Menalcus Lankford was a Virginia lawyer, naval aviator and Republican politician who served two terms as US Representative from Virginia's 2nd congressional district, whose largest city is Norfolk.
11 Facts About Menalcus Lankford
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Menalcus Lankford traveled to the state capital for higher studies, graduating from the University of Richmond in 1904, and from the law department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1906.
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In 1909 Menalcus Lankford married Nancy Waddill, one of the daughter of Congressman and judge Edmund Waddill Jr.
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Menalcus Lankford ran for Congress in both 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress and in 1924 to the Sixty-ninth Congress, but lost.
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Menalcus Lankford won election as a Republican in 1928, and re-election, so he served in both the Seventy-first and Seventy-second Congresses.
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Menalcus Lankford secured a new post office and courthouse for Norfolk.
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However, the 1930 elections only gave the Republicans a slim majority in the House, so Menalcus Lankford's vote became crucial.
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However, as the Great Depression deepened, Virginia in 1932 held an at-large election for all Congressional districts, leading to a Democratic sweep, despite Menalcus Lankford's having secured almost $2 million in construction contracts for federal buildings in Norfolk.
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Menalcus Lankford was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in both 1932 and 1936.
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Menalcus Lankford served until his death, reporting to District Judge Way, whom he had sponsored.
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Menalcus Lankford died at his Norfolk home of a heart attack, aged 54, on December 27,1937.