Preceded by Jo Byrns Profession Attorney, politician Battles and wars World War I Political party Democratic Party Democratic Party | Citizenship United States Role Politician Succeeded by Jo Byrns, Jr. Name Richard Atkinson Resigned January 3, 1939 | |
Born February 6, 1894
Nashville, Tennessee ( 1894-02-06 ) Alma mater Wallace University
Vanderbilt University
Cumberland School of Law Died April 29, 1947, Nashville, Tennessee, United States Service/branch United States Marine Corps Education Cumberland School of Law, Vanderbilt University | ||
Richard Merrill Atkinson (February 6, 1894 – April 29, 1947) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from Tennessee.
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Biography
Atkinson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended the public schools. He graduated from Wallace University School, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1912, from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1916, and from Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1917. Admitted to the bar in 1917, he commenced the practice of law in Nashville, in 1920.
During the First World War, Atkinson served from June 30, 1917, until honorably discharged on August 29, 1919. He was a member of the Forty-seventh Company, United States Marine Corps, Second Division, serving in France with the American Expeditionary Forces. He served as Attorney general of the tenth judicial circuit of Tennessee from September 1, 1926 to September 1, 1934. He was also State commissioner of Smoky Mountain National Park from 1931 to 1933.
Atkinson was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth Congress, and served from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1939. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1938, and returned to the practice of law in Nashville, Tennessee, until his death.
Death
Atkinson died in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, on April 29, 1947. He is interred at Spring Hill Cemetery, Madison, Tennessee.