Name George Kasem Role U.S. representative | Died February 11, 2002 | |
Education | ||
George Albert Kasem (April 6, 1919 – February 11, 2002) was a U.S. Representative from California's 25th congressional district. He was of Lebanese descent and was the first Arab American elected to the United States Congress.
Born in Drumright, Oklahoma, Kasem graduated from John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles, California, 1938. B.S., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1949. LL.B., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1951. He was in the United States Army Air Forces from 1941 to 1945. He was a lawyer in private practice.
Kasem was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-sixth Congress (January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Eighty-seventh Congress in 1960. He served as commissioner, Citrus Municipal Court, West Covina, California from 1978 to 1984. He died of pneumonia on February 11, 2002, in Carlsbad, California.