Guy Adrian Vander Jagt 1931-2007

Guy Vander Jagt served for 26 years as a Representative in the U. S. Congress, representing the Ninth Federal Congressional District of Michigan. His extensive government service clearly warrants Vander Jagt’s inclusion in the listing of prominent Dutch Americans.

Vander Jagt was born in Cadillac, Michigan on August 26, 1931. He graduated from Cadillac High School in 1949, earned his B. A. from Hope College, Holland, Michigan, in 1953, his B. D. from Yale University’s Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1957, and his J. D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1960.

Vander Jagt first entered politics when he was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1965. The following year, in 1966, he was elected by a special election to fill a vacancy for the U. S. House of Representatives position in the Ninth Federal District of Michigan, the District he continued to serve in Congress until 1992. In 1992 he was not re-nominated and lost his seat in the U. S. Congress.

As a student at Hope College, Vander Jagt became the collegiate debate champion in the State of Michigan for three consecutive years, and he captured the National Oratorical Championship during his senior year in college.

During his 26 years in the U. S. Congress, Vander Jagt served as the Second Ranking Republican Member on the House Ways and Means Committee, and as a Ranking Republican Member on the Trade Subcommittee, on the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, and on the Health and Human Resources Subcommittee. In addition, he was a member of several other House Committees.

Vander Jagt also earned his prominent Dutch American designation when he wrote the Congressional resolution to establish “Dutch American Heritage Day”, recognizing all Dutch Americans who contributed to the development and growth of the U. S. A., and also to recognize that the Netherlands was the first nation to recognize the U. S. as an independent nation at the time of the U. S. Independence. Probably as a result of his efforts on behalf of the Dutch Americans, the government of the Netherlands recognized Vander Jagt’s many contributions as a Dutch American by inducting him as a Grand Officer into the Order of Orange Nassau in April 1982. He was also named the Outstanding Dutch American of the Year by the Netherlands Amity Trust Association in 1991.

Vander Jagt donated his U. S. Congressional Papers to the Joint Archives of Holland, Michigan, located at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, in November 2000. The Archives are available for research by researchers interested in the study of national, local, regional, political or ethnic history.

Following his 26 years in Congress, Vander Jagt joined a large national law firm in Washington, D. C. On June 22, 2007, Guy Vander Jagt passed away at his home in Michigan.