Clement J. Zablocki

Life & Legacy

Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912 – December 3, 1983) was an American politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was one of Wisconsin's longest-serving members of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressional district for 18 terms, from 1949 until his death in 1983.
A liberal Democrat, he built his reputation in foreign policy by taking strong anti-communist positions and supporting the Vietnam War. He was a sponsor of the original Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which launched the American intervention, but near the end of the war he was a driving force for the War Powers Resolution, which sought to put restraints on the war-making powers of future presidents. He rose to become chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the last seven years of his career.