Joseph F. Holt; Four-Term GOP Congressman

Joseph F. Holt, 73, four-term Republican congressman from the San Fernando Valley in the 1950s. The son of an executive of Arden Farms, Holt was elected to the 22nd Congressional District seat in 1952 at the age of 28 after being wounded as a Marine lieutenant in the Korean War. During his political career, Holt also was president of the California Young Republicans and was director of the field organization in then-Rep. Richard Nixon’s successful bid for the U.S. Senate from California in 1950. As a congressman, Holt was the subject of a diplomatic incident in 1955 when a Soviet soldier held him at gunpoint for an hour during a visit to Moscow. The Soviets later expressed their regrets. On Monday in Santa Maria of complications from a stroke.