on March 9, 1962, to gather first-hand information of the nation's space exploration program. In
1944, while still in the service, Fulton was elected as a Republican to the
79th United States Congress, and reelected to the 13 succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1945, until his death from a heart attack in
Washington, D.C., on October 6, 1971. While in Congress he was delegated to the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment at
Havana in 1947 and 1948, and to the 14th General Assembly of United Nations in 1959. He was a delegate to
1956 Republican National Convention. In addition he served as an adviser on space to the United States Mission at the United Nations from 1960 to 1969. Fulton voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Acts of 1957,
1960,
1964, and
1968, as well as the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Space Shuttle Fulton is credited with saving the
Space Shuttle program. After a heart attack in 1970, Fulton emerged from an ambulance to propose a compromise that eventually saved the funding for the program. ==Legacy==