Wiley Mayne Papers

Collection

Identifier: MsC0448

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

These records cover the years 1966-1974 and are arranged alphabetically within six series: Campaign; Correspondence; Departments; Legislation; Organizations; and Miscellaneous.

The collection contains material on many subjects, including cities, counties, and colleges of Iowa's sixth congressional district. Series II, Correspondence, is arranged alphabetically within a general chronological structure. Special topics of interest include agriculture, conservation, education, energy, postal services, railroads, Sioux City Steak Dinners, taxes, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Vietnamese Conflict. While serving on the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Mayne was involved with the Watergate hearings, the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, and the confirmation hearings of Nelson A. Rockefeller as Vice-President. After leaving office, Mayne resumed his law practice in Sioux City, Iowa, with the firm of Mayne and Berenstein.

Dates

Creation: 1966-1974

Creator

Mayne, Wiley (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical / Historical

Wiley Mayne was born on January 19, 1917, in Sanborn, O'Brien County, Iowa. He attended public schools there before graduating with honors in history from Harvard University in 1938. Mayne attended Harvard Law School for one year before transferring to the University of Iowa where he received his degree of Juris Doctor in 1941. For the next three years he worked as a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On January 5, 1942, Wiley Mayne married Betty Dodson of Omaha, Nebraska. They have two sons and a daughter. In October of 1943, he resigned from the FBI to join the U.S. Navy. He served seventeen months as a supply officer aboard a destroyer escort in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific.

After the war, Mayne joined the law firm of Shull and Marshall in Sioux City, Iowa, where he soon became a full partner. The firm's name was later changed to Shull, Marshall, Mayne, Marks and Vizantos. Elected from Iowa's sixth district as a Republican in 1966, Mayne went on to serve four terms in the House of Representatives. There he was on the Agriculture and Judiciary Committees and was president of the Republican 90th Club in 1970.