Peter Joseph De Muth (January 1, 1892 – April 3, 1993) was an American businessman and politician who served one term as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Over the course of a long life that spanned more than a century, he combined a career in business with public service at the federal level during a pivotal era in American history.
Details of De Muth’s early life and education are not extensively documented in the available record, but he was born on January 1, 1892, and came of age as the United States was entering the twentieth century and undergoing rapid industrial and social change. He established himself in business before entering elective office, gaining experience in the private sector that would later inform his views on economic and legislative matters.
Before his election to Congress, De Muth worked as a businessman, a background that placed him among many contemporaries in the Democratic Party who combined commercial experience with public service. His professional activities and community involvement helped build the local reputation and political connections that made a run for national office possible. By the mid-1930s, as the country grappled with the Great Depression and the New Deal realigned national politics, he emerged as a Democratic candidate for Congress from Pennsylvania.
De Muth was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth Congress and served as a Representative from Pennsylvania in the United States Congress from 1937 to 1939. His single term in office coincided with a significant period in American history, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration pursued extensive economic and social reforms in response to the Great Depression and rising international tensions abroad. As a member of the House of Representatives, Peter Joseph De Muth participated in the democratic process, contributed to the legislative work of the Seventy-fifth Congress, and represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents within the broader framework of New Deal–era policymaking.
A member of the Democratic Party, De Muth’s congressional service reflected the priorities and debates of his time, including questions of federal economic intervention, labor relations, and social welfare. During his tenure, he took part in deliberations and votes on measures that shaped the late 1930s legislative agenda. Although specific committee assignments and sponsored measures are not detailed in the surviving summary, his role as a voting member of the House placed him within the central legislative body responsible for enacting federal law during a transformative period.
De Muth was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938, bringing his formal congressional service to a close at the end of his first term in 1939. After leaving office, he returned to private life, drawing on his prior experience as a businessman and former member of Congress. While the public record provides limited detail on his later professional pursuits, his post-congressional years unfolded against the backdrop of World War II, the postwar economic expansion, and the profound political and social changes of the mid-twentieth century, all of which he lived to witness.
Peter Joseph De Muth died on April 3, 1993, at the age of 101. His life encompassed more than a century of American history, from the era before World War I through the end of the Cold War. Remembered as an American businessman and Democratic politician who served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, his career in Congress formed a notable chapter in a long life of civic engagement and public service.
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