Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
from 1951 to 1965,
then a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
from 1965 until 2009, when he
switched Switched may refer to:
* Switched (band), an American music group
* ''Switched'' (novel), first book in the young adult Trylle series by Amanda Hocking
* ''Switched!'' (American TV series)
* ''Switched!'' (Singaporean TV series)
* "Switched" (' ...
back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he is the longest-serving senator from Pennsylvania, having represented the state for 30 years.
Specter was born in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, to immigrant Russian/Ukrainian Jewish parents. He graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and served with the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Specter later graduated from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
and opened a law firm with
Marvin Katz Marvin may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Geography
;In the United States
* Marvyn, Alabama, also spelled Marvin, an unincorporated community
* Marvin, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Marvin, North Carolina, a village
* Marvin, South Dakota, a town
* R ...
, who would later become a federal judge. Specter served as assistant counsel for the
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...
investigating the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
and helped formulate the "
single-bullet theory
The single-bullet theory, often derided and discredited by referring to it as the magic-bullet theory, was introduced by the Warren Commission in its investigation of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, assassination of U.S. President John F. ...
". In 1965, Specter was elected
District Attorney of Philadelphia
The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current ...
, a position that he held until 1973.
During his 30-year Senate career, Specter staked out a spot in the political center. He served as Chair of the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
from 2005 to 2007. In 2006, he was selected by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' as one of America's Ten Best Senators. Specter lost his 2010 re-election bid in the
Democratic primary
This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries.
1912
This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...
to former
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
vice admiral Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from ...
, who then lost to Republican
Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
in the
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. Toomey succeeded Specter on January 3, 2011.
Diagnosed with
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...
in early 2005, he continued his work in the Senate while undergoing chemotherapy. He died from complications of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight los ...
on October 14, 2012.
Early life and education
Specter was born in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, the youngest child of Lillie (née Shanin) and Harry Specter, who grew up in the Bachkuryne village of
Cherkasy Oblast
Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...
, Ukraine. Specter was Jewish, and wrote in his memoir, ''Passion for Truth'', that his father's family was the only Jewish family in the village. The family lived at 940 South Emporia Street in Wichita before moving to
Russell, Kansas
Russell is the most populous city in and the county seat of Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,401.
History
In 1865, the Butterfield Overland Despatch established a short-lived sta ...
, where he graduated from Russell High School in 1947.
Russell is also the hometown of fellow politician
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
(who graduated from Russell High School in 1941). Specter said that his father weighed items from his junkyard on a scale owned by Dole's father Doran Dole (who owned a granary). He said his brother Morton and Dole's brother Kenny were contemporaries and friends.
Specter's father served in the
U.S. infantry
The Infantry Branch (also known as the "Queen of Battle") is a branch of the United States Army first established in 1775.
History
Ten companies of riflemen were authorized by a resolution of the Continental Congress on 14 June 1775. However, ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and was badly wounded. During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Specter's father was a fruit peddler, a tailor, and a junkyard owner. After graduating from Russell High School, Arlen Specter studied first at the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
. He transferred to the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, majored in
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
, and graduated
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
in 1951. While at Penn, Specter was a member of the
Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi (), commonly known as Pi Lam, is a social fraternity with 145 chapters (44 active chapters/colonies). The fraternity was founded in 1895 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Pi Lambda Phi is headlined by prestigious chapte ...
fraternity. Specter said the family moved to Philadelphia when his sister Shirley was of a marriageable age because there were no other Jews in Russell.
Military career
During the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, he served stateside in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
from 1951 to 1953 and obtained the rank of
first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
as an officer in the
Air Force Office of Special Investigations
The Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is a U.S. federal law enforcement agency that reports directly to the Secretary of the Air Force. OSI is also a U.S. Air Force field operating agency under the administrative ...
.
Early legal career and personal life
In 1953, he married
Joan Levy.
In 1979, she was elected to one of the two allotted minority party at-large seats on the
Philadelphia City Council
The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...
. She held the seat for four terms, until she was defeated for re-election in 1995 by
Frank Rizzo, Jr. The couple had two sons. Specter graduated from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
in 1956, while serving as editor of the ''
Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
''. Afterward, Specter opened a law practice, Specter & Katz, with
Marvin Katz Marvin may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Geography
;In the United States
* Marvyn, Alabama, also spelled Marvin, an unincorporated community
* Marvin, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Marvin, North Carolina, a village
* Marvin, South Dakota, a town
* R ...
