Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer

Who was Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer?

Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer represented the fifth district of the state of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives for seven terms from 1939–1953.

Sasscer was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and graduated from Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1914. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Upper Marlboro. During World War I, he served from 1917 to 1919, being overseas for thirteen months as a first lieutenant in the Fifty-ninth Artillery of the United States Army.

After the War, Sasscer resumed the practice of law, and served as a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1922 to 1938, serving as President of the Senate in 1935 and 1937. He was delegate to the 1924 and 1936 Democratic National Conventions, and vice chairman of the committee on reorganization of the State government in 1939.

Sasscer was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress to fill the vacancy left open as a result of the death of Stephen Gambrill, serving from February 3, 1939, to January 3, 1953. Sasscer chose not to run for re-election in 1952, and instead attempted to win election to the United States Senate seat being vacated by Herbert O'Conor, but was not nominated by his party. Afterwards, he resumed the practice of law in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.