VIN WEBER:

Vin (John Vincent) Weber was born in Slayton, Minnesota on July 24, 1952. After graduating from Slayton High School he attended the University of Minnesota (1970-1974), where he studied political science. In 1974 he worked on Tom Hagedorn's campaign for Congress and, later, became Representative Hagedorn's press secretary. In 1976 he made an unsuccessful run for a seat in the Minnesota State Senate. Weber was co-publisher of his family's newspaper, The Murray County Herald, from 1976 to 1978. He managed Rudy Boschwitz's 1978 campaign for the U.S. Senate, and later served as Senator Boschwitz's senior Minnesota aide (1979-1980).

Weber was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 in what was then Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. He was returned by the voters five times as the representative from the Second Congressional District, which was created in an early-1980s redistricting and included most of his old Sixth District. Weber's committee assignments included Science and Technology, Small Business, Public Works, Transportation, Budget, and Appropriations.

Weber was associated with a rising group of aggressive young House neo-conservatives (sometimes referred to as the "young turks") that included Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Calling themselves the Conservative Opportunity Society, they were anti-tax, anti-welfare state, and anti-communist and saw themselves as high-tech, futurist, populist, and conservative. They sought to win Republican control of the House of Representatives, and to reshape the post-Reagan Republican Party in their own image.

Weber retired from Congress in 1992 in the wake of the so-called House Bank Scandal. After leaving the House, Weber became a political commentator on national television. In 1993 he helped to start Empower America, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. In January, 1995 Weber joined Clark & Weinstock, a New York-based communications consulting firm.

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Papers of a six-term Republican who represented southwestern Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 until 1992. The collection is perhaps strongest in its documentation of agricultural policy and farming issues during the "farm crisis" years of the 1980s. Most of the files are from the 1990-1992 period; Weber apparently retained few files from earlier years.

The collection includes correspondence and memoranda; form letters; bills and voting records; newspaper clippings, press releases, some newsletters and mass mailings, and some speeches; schedules; and a few videocassettes. Legislative, project, and case files contain correspondence and memoranda, reports and publications, maps, and other supporting and background material.

There is information about election campaigns and partisan politics; House Republicans and their political philosophy and agenda; and economic and other difficulties experienced by family farmers and small businesses in Southwestern Minnesota. Correspondents include Weber and members of his staff; constituents; Representatives Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and Arlan Stangeland, as well as other politicians and elected officials; organizations such as the House Republican Policy Committee, the House Republican Conference, and the Conservative Opportunity Society; and federal and state agencies.

The collection consists of records from Weber's Washington, D.C. office (9 boxes) and from his several district offices (6 boxes). Weber had a district office at St. Cloud prior to redistricting; during subsequent terms he concurrently operated district offices at Marshall, New Ulm, and Willmar. Files from all of these offices are interfiled.

The great majority of the material dates from Weber's years in Congress. The earliest materials include photocopies of campaign literature produced by state senator Ancher Nelsen in his 1950 bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, and photocopies of newspaper articles about then-state senator John Zwach. Material postdating his congressional service consists of newspaper articles noting Weber's more recent activities.

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These records are organized into the following sections:

Washington, D.C. Office Files:

District Offices Files:

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Restrictions:

Access to the collection requires written permission.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Vin Weber Congressional Files and Related Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,918

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, June 1995.

PALS number: 990017317420104294

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Marshall, New Ulm, and Willmar office records.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agriculture and state.

Agriculture credit -- Minnesota.

Conservatism.

Economic development projects -- Minnesota.

Electioneering.

Family farms -- Minnesota.

Farmers -- Minnesota -- Economic conditions.

Politics, Practical.

Radioactive waste sites -- Minnesota.

Small business -- Minnesota.

Wetland conservation -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Armey, Richard K., 1940-.

Boschwitz, Rudy, 1930-.

Gingrich, Newt.

Sikorski, Gerry.

Stangeland, Arlan.

Organizations:

Conservative Opportunity Society.

House Republican Conference (U.S.).

House Republican Policy Committee (U.S.).

Republican Party (United States : 1854- ).

Minnesota Migrant Council.

United States. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.

United States. Army. Corps of Engineers.

United States. Congress. House.

United States. Congress. House -- Bank Scandal, 1991.

United States. Department of Agriculture.

United States. Department of Energy.

United States. Farmers Home Administration.

Occupations:

Legislators -- United States.

Politicians -- Minnesota.

Types of Documentation:

Bills (legislative records).

Case files.

Videocassettes.

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