, who served as a
Federal District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
Judge in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, until his death in October 2010. Specter represented
Ira Einhorn
Ira Samuel Einhorn (May 15, 1940 – April 3, 2020), known as "The Unicorn Killer", was an American convicted murderer and environmental activist. He was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Holly Maddux. On September 9, 1977, Maddux di ...
, known as "The Unicorn Killer". Specter became an assistant district attorney under
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
James C. Crumlish, Jr., and was a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Early political career
Involvement with the Warren Commission
Specter worked for the
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...
, which investigated the
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, at the recommendation of
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
, who was then one of the Commissioners. As an assistant for the commission, he co-wrote the proposal of the "
single bullet theory
The single-bullet theory, often derided and discredited by referring to it as the magic-bullet theory, was introduced by the Warren Commission in its investigation of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy to explain what happen ...
", which suggested the non-fatal wounds to Kennedy and wounds to
Texas Governor
The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
John Connally
John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th governor of Texas and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republican ...
were caused by the same bullet. This was a crucial assertion for the Warren Commission, since if the two had been wounded by separate bullets within such a short time frame, that would have demonstrated the presence of a second assassin and therefore a
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
. The
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The HSCA completed its i ...
published their report in 1979 stating that their "forensic pathology panel's conclusions were consistent with the so-called single bullet theory advanced by the Warren Commission".
Initial electoral campaigns
In 1965, Specter ran for Philadelphia
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
against his former boss, incumbent James C. Crumlish, Jr.
[ However, the city's Democratic leaders, such as ]Peter Camiel
Peter J. Camiel (January 30, 1910 – January 31, 1991) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 3rd district from 1953 to 1964.
Career
Camiel started his politica ...
, did not want Specter as their candidate, so he switched parties and ran as a Republican, prompting Crumlish to call him "Benedict Arlen".[ Specter defeated Crumlish by 36,000 votes.][ Although he was a supporter of capital punishment, as a prosecutor he questioned the fairness of the Pennsylvania death penalty statute in 1972.
In 1967 he was the Republican Party standard bearer, together with City Controller candidate, ]Tom Gola
Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...
, in the Philadelphia mayoral campaign against the Democratic incumbent James Tate. Two of their slogans were, "We need THESE guys to watch THOSE guys" and "They're younger, they're tougher, and nobody owns them!" He served two four-year terms as district attorney for the city of Philadelphia, but was handily defeated in his bid for a third term in 1973 by noted criminal defense attorney Emmett Fitzpatrick.
In 1976, Specter ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
and was defeated by John Heinz
Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Pennsylvania. Heinz represented the Pittsburgh suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and ...
. In 1978, he was defeated in the primary for Governor of Pennsylvania
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
by Dick Thornburgh
Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...
. After several years in private practice with the Philadelphia law firm Dechert, Price & Rhoads, Specter ran again for the U.S. Senate in 1980. This time, he won, and assumed office in January 1981.
Senate career
In 1988, he co-sponsored an amendment to the Fair Housing Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.
Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applie ...
of 1968, which prohibited discrimination in the rental, sale, marketing, and financing of the nation's housing. The amendment strengthened the ability of the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is an agency within the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHEO is responsible for administering and enforcing federal fair housing laws and establishing policies th ...
to enforce the Fair Housing Act and expanded the protected classes to include disabled persons and families with children. In 1998 and 1999, Specter criticized the Republican Party for the impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
of President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. Believing that Clinton had not received a fair trial, Specter cited Scots law
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...
to render a verdict of "not proven
Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a Courts of Scotland, court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a Criminal procedure, criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and ...
" on Clinton's impeachment. However, his verdict was recorded as "not guilty" in the Senate records.
In October 1999, Specter was one of four Senate Republicans to vote in favor of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations ...
. The treaty was designed to ban underground nuclear testing and was the first major international security pact to be defeated in the Senate since the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
.
On October 11, 2002, Specter voted in favor of H.J.Res.114 authorizing the Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
.
In a 2002 ''PoliticsPA
PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania.
Content
The website reports on political and campaign news in Pennsylvania, from the state legislature up to federal races. The editors write occasional features, like the we ...
'' Feature story
A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news. A feature story is a type of soft news. The main sub-types are the ''news feature'' and the ''human-interest story''.
