Chalmers Wylie

Chalmers P. Wylie
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 15th district
In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Robert T. Secrest
Succeeded by	Deborah D. Pryce
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 25th district
In office January 3, 1961 – January 1, 1967
Preceded by	Tom V. Moorehead
Succeeded by	Sam Speck
Columbus City Attorney
In office 1953–1956
Assistant Attorney General of Ohio
In office 1951–1954
Personal details
Born	Chalmers Pangburn Wylie (1920-11-23)November 23, 1920 Norwich, Ohio, U.S.
Died	August 14, 1998(1998-08-14) (aged 77) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican

Chalmers Pangburn Wylie (November 23, 1920 – August 14, 1998) was an American politician and lawyer from Ohio, who served in various public offices in that state before serving thirteen terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1993.

Biography

Wylie was born in Norwich, Ohio, and grew up in Pataskala, a small community east of Columbus. He attended Otterbein College in Westerville and Ohio State University in Columbus. He earned his Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School in 1948.

Wylie enlisted in the United States Army as a private, and eventually attaining the rank of first lieutenant while serving with the 30th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II. He remained in the U.S. Army Reserve after the war, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He was:

• assistant attorney general of Ohio from 1951 to 1954
• assistant city attorney of Columbus, Ohio, from 1949 to 1950
• elected city attorney of Columbus, Ohio, from 1953 to 1956
• administrator of the Bureau of Workman's Compensation for the State of Ohio in 1957
• appointed first assistant to the Governor of Ohio in 1957
• elected president of Ohio Municipal League
• elected to three terms in the State Legislature of Ohio, 1961–1967
• elected as a Republican for 13 terms to the United States Congress (January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1993)

In addition to his public service, Wylie worked in private practice as an attorney from 1957 until 1968, which he resumed in Columbus after leaving Congress until his death there.[1]

The Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus is named in his honor.

Opposition to Playboy's Braille edition

In 1981, Republican Senator Mack Mattingly had unsuccessfully attempted to remove sections of Playboy Magazine's braille edition, which was produced using federal funds through the Library of Congress. During appropriations discussions in July 1985, Wylie successfully passed a motion in the House to reduce the budget of the Library of Congress by $103,000, which was the exact amount it cost to produce the braille edition of Playboy, subsequently leading to the discontinuation of the magazine. This would be later reversed by a 1986 ruling in federal district court from Judge Thomas Hogan, who ruled that Congress' actions were a violation of the First Amendment. Production of the Playboy braille edition resumed in January 1987.^[1]

References

1. "The Time Congress Banned the Braille Edition of Playboy". Mental Floss. October 1, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2023.

• United States Congress. "Chalmers Wylie (id: W000781)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Robert T. Secrest	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 15th congressional district January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1993	Succeeded by Deborah D. Pryce
Preceded by J. William Stanton	Ranking Member of the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee 1983–1993	Succeeded by Jim Leach