Leon Rye (Napoleon's World)

Leonard Compton "Leon" Rye (July 2, 1938 - December 1, 2016) was an American Nationalist politician who served as the United States Representative for Alabama's 6th District from 1995 to 1999, when he was defeated in his bid for a third term. Rye won over a replacement candidate who replaced deceased incumbent Claude Harris in the 1994 Nationalist landslide that won the House back after four years out of power and was the first Nationalist to represent the area of the 6th District in nearly a century. Rye was a party-line voter and a staunch conservative who nevertheless made efforts at good constituent service and working across the aisle with still-powerful Alabama Democrats like Vern Wade and Glen Browder. Rye was defeated by Don Bevill, son of a former Representative who had served the region from 1967-1979, in the 1998 Democratic landslide. He would later serve in the United States Department of Agriculture in Steve Martin's second term.