Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and
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 ...
politician who served as the
41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the
United States attorney general
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
from 1988 to 1991. Before his time as attorney general and governor, he served as the
United States attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
for the
Western District of Pennsylvania.
Early life and education
Thornburgh was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, on July 16, 1932, the son of Alice (Sanborn) and Charles Garland Thornburgh, an engineer. Thornburgh attended
Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...
then
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
from which he obtained an engineering degree in 1954. Subsequently, he received a law degree from the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...
in 1957, where he served as an editor of the
''Law Review''. Thornburgh was inducted into
Omicron Delta Kappa at the University of Pittsburgh in 1973, and was later awarded the society's highest honor, the Laurel Crowned Circle Award, in 1996. He subsequently was awarded honorary degrees from 32 other colleges and universities. He joined the Pittsburgh-based law firm
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart in 1959.
Thornburgh married Ginny Hooton, and they had three sons together (John, David and Peter). Ginny Hooton was killed in an automobile accident in 1960, which left Peter, the youngest of their three sons, with physical and intellectual disability. In 1963 Thornburgh was remarried, to Ginny Judson, with whom he had another son, Bill, in 1966. Ginny (Judson) Thornburgh was a former schoolteacher from New York, who holds degrees from
Wheaton College in
Norton, Massachusetts
Norton is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, and contains the villages of Norton Center, Massachusetts, Norton Center and Chartley, Massachusetts, Chartley. The population was ...
, and the
Harvard Graduate School of Education. A lifelong advocate of people with disabilities, she served as Director of the Interfaith Initiative of the
American Association of People with Disabilities
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which advocates for the legal rights of people with disabilities.Imparato, Andrew J. 2005. "AAPD In Its Second Decade," ''AAPDnews'' (Spring 2005), ...
, based in Washington, D.C., and has co-authored and edited "That All May Worship," an award-winning handbook for religious congregations working to include people with all types of disabilities. She received the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in April 2005.
The Thornburghs have four sons (John, David, Peter, and Bill), six grandchildren, and four great-granddaughters and one great-grandson. As parents of a son with a disability, they took an interest in the needs of people with disabilities and, with their son Peter, were named "Family of the Year". Both Ginny and Dick Thornburgh were featured speakers at the Vatican Conference on Disabilities held in Rome in November 1992, and were co-recipients in 2003 of the Henry B. Betts Award, the proceeds from which were used to establish the Thornburgh Family Lecture Series on Disability Law and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. As Attorney General of the United States, Thornburgh played a leading role in the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
. In 2002, Thornburgh received the Wiley E. Branton Award of The Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in recognition of his "commitment to the civil rights of people with disabilities."
Career
U.S. Attorney
Following an unsuccessful bid for the
U.S. House of Representatives
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 ...
against
William S. Moorhead in 1966, Thornburgh served as an elected delegate to the 1967–1968
Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention where he spearheaded efforts at judicial and local government reform. In 1969
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
appointed Thornburgh as the
U.S. Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
for the
Western District of Pennsylvania, where he earned a reputation as being tough on
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. In 1971, Thornburgh successfully took Pittsburgh steel companies to court for polluting rivers based on the 1899 Refuse Act. This was before the major environmental laws that are the backbone of the EPA were passed, and was a sign of what was to come.
[An Interview with James (Jim) Seif]
Video
Transcript
(see p2). EPA Alumni Association. April 28, 2015
In 1975, President
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 ...
appointed him to serve as the
Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general.
The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...
for the
Justice Department's Criminal Division.
After two years at that post, Thornburgh returned to law practice in Pittsburgh and initiated a campaign for governor.
Governor of Pennsylvania
![Dick Thornburgh (PA)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Dick_Thornburgh_%28PA%29.jpg)
In
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, Thornburgh launched a campaign for governor of Pennsylvania. He won the primary over six other contenders, including
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from ...
, who had become well known as a former
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 ...
who switched parties and was elected the
Philadelphia County
Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...
district attorney in 1965 and the more conservative
David W. Marston
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, a former
U.S. attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
in Philadelphia, who was controversially dismissed in 1978 by the
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
administration after Marston launched prosecution of two Democratic congressmen and two Democratic state legislators.
Despite a Democratic majority in the
commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
, he and running mate
Bill Scranton (whose
father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
served as governor in the 1960s) defeated
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
mayor
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 ...
and his running mate, educator Bob Casey (who bears no relation to
Robert P. Casey, the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania). The victory was attributed in part to Thornburgh's campaign promises to crack down on government corruption, at a time when more than 60 persons in the Shapp administration were indicted on criminal charges. Thornburgh and Scranton were reelected in
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
. However, Scranton failed to win the governorship on his own 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 ...
