US Congressman, Lawyer. He was a United States Representative from the State of California. He was born one of nine children as Clarence Frederick Lea to James Madison Lea (1827-1901), and his wife Elizabeth H. Trower Lea (1832-1917), in Highland Springs, California, on July 11, 1874. He was educated locally and attended the common public schools, before attending the prestigious Lakeport Academy in Lakeport, California, and Stanford University in Stanford, California, before obtaining his law degree from the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, in 1898. He was then admitted to the bar that same year and commenced his practice of law in Santa Rosa, California, shortly thereafter. He then served as District Attorney of Sonoma County, California, from 1907 to 1917, and as President of the District Attorney's Association of California, from 1916 to 1917, before taking an interest in politics. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative William Kent (1864-1928), on March 4, 1917. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served California's 1st District (Sixty-Fifth Congress and the fifteen succeeding Congresses including the Sixty-Sixth Congress, the Sixty-Seventh Congress, the Sixty-Eighth Congress, the Sixty-Ninth Congress, the Seventieth Congress, the Seventy-First Congress, the Seventy-Second Congress, the Seventy-Third Congress, the Seventy-Fourth Congress, the Seventy-Fifth Congress, the Seventy-Sixth Congress, the Seventy-Seventh Congress, the Seventy-Eighth Congress, the Seventy-Ninth Congress, and the Eightieth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1917, to January 3, 1949. He was re-elected in 1918, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1944, and again in 1946. While serving in the United States Congress he represented the Seventy-Fifth Congress and the Seventy-Ninth Congress as Chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and was also known for having led the group of United States Congressmen who passed the resolution calling for the internment of Italian-Americans, Japanese-Americans and German-Americans during World War II. He also was the co-author of the Pure Food & Drug Act with United States Senator Pat McCarran (1876-1954), and the bill which established the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Following his term in the United States Congress he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Hubert Baxter Scudder (1888-1968), on January 3, 1949. He was not a Candidate for re-election in 1948 and by the time of his retirement from political office, he had served in the United States Congress for a total of thirty-two years. After leaving the United States Congress he engaged in public relations work in Washington, D.C. from 1949 until his retirement in 1954. A Member of the Baptist Faith, he was also a Member of several prominent organizations and clubs during his lifetime including the Redmen, Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen, and Moose, and for many years was Chairman of the California Association of District Attorneys. He passed away following a long illness in Santa Rosa, California, on June 20, 1964, just a few weeks before what would have been his 90th birthday. Following his death, his funeral service was officiated by the Reverend Gilbert Johnson Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Santa Rosa, California, and funeral services were also held through the Eggen & Lance Mortuary in Santa Rosa, California, and he was buried in Santa Rosa Memorial Park in Santa Rosa, California. There is also a cenotaph for him at Kelseyville Cemetery in Kelseyville, California. He was married to Daisy Amelia Wright Lea (1874-1967), in Santa Rosa, California, on July 18, 1907, and the couple had two children together, Clarence Frederick Lea Jr. (1908-1908), and Frederick Wright Lea (1912-1918). His wife Daisy passed away in Santa Rosa, California, on January 22, 1967, at the age of 92, and she was buried in Santa Rosa Odd Fellows Cemetery in Santa Rosa, California.

View Cenotaph: Cenotaph Here.