Abe Goff

Goff was born and raised in Colfax, Washington, in the Palouse region, the fourth son of Herbert W. and Mary (Dorsey) Goff. After graduating from high school in 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private and underwent preliminary officer training at the University of Idaho in Moscow during the last weeks of World War I. Discharged from the military in December, he entered the law school at the UI in January 1919 and graduated in 1924. He was also the center on the Vandal football team.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1924/119|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Football|year=1924|page=108}} and was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1924/254|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Beta Theta Pi|year=1924|page=236}} His older brothers attended Washington State college in nearby Pullman.

Goff commenced practice in Moscow the same year and was the prosecuting attorney for Latah County from 1926 to 1934.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aLheAAAAIBAJ&pg=4944,2971788|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|location=Idaho|title=Abe Goff certain of one opponent – his daughter|date=October 6, 1948|page=12 }} He also worked as a special lecturer at the UI law school from 1933 to 1941. In 1940, he was made president of the Idaho Bar Association. In 1941, Goff was elected to the Idaho Senate.

Later the same year, he was activated as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves as a major, and served in the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters. Goff was on General MacArthur's staff at the end of the war and was discharged as a colonel in 1946. While in the military, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uvIzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3409,7797200|newspaper=Spokesman-Review|location=Spokane, Washington|title=Family friends honor former congressman|last=Devlin |first=Sherry |date=May 28, 1985 |page=A8}}

In 1946, Goff was elected to Congress as a Republican, narrowly defeating seven-term incumbent Compton White of Clark Fork.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MuNXAAAAIBAJ&pg=7441,1377706|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|location=Washington|title=Abe McGregor Goff prepares to serve Idaho in Congress|date=November 7, 1946|page=3}} He served only one term, as White defeated him in 1948 and reclaimed the seat for a term.

Source:{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|title=Office of the Clerk: Election statistics|accessdate=March 11, 2013}}    ^ 1948 election included 93 votes (0.1%) for Socialist Party candidate Richard M. Shaefer.

After leaving the House, Goff ran for the U.S. Senate in 1950, but appointed incumbent Henry Dworshak won the nomination in the August primary,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tK5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ti8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2783%2C3070691 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |title=Latah voters give Abe Goff huge margin |date=August 9, 1950 |page=16}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tK5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ti8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1674%2C3077231 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Clark holds Senate lead |date=August 10, 1950 |page=1}} then served as Idaho Republican Party Veteran Committee chairman in 1952.Idaho Statesman, 27 Sept. 1952, p. 2 Goff then took a number of government posts in Washington, D.C.; he was general counsel of the Post Office Department, and later served on the Interstate Commerce Commission, from 1954 to 1967. After his terms ended, Goff retired to the Palouse in Idaho, working as a writer and lecturer in Moscow until his death in 1984.

Goff married Florence Letitia Richardson (1892–1987) of Moscow in 1927. They were married for 57 years and are buried at Moscow Cemetery, east of the city. They had two children: Timothy Richardson Goff (1932–72) and Annie McGregor Goff (b. 1935- 2018).

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{{Reflist|2}}

{{CongBio|G000253}}

• [http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/mg148.htm University of Idaho Library] – Abe McGregor Goff papers, 1915–1968
• [http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/goff_abe.html University of Idaho Library] – Abe Goff interviews – 1974 (audio, 3 hours)
• [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/goff.html#984.92.26 Political Graveyard] – Abe McGregor Goff
• {{Find a Grave|8052636}}

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title=United States House of Representatives, Idaho First Congressional District|

before=Compton I. White Sr.|

years=January 3, 1947–January 3, 1949|

after=Compton I. White Sr.|

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Category:1899 births

Category:1984 deaths

Category:People from Colfax, Washington

Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho

Category:Republican Party Idaho state senators

Category:People of the Interstate Commerce Commission

Category:Idaho lawyers

Category:People from Moscow, Idaho

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:University of Idaho alumni

Category:University of Idaho College of Law alumni

Category:United States Army colonels

Category:United States Army personnel of World War I

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:20th-century members of the Idaho Legislature