Gillespie V. "Sonny" Montgomery (August 5, 1920 – May 12, 2006) was an American soldier and politician from Mississippi who served in the Mississippi Senate and U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1997. He was also a retired major general of the Mississippi National Guard who served during World War II.
Early life
Born in Meridian, Mississippi to Emily Jones and Gillespie Montgomery, Montgomery graduated from McCallie School and Mississippi State University in Starkville in 1943. While in college, Montgomery joined the Beta Tau chapter of Kappa Alpha Order.
Military service
A 1943 Reserve Officers' Training Corps graduate, Gillespie was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He served with the 12th Armored Division in Europe during World War II. He served on active duty again during Korean War, this time as a member of the 31st Infantry Division. Montgomery was a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard until 1980, and retired as a major general. For his military service, Montgomery received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with "V" for Valor device, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.
Business career
Before running for Congress, he owned his own insurance company, the Montgomery Insurance Agency. In addition, he served as vice president of the Greater Mississippi Life Insurance Company of Meridian, Mississippi.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
Chairman, Select Committee on Military Involvement in Southeast Asia (Ninety-first Congress) Chairman, Select Committee on Missing in Action in Southeast Asia (Ninety-fourth Congress) Chairman, House Veterans' Affairs Committee (Ninety-seventh through One Hundred Third Congresses)
Elections
Montgomery represented part of Meridian in the Mississippi State Senate between 1956 and 1966. He was elected to Congress from what was then the 4th District in 1966. Prentiss Walker, the first Republican elected to either house of Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction, had given up the seat after one term to run for the United States Senate against James O. Eastland.
Montgomery was one of the more conservative Democrats in the House, and was known for being more "hawkish" than other members of his party. He was very popular in his district, usually winning reelection by some of the highest margins in the country. Although the district's voters were increasingly willing to vote Republican at the national level (it has only supported the official Democratic candidate for president once since 1956), at the local level Montgomery usually faced "sacrificial lamb" opponents on the few occasions he faced any Republican opposition at all. Montgomery ran unopposed from 1970 to 1974, in 1980, and from 1984 to 1990. In four elections—1972, 1980, 1984 and 1988—Montgomery ran unopposed even as the Republican presidential candidate carried the district in a landslide. Observers assumed that Montgomery would be succeeded by a Republican after he retired, given the crossover of conservative white voters from the Democratic Party to the GOP in the second half of the 20th century. As it turned out, when Montgomery retired in 1996, the district was taken by Republican Chip Pickering in a landslide. The Democrats have only put up a candidate in the district four times since then, and have only won more than 35 percent of the vote once.
Tenure
During his time in Congress, Montgomery was one of only three Representatives who voted to reject the Judiciary Committee's report on the Watergate scandal following Nixon's resignation; Montgomery joined Earl Landgrebe and Otto Passman as the three opposed compared to 412 in favor.
He was the author of the G.I. Bill of Rights that gives members of the service money to pay for college and was a lead sponsor in establishing the Veterans Affairs cabinet-level position. Montgomery gave a speech on the House floor in April 1975 in which he spoke against foreign aid to South Vietnam and said, "The South Vietnamese can blame only themselves for their present situation."