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John Porter East

John Porter East (May 5, 1931 – June 29, 1986) was a Republican U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina from 1981 until his suicide in 1986.

A paraplegic since 1955, because of polio, East was a professor of political science at East Carolina University in Greenville and a protege of conservative Senator Jesse Helms. East ran unsuccessfully for a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives in a special election in 1966.

In 1980, with the benefit of Ronald W. Reagan's North Carolina influence, East narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Burren Morgan, largely on the strength of controversial political advertising about Morgan's involvement with the turnover of the Panama Canal to the government of Panama. In the Senate, he earned a reputation as a staunch social conservative, especially on the issue of abortion. In 1986, he announced that he would not seek re-election, and would instead return to his teaching position. That summer, East, suffering from cancer, committed suicide at his North Carolina home^{[citation needed]}.

On Friday, June 27, Senator East completed work on the book galleys of his collected essays. He met with Supreme Court nominee Antonin Scalia. Then, commitments met, the Senator drove to Greenville with his aide, John Petree, and arrived home about noon on Saturday. Petree stayed with him until daughter Kathryn arrived for a visit. Kathryn left her father "in good spirits" about midnight. Petree returned to East's house on Sunday morning, June 29. He found the front door ajar. The senator was dead in his garage, a victim of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.^{[citation needed]}

North Carolina Governor James G. Martin appointed U.S. Representative James Thomas Broyhill to serve out the rest of East's term. Broyhill was later defeated in his election bid in November 1986 by former Democratic Governor Terry Sanford.

East is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

• John Porter East Congressional Biography
• John Porter East Memorial Service transcript (U.S. Senate)

• John Porter East's Gravesite

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