Lawrence H. Fountain (April 23, 1913 – October 10, 2002) was a Democratic U.S. representative from North Carolina from 1953 to 1983. Early life Fountain was educated in the public schools of Edgecombe County and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received his A. B. degree in 1934 and his Juris Doctor degree. He was admitted to the North Carolina Bar following graduation from law school in 1936. He practiced law in Tarboro, North Carolina and was active in statewide Democratic Party politics until March 1942 when he entered the United States Army as a private in the infantry. He rose through the ranks and was released from service as a major in the Judge Advocate General's Office on March 4, 1946. Fountain then returned to his law practice in Tarboro. In civilian life, he remained a member of the U. S. Army Reserve and later retired as a lieutenant colonel. Service in public office In 1947, Fountain was elected to the North Carolina Senate where he served until 1952 when he was elected to the 83rd Congress as Representative from the Second Congressional District of North Carolina. He was reelected to each Congress through the 97th, at which time he did not seek reelection. He was a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. As the price for his vote for legislation supporting the War on Poverty, he demanded the firing of deputy director Adam Yarmolinsky, who, while with the Defense Department, had helped force integration of public places near military bases in North Carolina. Fountain was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a United States Delegate to the 22nd Session in 1967 of the United Nations General Assembly. In this capacity, he served as assistant to United States Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg during the Security Council debate following the June 6th Arab–Israeli Six-Day War. He led the fight in 1978 for the creation of the first independent Presidentially-appointed inspector general ("watchdog") in the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and worked for the establishment of inspectors general in every key Federal department and agency. Each inspector general plays a significant role in curbing waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. From time to time, he served on various subcommittees of both the Committee on