A feature story is distinguished from other types of non-news ...
designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Toughest to Work For". In 2003, the ''Pennsylvania Report
The ''Pennsylvania Report'' is an independent bi-weekly subscription-based political newspaper published in Pennsylvania. It is "widely read by the state's political junkies." It was founded in 1985 by David Buffington, a former public relations ...
'', a subscription-based political newsletter, described Specter as one of the "vanishing breed of Republican moderates", and described his political stance as "'Pennsylvania first' middle of-the-road politics", even though he was known as an "avid Republican partisan".
Soon after the 2004 election, Specter stepped into the public spotlight as a result of controversial statements about his views of the future of the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. At a press conference, he stated:
Activist groups interpreted his comments as warnings to President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
about the implications of nominating Supreme Court justices who were opposed to the ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'' decision. Specter maintained that his comments were a prediction, not a warning. He met with many conservative Republican senators, and based on assurances he gave them, he was recommended for the Judiciary Committee's chairmanship in late 2004. He officially assumed that position when the 109th Congress convened on January 4, 2005.
On March 9, 2006, a revision of the USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...
was signed into law. It amended the process for interim appointments of U.S. Attorneys, a clause Specter wrote during his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
. The change allowed the Bush Administration to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without term limits
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
, and without confirmation by the Senate. The Bush administration used the law to place at least eight interim attorneys into office in 2006. Specter claimed that the changes were added by staff member Brett Tolman. For more information, see dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy
On December 7, 2006, the George W. Bush Administration's Department of Justice ordered the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States attorneys. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White ...
.
Specter was very critical of Bush's wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants. When the story first broke, he called the effort "inappropriate" and "clearly and categorically wrong". He said that he intended to hold hearings into the matter early in 2006, and had Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive governme ...
appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer for the program. (However, Specter declined to force Gonzales to testify under oath.) On January 15, 2006, Specter mentioned impeachment and criminal prosecution as potential remedies if Bush proved to have broken the law, though he downplayed the likelihood of such an outcome.
On April 9, 2006, speaking on Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
about the Bush administration's leaking of classified intelligence, Specter stated: "The President of the United States owes a specific explanation to the American people." However, he did vote for the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign po ...
, which placed federal electronic searches almost entirely within the executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
.
During the 2007–2008 National Football League season, Specter wrote to NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
commissioner Roger Goodell
Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who is currently the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). On August 8, 2006, Goodell was chosen to succeed retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue. He was chosen ...
concerning the destruction of New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
"Spygate" tapes. Specter, a devout and longtime Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
fan, wondered if there was a link between the tapes and their Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
victory over the Eagles in 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. On February 1, 2008, Goodell stated that the tapes were destroyed because "they confirmed what I already knew about the issue". Specter released a follow-up statement:
Starting in 2007, Specter sponsored legislation[''Equal Justice for United States Military Personnel Act of 2007''](_blank)
S.2052 introduced in 110th Congress-Senate (September 17, 2007) to fix a long-standing inequity in American law that shut out a majority of U.S. Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
service members convicted in courts-martial from appealing their convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
In 2007, Specter co-sponsored the Equal Justice for United States Military Personnel Act of 2007 with Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
(D-Calif.), Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(D-NY) and Russ Feingold
Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...
(D-Wis.). But the bill failed in the 110th Congress, and Specter again co-sponsored the measure in the 2009 111th Congress. In December 2008, Specter was involved in a controversy as a result of telling "Polish jokes" at New York's Rainbow Room while speaking at the annual meeting of the Commonwealth Club.
Specter voted in favor of the Senate's version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...
on February 10, 2009; he was one of only three Republicans to break ranks with the party and support the bill, which was favored by President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and was unanimously supported by the Democratic senators. As a result of his support, many in the Republican mainstream began calling for his removal from office.
Specter was instrumental in ensuring that the act allocated an additional $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
over the next two years. In August 2009, more than ten years before the global Covid-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic, he joined Pennsylvania congressman Jason Altmire
Jason Altmire (born March 7, 1968) is an American businessman, author, lobbyist and politician. He is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2013. He is a fellow of the European Institute for International Law and Internati ...
in leading a congressional hearing investigating whether the federal government should fund a national vaccine production center.
In late April 2009, facing a tough Republican primary, Specter switched to the Democratic party which put Democrats on the "precipice" of a 60-seat majority. He was then denied seniority on Senate committees by his Democratic colleagues.
