James C. Oliver, 91, a former congressman from Maine who served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican and one as a Democrat, died Dec. 25 in Orlando, Fla., where he had lived in recent years, the Associated Press reported. The cause of death was not given.
Mr. Oliver, a former resident of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, Maine, represented Maine's 1st District as a Republican for three terms, beginning in 1936. Two decades later, he served a fourth term as a Democrat.
An isolationist in foreign affairs during the years preceding World War II, Mr. Oliver became a Democrat in 1949. In announcing his switch, he said, "I shall keep clear of the Republican hierarchy, which right now is all fouled up with the notion that anything savoring of the New Deal or the Fair Deal is anathema."
Subsequently, Mr. Oliver ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1952, and then lost two congressional bids before reclaiming the 1st District seat for one term in 1958.