.
Following the unprecedented 1979
Three Mile Island
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...
nuclear power plant accident near
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
, Pennsylvania, Governor Thornburgh was described by observers as "one of the few authentic heroes of that episode as a calm voice against panic." He oversaw emergency response efforts to the partial meltdown at the nuclear power plant and also had a major role in coordinating funding for cleanup efforts.
He was widely recognized for economic development and the establishment of the Ben Franklin Partnership, and for implementing welfare reform programs. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate, among the ten highest in the nation when he was elected, was among the ten lowest when he left office as 50,000 new businesses and 500,000 new private sector jobs were created during his tenure.
Thornburgh was also responsible for consolidating all of Pennsylvania's state-owned colleges and universities into the
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that oversees 10 state-owned universities. Collectively, it is the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. All ...
. He also created the
Governor's Schools Governor's School may refer to:
National organizations
*National Conference of Governor's Schools, a national organization committed to establishing, supporting, and enriching summer residential governor's school programs.
High schools
* Governor ...
, which were summer programs for talented and gifted high school students.
In January 1987, Governor Thornburgh was made an honorary
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper and this honor was presented to him upon the graduation of the 64th Pennsylvania State Police Academy Class at
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey.
The community is lo ...
.
Thornburgh was the first Republican to serve two successive terms as governor of the commonwealth. Recognized by fellow governors in a 1986 ''Newsweek'' poll as one of the most effective big-state governors in the nation.
After leaving office in 1987, Thornburgh served as director of the Institute of Politics at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
U.S. Attorney General
In 1988, President
Ronald 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 ...
appointed Thornburgh as the
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
and he was retained in office after President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
was inaugurated. Thornburgh was sworn into office after unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate and served three years as attorney general, 1988–1991.
![Dick Thornburgh 1978](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Dick_Thornburgh_1978.jpg)
He mounted a vigorous attack on
white-collar crime
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...
as the Department of Justice obtained a record number of convictions of
savings and loan crisis and other securities officials, defense contractors and corrupt public officials. Thornburgh established strong ties with law enforcement agencies around the world to help combat drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and international white-collar crime. During his tenure as attorney general, he twice argued and won cases before the United States Supreme Court. The ''Legal Times'' noted that Thornburgh as Attorney General "built a reputation as one of the most effective champions that prosecutors have ever had." As honorary Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he chaired a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration examining the FBI's post-9/11 transformation process and was a member of the FBI Director's advisory board. He oversaw the major environmental litigation that resulted from the
Exxon Valdez
''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wi ...
oil spill in 1989.
All told, Thornburgh served in the Justice Department under five Presidents, beginning in Pittsburgh when serving as United States Attorney, from 1969 to 1975.
Later political life
He resigned as attorney general in
1991 to run for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant when
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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 ...
was killed in a plane crash; major-party candidates were chosen by the party committees because it was too late for a primary. There was widespread speculation that Thornburgh had struck a deal with Democratic Pennsylvania Congressman and House Majority Whip
William H. Gray. Gray had been the subject of an investigation into alleged campaign finance irregularities and a grand jury investigation into his church's financial dealings. It was reported that Gray would not run in the special election and in return Thornburgh would drop the investigation into him.
Gray did not run in the election and in fact resigned from Congress two months prior to it in order to take a job as president and CEO of the
United Negro College Fund
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...
. Thornburgh was widely expected to win the seat; however, he was defeated in an upset by Democrat
Harris Wofford
Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. (April 9, 1926 – January 21, 2019) was an American attorney, civil rights activist, and Democratic Party politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1995. A noted advocate of na ...
, who had been the interim appointee to that seat. In 1993, Thornburgh's campaign committee was sued in federal court by
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...
, who won the case and collected $180,000 from the Thornburgh committee.
Thornburgh served a one-year appointment as Under-Secretary General at the United Nations (1992–1993) at the personal request of President Bush. This UN top management position put Thornburgh in charge of personnel, budget and finance matters. His Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations was widely praised. It pertained to reform, restructuring and streamlining efforts designed to make the United Nations peacekeeping, humanitarian and development programs more efficient and cost-effective.
Later life
![DickThornburghRoom](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/DickThornburghRoom.JPG)
After his 25 years in public service, Thornburgh re-entered private legal practice returning to
K&L Gates
K&L Gates LLP is an American multinational corporation law firm based in the United States, with international offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Its namesake firms are Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, a Pittsburgh-ba ...