In October 2009, Specter called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
, which he had supported in 1996. In November 2009, Specter introduced a bill to require televising U.S. Supreme Court proceedings, and explained that " e Supreme Court makes pronouncements on constitutional and federal law that have direct impacts on the rights of Americans. Those rights would be substantially enhanced by televising the oral arguments of the Court so that the public can see and hear the issues presented."
Specter's career in the United States Senate ended on January 3, 2011, after his primary defeat to Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from ...
. He was succeeded by Republican U.S. Representative Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
, who won the general election against Sestak.
Committee assignments
Specter was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
from 1995, when the Republicans gained control of the Senate, until 1997, when he became chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. He chaired that committee until 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, during the times the Republicans controlled the Senate. He also chaired the Judiciary Committee from 2005 to 2007.
Campaigns
In 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, Specter became the Republican nominee for Senate when Republican incumbent Richard Schweiker
Richard Schultz Schweiker (June 1, 1926 – July 31, 2015) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 14th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 198 ...
announced his retirement. He faced the former Mayor of Pittsburgh
The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh. This article is a listing of past (and present) mayors of Pittsburgh. ...
, Pete Flaherty
Peter Francis Flaherty (June 25, 1924 – April 18, 2005) was an American politician and attorney. He served as assistant district attorney of Allegheny County from 1957 to 1964, a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from 1966 to 1970, the 54 ...
. Specter won the election by a 2.5% margin. He was later re-elected in 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
, 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, 1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, and 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, despite 1992 and 1998 being bad years for Republicans. Specter ran for re-election in 2010, for the first time as a Democrat, but was defeated in the primary.
1996 presidential bid
On March 31, 1995, Specter announced his candidacy for President of the United States, to challenge the incumbent Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. He entered the race as an alternative to the stereotypical religious conservative image. He was critical of Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, an ...
, Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...
, and Ralph Reed
Ralph Eugene Reed Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American political consultant and lobbyist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Li ...
, saying all three were far too conservative.
His campaign focused on balancing the federal budget, strict crime laws, and establishing relations with North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. His candidacy was not expected to succeed in winning the Republican nomination due to the overwhelmingly large number of social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
s in the Republican Party. He was, however, able to gain support. Fellow Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...
was supportive of his candidacy. Other supportive Republicans were hopeful Specter could trim the party's "far-right fringe". Although his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful at wooing conservatives, it was widely believed he could have had a strong showing among independents. On November 23, 1995, before the start of the primaries, Specter suspended his campaign to endorse Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
Senator Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
.
2004 campaign
In 2004, Specter faced a challenge in the Republican primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
from conservative Congressman Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
, whose campaign theme was that Specter was not conservative enough. The match-up was closely watched nationally, being seen as a symbolic clash between the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party. However, most of the state and national Republican establishment, including the state's other senator at the time, Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...
, closed ranks behind Specter. Specter was supported by President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
. Specter narrowly avoided a major upset with 51% of the primary vote. Once Specter defeated the challenge from the right, he was able to enjoy great support from independents and some Democrats in his race against U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Joe Hoeffel
Joseph Merrill Hoeffel III ( ; born September 3, 1950) is an American author and politician. A Democrat, Hoeffel was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, representing Pennsylvania's 13th congressional distri ...
, the Democratic nominee. Hoeffel trailed Specter in name recognition, campaign funds, and poll results. Although the two minor candidates in the race were seen as more conservative than Specter, they were only able to take 5.39 percent of the vote, and Specter was easily re-elected.
2010 campaign
Specter was up for re-election to the Senate in 2010, and expressed his plans to run again. On March 18, 2009, Specter said that he was not considering running as an independent. He said, "To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for re-election in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket." Subsequently, Specter's 2004 conservative GOP primary challenger, Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
, announced he would again run for the Republican nomination in the Republican senatorial primary.
However, on April 28, 2009, Specter stated that, "As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party". He said that he was switching party affiliation and would run as a Democrat in the 2010 election.
In the same announcement, Specter also said that he had "surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak". A March 2009 Quinnipiac poll indicated that Specter trailed his likely primary challenger, Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
, by 14% (41% for Toomey, 27% for Specter). Additional polling found that 70% of Pennsylvania Republicans disapproved of his vote in favor of the Stimulus Bill
In economics, stimulus refers to attempts to use monetary policy or fiscal policy (or stabilization policy in general) to stimulate the economy. Stimulus can also refer to monetary policies such as lowering interest rates and quantitative easin ...
and that 52 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans disapproved of the job he was doing. Following Specter's switching parties, Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...
chairman Michael Steele
Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...
criticized his leaving the Republican Party, claiming that Specter had " flipped the bird" at the GOP.
