Jerome Russell Waldie (February 15, 1925 – April 3, 2009) was an American politician. He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from California from 1966 to 1975.

Early life

Born in Antioch, California on February 15, 1925, Waldie attended Antioch public schools. After serving from 1943 to 1946 in the Army during World War II, he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950 with a degree in political science, and earned a law degree from the university's Boalt Hall School of Law in 1953.

Political career

Waldie served as a Democratic member of the California State Assembly from January 5, 1959, to January 16, 1966, becoming Majority Leader in 1961. One of his last accomplishments in Sacramento was to sponsor a constitutional amendment pushed by Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh that created a full-time state legislature in California.

Tenure in Congress

Waldie was then elected to the 89th Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative John F. Baldwin. He was re-elected four times, serving from June 7, 1966, to January 3, 1975. As a Congressman, he was an early critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and also advocated health care reforms. During the Watergate scandal, Waldie was a vocal critic of President Richard Nixon. Three days after Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox (in what became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre"), Waldie introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of the President, one of the first members of the House Judiciary Committee to do so. Waldie's votes in favor of each of the three articles of impeachment on July 24, 1974 contributed to the resolution passing in the committee, recommending a full impeachment vote by the full House of Representatives. This led to Nixon's resignation prior to the impeachment. Waldie did not run for re-election to the Congress that year. Instead, he campaigned for the Democratic nomination for Governor of California in the June primary election but was defeated by then-Secretary of State Jerry Brown, who went on to win in November.

Post-Congressional life

As an ex-Congressman, Waldie served as a public advocate. He was chairman of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission from 1978 to 1979 and the executive director of the White House Conference on Aging (1980). He also served as a member of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board from 1981 to 1985.

Death

He eventually retired to Placerville, California, where he resided until his death in April 2009.