| Summary: | Abstract: Papers of this Greensboro, Alabama, native who served Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1953-1969 and was appointed U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa in 1974. Scope and Content Note: The collection contains the papers - primarily correspondence - of Armistead I. Selden, Jr., covering his years as a United States Representative (1953-1969), as well as the years he was Ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, The Kingdom of Tonga, and Western Samoa (1974-1979).The boxes are arranged chronologically. The boxes covering his years in the U.S. House of Representatives are, for the most part, arranged according to an indexing code based developed by Selden's secretaries based on subject matter. Within each folder the material is generally in alphabetical order by the correspondent's last name. Biographical/Historical Note: Armistead Inge Selden, Jr., was born in Greensboro, Hale County, Alabama, on February 20, 1921. He attended the public schools there and graduated from Greensboro High School in 1938 and from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1942. He served in the United States Navy from August 1942 until March 1946, with 31 months aboard ship, primarily in the North Atlantic. He was discharged as a lieutenant. He was a lieutenant commander in the United States Naval Reserve.He graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1948 and was admitted to the bar in 1948 when he commenced his practice in Greensboro, Alabama. He was a member of the Alabama house of representatives in 1951 and 1952, and then elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-third Congress. He was reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1953-January 3, 1969. In 1968 he was unsuccessful in a bid for the nomination to the United States Senate. He resumed his law practice until October 1970 when he was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) where he served from October 1970 through February 1973. In 1974 he was appointed Ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, The Kingdom of Tonga, and Western Samoa where he served until 1979. In 1980, Selden was unsuccessful in his final bid for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate from Alabama. Selden was president of the American League for Exports and Security Assistance from 1980-1985. He was a resident of Greensboro, Alabama, and Falls Church, Virginia., until his death in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 14, 1985. He is interred in Greensboro City Cemetery, Greensboro, Alabama.
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