On February 6, 2010, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg and is the largest political party in the state. Its chair is Senator Sharif Street.
Governor Tom Wol ...
overwhelmingly endorsed Specter at the Democratic State Committee's annual endorsement convention, which was held in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...
. He received more votes than Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from ...
, winning more than 77% of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee members vote, far in excess of the 2/3 threshold needed to claim the endorsement. Sestak, however, went on to win the Democratic primary nomination on May 18.[Toeplitz, Shira]
The admiral sinks Arlen Specter.
''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
''. May 18, 2010.
Following the primary, Specter endorsed Sestak in the general election. Sestak would go on to lose the general election to Toomey.
Political views
According to the ''National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...
'', Specter voted with Democrats 90% of the time after switching parties, while, as a Republican, he split his votes between both parties. According to FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
, during January–March 2009 Specter voted with the Democrats 58% of the time. Following the support of the stimulus package and the entrance of Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
in the Republican primary, Specter began to vote 16% with Democrats. When switching to become a Democrat, he voted 69% with his new party initially, until Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from ...
entered the Democratic primary and Specter started to vote with Democrats 97% of the time.
Abortion
Specter stated that he was "personally opposed to abortion", but was "a supporter of a woman's right to choose." He received a 20% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...
in 2005 based on certain votes related to the regulation of abortion. In 2008, he received 100%.
LGBT rights
Specter supported LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
. He voted to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
and was a co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Specter was opposed to same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
, but was also opposed to a federal ban and supported civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s. He also became opposed to the Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
, which he once supported. Specter voted in favor of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...
" in the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...
.
Gun control
Specter strongly opposed most gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
measures. He voted against the Brady Bill
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
, background checks at gun show
In the United States, a gun show is an event where promoters generally rent large public venues and then rent tables for display areas for dealers of guns and related items, and charge admission for buyers. The majority of guns for sale at gun s ...
s, the ban on assault weapons
In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable ma ...
, and trigger lock
Gun safety is the study and practice of using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms and ammunition, including the training of gun users, the design of weapons, and formal and informal regulation of gun production, distribution, and u ...
s for handguns.
Affirmative action
He supported affirmative action, and voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is a United States labor law, passed in response to United States Supreme Court decisions that limited the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act represented the first effort since ...
, receiving a 76 percent rating from the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
in 2008.
Civil rights and U.S. Supreme Court
Specter voted in favor of the bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Mond ...
as a federal holiday
Federal holidays in the United States are the eleven calendar dates that are designated by the U.S. government as holidays. On U.S. federal holidays, non-essential federal government offices are closed and federal government employees are paid ...
and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987
The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, or Grove City Bill, is a United States legislative act that specifies that entities receiving federal funds must comply with civil rights legislation in all of their operations, not just in the program ...
(as well as to override President Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's veto). Specter voted against the nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, but voted in favor of the nominations of Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...
, John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
, and Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...
. Specter described Anita Hill's testimony during Thomas' nomination as "perjurious in its entirety."[ Witcover, Jules]
Joe Biden: a life of trial and redemption
page 429 (HarperCollins, 2010).
Tax cuts and minimum wage
In 1995, he was the only Republican to vote to limit tax cuts to individuals with incomes of less than one million dollars. He voted against CAFTA. Specter also supported an increase in the federal minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
. He was a leading supporter of the U.S. Public Service Academy.
Illegal immigration
On immigration, Specter supported a "pathway to citizenship" and a "guest worker program", which opponents call amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
. He introduced Senate bill S. 2611 (the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, ) was a United States Senate bill introduced in the 109th Congress (2005–2006) by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PE) on April 7, 2006. Co-sponsors, who signed on the same day, were Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), ...
) on April 6, 2006, which was passed by the Senate on May 25, 2006, before reaching a stalemate in the House.
Health care reform
Public option
On May 3, 2009, Specter went on ''Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
'' and was asked, "Would you support health care reform that puts up a government-run public plan to compete with a private plan issued by a private insurance company?" Specter responded with "no." Two months later, he changed his position.
Single-payer
Specter believed a single-payer healthcare system should not be "taken off the table", according to an interview he had with John King on CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
.
Votes
On health care reform
Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to:
* Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insur ...
