruth C. (May 1971). "Review of The Real Majority". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 395: 233–234.
Richard Montgomery SCAMMON and Mary Stark ALLEN were married on 20 February 1952 in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.119
Mary Stark ALLEN119, daughter of William D. ALLEN and Eulalie , was born on 19 May 1923 in Washington.119
She appeared in the census on 8 April 1930 in Minot, Ward, North Dakota. Age 6, born Washington, father born Tennessee, mother Michigan, living with parents. Name on census: Mary S. Allen.
She died on 15 August 2008 at the age of 85 at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, Montgomery, Maryland.119 Her obituary was published on 24 September 2008 in the Minot Daily News in Minot, Ward, North Dakota.
Mary Allen Scammon, 85, died Aug. 15 at Asbury Methodist Village, Gaithersburg, MD. She was formerly of the Town of Somerset, Chevy Chase, MD.
Mary was born May 19, 1923, the daughter of W.D. "Doc" Allen and Eulalie Allen. She was raised in Minot, graduated from Minot Model High School and attended Minot State.
She is survived by: daughter, Anne Scammon of Alexandria, VA; brother, James Allen (Lorelei) of Rochester, MN; sister, Judy Spitzer (Jerry) of Minot; sister-in-law, Carolyn Allen of Locust Grove, VA; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Richard M. Scammon; parents; brothers, William Howard "Bill" Allen, who lived in Fort Collins, CO, and J Matteson Allen, who lived in Locust Grove.
Memorial service: Oct. 3, 11 a.m. EDT, River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Bethesda, MD.
Remembrances: May be sent to Anne Scammon, 201 Martin Lane, Alexandria, VA 22304.
Richard Montgomery SCAMMON-62719 and Mary Stark ALLEN-62724 had the following children:
16738 | i. | Anne SCAMMON (private). |