Representative David Worth Dennis

David Worth Dennis II (June 7, 1912 – January 6, 1999) was an American attorney and Republican United States Representative from Indiana who served in Congress from 1969 to 1975. He was born in Washington, D.C., and was named for his grandfather, David Worth Dennis, who had been a professor at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. His father, William Cullen Dennis, served as president of Earlham College, placing him in a family deeply connected to higher education and to the Richmond community that would later become the center of his professional and political life.

Dennis received his early education in the nation’s capital, graduating from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., in 1929. He then moved to Indiana to attend Earlham College in Richmond, where he earned an A.B. degree in 1933, continuing the family association with that institution. Pursuing a legal career, he enrolled at Harvard Law School and obtained an LL.B. (now J.D.) in 1936. He had been admitted to the bar in 1935, prior to completing law school, and after graduation he returned to Indiana and commenced the practice of law in Richmond in 1936.

Building on his legal training, Dennis quickly entered public service at the local level. He served as the prosecuting attorney for Wayne County, Indiana, from 1939 to 1943, gaining experience in criminal law and local governance. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army and served from 1944 to 1946. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Department and served in the Pacific Theater, where he applied his legal expertise to military justice and administrative matters during the closing years of the war.

After returning from military service, Dennis resumed his legal practice in Richmond and expanded his involvement in state politics. He was elected state representative from Wayne County to the Indiana General Assembly and served from 1947 to 1949. He later returned to the legislature as a joint state representative from Wayne and Union Counties, serving from 1953 to 1959. Through these terms in the Indiana General Assembly, he developed a reputation as a committed Republican legislator and gained legislative experience that would prepare him for national office.

Dennis was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-first Congress and was reelected twice, serving three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1969, to January 3, 1975. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Indiana constituents during a significant period in American history marked by the Vietnam War, social change, and constitutional crisis. A member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the legislative process over his three terms in office and served on key committees, including the House Judiciary Committee.

During his congressional service, Dennis became particularly noted for his role in the Watergate scandal proceedings. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, he was initially among the minority of members who voted to oppose the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon, and he was regarded as a staunch defender of the president during much of the investigation. However, after the release of the so‑called “smoking gun” tape in August 1974, which revealed Nixon’s involvement in efforts to obstruct the FBI’s investigation, Dennis announced that he would vote to impeach the president for obstruction of justice. In doing so, he joined all nine Republicans on the committee who had previously opposed impeachment. Dennis stated that Nixon had “destroyed his credibility” by withholding the tape for so long. In the 1974 general election, amid the political fallout from Watergate, he was defeated for reelection by Democrat Phil Sharp, ending his service in Congress on January 3, 1975.

Following his departure from Congress, Dennis returned to Richmond, Indiana, where he resumed the practice of law. He continued to be identified with the legal and civic life of his community in the years after his congressional career. He lived in Richmond until his death on January 6, 1999, closing a life that had spanned local, state, and national public service as an attorney, legislator, and member of the United States House of Representatives.