, Specter was a co-sponsor of the Healthy Americans Act
The Healthy Americans Act (HAA), also known as the Wyden-Bennett Act, is a Senate bill that had proposed to improve health care in the United States, with changes that included the establishment of universal health care. It would transition a ...
, a proposal he supported during both the 110th and 111th Congresses. Specter voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
, the healthcare bill passed through the Senate by every Democratic senator, on a party-line vote.
In May 2012, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medical College presented Specter with the annual Public Service Award for his work in expanding mental health care.
Card check
Specter received a 61% rating from the AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
. He voted for cloture
Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ...
on the Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress.
The bill's purpose, as taken from the 200 ...
in 2007. In early 2009, Specter announced he would not be voting for cloture on the same act in the 111th Congress. After Specter switched parties, he changed his position on the issue again, and wrote a letter to the unions indicating he supported card check
Card check, also called majority sign-up, is a method for employees to organize into a labor union in which a majority of employees in a bargaining unit sign authorization forms, or "cards", stating they wish to be represented by the union. Since ...
legislation.
Privacy; computers
Spurred by the 2010 ''Robbins v. Lower Merion School District
''Robbins v. Lower Merion School District'' is a federal class action lawsuit, brought in February 2010 on behalf of students of two high schools in Lower Merion Township, a suburb of Philadelphia. In October 2010, the school district agreed to ...
'' case, in which two high schools admitted to secretly taking 66,000 webcam photos and screenshots of students in their homes on school-issued laptops, Specter held a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs on March 29, 2010. He said: "The issue is one of surreptitious eavesdropping. Unbeknownst to people, their movements and activities were under surveillance." He said that Lower Merion's use of laptop cameras for surveillance convinced him that new federal legislation was needed to regulate electronic privacy.
Specter then introduced legislation in April 2010 to amend the federal Wiretap Act
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (, codified at ''et seq.'') was legislation passed by the Congress of the United States and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that established the Law Enforcement Assistance Admi ...
to clarify that it is illegal to capture silent visual images inside another person's home. He said: "This is going to become law. You have a very significant invasion of privacy with these webcams, as more information is coming to light." Speaking on the floor of the Senate, he said:
Other
The Jewish daily newspaper ''The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...
'' reported in the wake of the July 2009 organ trafficking scandal in the U.S. involving Rabbi Levy Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn that an Organ Trafficking Prohibition Act of 2009, sponsored by Specter, had yet to be officially introduced in the U.S.
Specter criticized the federal government's policy on cancer, stating the day after Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bu ...
—the 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee and former congressman—died of cancer, that Kemp would still be alive if the federal government had done a better job funding cancer research.
On February 16, 2011, Specter wrote a letter to President Obama. As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he stated that Jonathan Pollard
Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is a former intelligence analyst for the United States government. In 1987, as part of a plea agreement, Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret classified information to Israel. H ...
should be pardoned. He stated, "Unfortunately, spying is not an uncommon practice even between allies and friendly nations."
Electoral history
Post-Senate career
During the fall of 2011, Specter was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...
, where he taught a course on the relationship between Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on separation of powers and the confirmation process. For this course the ''National Jurist'' named him as one of the "23 professors to take before you die."
Arlen Specter Center for Public Service at Philadelphia University
On December 21, 2011, Specter donated to Philadelphia University
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
nearly 2,700 boxes of historical papers and memorabilia dating from his career as a Philadelphia district attorney to his service as a United States senator, including materials associated with his role as assistant counsel on the Warren Commission. The collection will be jointly managed by the University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
, which will house, organize, and manage the collection. The universities will collaborate on related education programing that will consequently provide access to the archives on both ends of the state. The Specter Collection will also support The Arlen Specter Center for Public Policy at Philadelphia University.
The center will be a nonpartisan initiative dedicated to promoting greater understanding of public policy issues both foreign and domestic. The center will strive to accomplish these goals through support for research, educational programming, and exhibitions inspired, in part, by the senator's career and the permanent collection of his historic papers. The center will be managed by the Paul J. Gutman Library at Philadelphia University will be located in Roxboro House, which is located nearby on campus.
Parts of Roxboro House date back to 1799. The Georgian period house constructed of frame and clapboard was expanded in 1810. At one point in its history, Roxboro House was owned by Dr. Caspar Wistar who published the first American textbook of anatomy in 1811. Wistar was president of the American Philosophical Society and his friend, Thomas Nuttall, a famous botanist, named the Wisteria vine after him. In 1965, the Philadelphia Historical Commission added this house to its list of registered buildings (No. 141). Prior to the university's purchase of the property in 1998, the house was being used as a bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...
establishment.
