Born in
Barnsdall, Oklahoma, Roush graduated from Huntington High School,
Huntington, Indiana, 1938. A.B.,
Huntington College,
Huntington, Indiana, 1942. LL.B.,
Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington, Indiana, 1949.
World War II He was in the
United States Army from 1942 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1952. His later service was in the reserves, where he was promoted to major. He was a lawyer in private practice and served as member of the Indiana state legislature from 1949 to 1950. Roush was elected prosecuting attorney of
Huntington County, Indiana from 1954 to 1958, and to the Board of Trustees of
Huntington College,
Huntington, Indiana from 1958 to 1960, and from 1981 to 1987.
Congress Roush was elected as a
Democrat to the
Eighty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1969). In the 1960 election for the
Eighty-seventh congress, Roush's opponent
George O. Chambers was at first declared the winner by 12 votes and certified by the state of Indiana as such. Roush contested the election and neither man was seated, though both were paid a congressman's salary and staff while the contest was decided. There was no Indiana law to govern recounts and so the House committee carried it out on its own rules, and at the conclusion declared Roush the winner by 99 votes. He was sworn in following a vote to seat him on June 14, 1961. Redistricting by the Indiana legislature eliminated Roush's district and drew his home in Huntington into the
Fort Wayne-based 4th Congressional District of
E. Ross Adair, a Republican. Adair defeated Roush for reelection to the
Ninety-first Congress in 1968. Roush sought a rematch against Adair in 1970 and narrowly defeated him, and he served three more terms in the House (January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977). Roush defeated State Senator
Allan Bloom in 1972 and State Senator
Walter P. Helmke in 1974. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the
Ninety-fifth Congress in 1976. Roush was defeated by future U.S. Senator and Vice President
Dan Quayle. ==Later career and death ==