, the law firm he originally joined in 1959. In 2002, the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York appointed him as an examiner in the
WorldCom
MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...
bankruptcy proceedings. His report to the court included damning criticism of
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...
, WorldCom's
accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
firm, and banking giant
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
. The report concluded that the two companies aided WorldCom executives in committing
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
.
In 2004, Thornburgh was asked by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
to undertake an independent investigation of the so-called
Rathergate
The Killian documents controversy (also referred to as Memogate or Rathergate) involved six documents containing false allegations about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972–73, allegedly typed in 1973. Da ...
controversy with former Associated Press CEO, Lou Boccardi. Following the investigation and report, Dan Rather relinquished his anchor position on the "CBS Evening News." Then in October 2005 Thornburgh was asked to represent controversial Democratic Pennsylvania politician and nationally renowned
forensic pathologist
Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases an ...
Dr.
Cyril Wecht
Cyril Harrison Wecht (born March 20, 1931) is an American forensic pathologist. He has been the president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board of trustees of the Amer ...
, who was then serving as Coroner of
Allegheny County. The federal grand jury in Pittsburgh had returned an 84 count felony indictment against Dr. Wecht. Ultimately all charges were dismissed after years, on May 14, 2009.
In February 2013, Thornburgh released a report criticizing the conclusions of
Louis Freeh
Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001.
Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Universi ...
about the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal
The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years ...
involving
Jerry Sandusky
Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American retired college football coach and convicted serial child molester. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under Joe ...
. Thornburgh was hired by the family of the late coach
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...
to conduct an independent review of the Freeh report.
Thornburgh also served as a consultant to the United Nations, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and the
Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...
on efforts to battle fraud and corruption.
Thornburgh, a long-time supporter of self-determination, authored "
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
's Future: A Time to Decide" in 2007, in which he calls for immediate change in the island's territorial/commonwealth status. He describes it as a vestige of colonialism. He concedes, however, that change is difficult because equal segments of Puerto Ricans desire statehood or continuation of the status quo. The book is based in part on ongoing research he has done regarding Puerto Rico's vexing political status problem since he testified as attorney general on behalf of the first Bush administration on the issue before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the United States Senate in 1991 and for an
amicus curiae
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
brief he filed in a Puerto Rico voting rights case before the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts in the following United St ...
.
Throughout his career, Thornburgh traveled widely by visiting over 40 countries and meeting with leaders from Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand and Central and South America. He served as an observer to the Russian Federation's first legislative (1993) and presidential (1996) elections. He was a former member of the
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
.
The
K&L Gates
K&L Gates LLP is an American multinational corporation law firm based in the United States, with international offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Its namesake firms are Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, a Pittsburgh-ba ...
site includes nearly 50 published articles and
white papers
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...
by Thornburgh; they serve as a documentation of his career between 2001 and 2011.
Thornburgh died at a retirement community in
Verona, Pennsylvania
Verona is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, along the left bank of the Allegheny River. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,474.
History
Verona was named by ...
, on December 31, 2020, at age 88.
Dick Thornburgh Papers
The
Dick Thornburgh Papers
The Dick Thornburgh Papers are the collection of materials related to Dick Thornburgh's eight years as Governor of Pennsylvania. The Papers are housed in the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh Library System, University of Pittsburg ...
were donated to 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 ...
in 1998. The collection is housed in the university's
Hillman Library
Hillman Library is the largest library and the center of administration for the University Library System (ULS) of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive ...
where it is showcased in a themed reading room. The university also established the Dick Thornburgh Forum in Law and Public Policy in his honor.
In April 2019, Thornburgh announced he was retiring from K&L Gates, the only private law firm with which he had ever been associated. The announcement came 60 years after Thornburgh first joined the firm.
Publications
*''Puerto Rico's Future: A Time to Decide'', Center for Strategic and International Studies Press, 2007,
''Where the Evidence Leads'' autobiography by Dick Thornburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007,
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornburgh, Dick
1932 births
2020 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
Fellows of the United States National Academy of Public Administration
George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members
Republican Party governors of Pennsylvania
Harvard Kennedy School staff
Mercersburg Academy alumni
Politicians from Pittsburgh
Reagan administration cabinet members
Reagan administration controversies
United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Criminal Division
United States Attorneys for the Western District of Pennsylvania
United States Attorneys General
University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni
Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni
Writers from Pittsburgh