William Frederick Kopp

William Frederick Kopp (June 20, 1869 – August 24, 1938) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa from 1921 to 1933. He represented Iowa’s 1st congressional district during six terms in Congress.

Early Life and Education

Kopp was born near Dodgeville, Des Moines County, Iowa, on June 20, 1869. He attended common schools in his youth before enrolling at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, from which he graduated in 1892. He continued his education at the law department of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, graduating in 1894. He was admitted to the bar that same year and commenced the practice of law in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

Early Career

Kopp served as prosecuting attorney of Henry County, Iowa, from 1895 to 1899. He then served as postmaster of Mount Pleasant from 1906 to 1914. He was a member of the board of trustees of Iowa Wesleyan College from 1908 until his death in 1938. In 1915, he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, where he served until 1917.

Congressional Career

Kopp was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress in 1920 and was re-elected to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1933. During his time in Congress, he held several committee chairmanships, including the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Sixty-eighth Congress), the Committee on Labor (Sixty-ninth through Seventy-first Congresses), and the Committee on Pensions (Seventy-first Congress).

He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1932 to the Seventy-third Congress, falling victim to the Democratic wave that accompanied Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential victory.

Later Life and Legacy

After leaving Congress, Kopp returned to the practice of law in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He continued his legal work until his death there on August 24, 1938, at the age of 69. He was interred in Forest Home Cemetery in Mount Pleasant.