Image courtesy of the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives

PEDEN, Preston Elmer, a Representative from Oklahoma; born in Duke, Jackson County, Okla., June 28, 1914; moved to Altus, Okla., in 1920; attended the public schools; University of Oklahoma at Norman, A.B., 1936, and from the law school of the same university, LL.B., 1939; was admitted to the bar in 1939 and commenced practice in Altus, Okla.; attorney for the State insurance fund of the State of Oklahoma 1939-1942; enlisted in June 1942 as a private in the United States Army; promoted through the ranks to captain, being discharged May 5, 1946; awarded Bronze Star; while serving overseas sent a notification and declaration for the office of Congressman to the election board and subsequently received the nomination; elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress (January 3, 1947-January 3, 1949); was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1948; staff member of the Public Lands Committee of the United States House of Representatives in May 1949; appointed Alaskan regional counsel, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, in 1950; counsel to House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs 1950-1952; director of governmental affairs of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, 1954-1980; was a resident of La Grange, Ill.; moved to Walnut Creek, Calif., and lived there until his death on June 27, 1985.