Arlen Specter US Squash Center
US Squash announced it was building a new squash center in Philadelphia that is to be named the Arlen Specter US Squash Center. The construction of the Arlen Specter US Squash Center began in 2019 and was completed in 2021.
Illness and death
On February 16, 2005, Specter announced that he had been diagnosed with an advanced form of Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...
, a type of cancer. Despite this, Specter continued working during chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
. He ended treatment on July 22. Senator John Sununu (R- NH) shaved his head to show solidarity with Specter, who was temporarily bald while undergoing chemotherapy. On April 15, 2008, Specter announced his cancer had returned, at a stage "significantly less advanced than his Hodgkin's disease when it was originally diagnosed in 2005." He underwent a second round of chemotherapy, which ended on July 14, 2008.
On August 28, 2012, it was announced that Specter was battling a "serious form of cancer" and hospitalized. He was diagnosed six weeks earlier with a new form of the disease.
On September 7, 2012, he was released from a Philadelphia hospital, but was expected to return there for additional treatment.
Specter died from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight los ...
, aged 82, on October 14, 2012, at his home in Philadelphia. Statements of condolence were issued by President and Mrs. Obama, Vice President and Dr. Biden, the Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania, and by many of his colleagues and former opponents in the U.S. Congress, the Pennsylvania legislature, and the city of Philadelphia, among many others. Senator Specter, while he had been accused of alienating both parties due to certain positions he took and due to the two times he switched parties, among other issues, was nonetheless respected by many as a principled statesman who did much for his state and country, including by those in politics and the legislature, both in Pennsylvania and his home state, Kansas, as well as across the U.S. and beyond. He was the longest-serving of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators. As a sign of this respect and out of mourning, President Obama ordered U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff at public institutions and military bases in Washington, D.C. and the rest of the country on his day of interment.
See also
* List of American politicians who switched parties in office
The following American politicians switched parties while they were holding elected office.
Federal
State
Local
See also
* List of Canadian politicians who have crossed the floor
* List of elected British politicians who have change ...
* List of United States senators who switched parties
This list includes United States senators who switched parties while serving in the Senate.
List 19th century
20th century
21st century
See also
* Party switching in the United States
* List of United States representatives who switched pa ...
*List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
This is a list of Jewish members of the United States Congress. , there are 10 Jewish senators and 27 Jewish members of the House of Representatives serving in the United States Congress.
Senate
Elected to the Senate, but not seated
House ...
References
Further reading
*
* Fenno, Richard. ''Learning to legislate: the Senate education of Arlen Specter'' (1991
online free to borrow
External links
*
Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court
from the Oyez Project
The Oyez Project at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law is an unofficial online multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, especially audio of oral arguments. The website "aims to be a complete an ...
Interactive timeline
*
;Articles
After Yale, Specter Still a Force
Andrew Mangino, ''Yale Daily News'', September 23, 2005
Tale of injustice
, ''Sarasota Herald Tribune
The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''.
History
The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...
'', July 16, 2007
Specter: Reagan's GOP is Gone
by Mark Trumbull, ''The Christian Science Monitor'', May 3, 2009
The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power Grabs
by Arlen Specter, The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
, May 14, 2009
;Legislation sponsored or cosponsored
The following table links to the Congressional Record
The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...
hosted by the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
. All the specifics and actions taken for each individual piece of legislation that Specter either sponsored or cosponsored can be viewed in detail there. "Original bills" and "'Original amendments" indicate instances where Sen. Specter pledged to support the legislation at the time it was initially introduced and entered into the Senate record, rather than later in the legislative process.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Specter, Arlen
1930 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American politicians
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Democratic Party United States senators from Pennsylvania
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
District Attorneys of Philadelphia
Jewish American academics
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American candidates for President of the United States
Jewish United States senators
Military personnel from Kansas
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Democrats
Pennsylvania lawyers
Pennsylvania Republicans
Politicians from Wichita, Kansas
Politicians from Philadelphia
Republican Party United States senators from Pennsylvania
United States Air Force officers
Candidates in the 1996 United States presidential election
University of Pennsylvania alumni
United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations
Warren Commission counsel and staff
Yale Law School alumni
University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty
Kansas Republicans