Robert William "Bob" Edgar (May 29, 1943 – April 23, 2013) was an American politician and administrator 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, ...

, and 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 ...

. He served as a member of the

United States 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 ...

from 1975 to 1987, representing the 7th district of

. He served as president and CEO of Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, from May 2007 until his death. Edgar died suddenly at his home on April 23, 2013, following a heart attack.

Early life and education

Edgar was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He attended

Lycoming College Lycoming College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an in ...

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree, and then was ordained a minister after graduating with a Master of Divinity degree from the Theological School of

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming on ...

. He received a certificate in pastoral psychiatry from

Hahnemann University Hospital Hahnemann University Hospital was a tertiary care center in Center City Philadelphia. It was the teaching hospital of Drexel University College of Medicine. Established in 1885, it was for most of its history the main teaching hospital associate ...

in 1969. He later served as United Protestant Chaplain of Drexel University, and as a special assistant to Congressman Bill Gray.''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present''. From 2001 until his death he was a member of the Greater New Jersey

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

; he transferred from the California Pacific Conference.''2012 Journal and Yearbook'', Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, p. 71.

Congressional career

With his 1974 election to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, Edgar became the first

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 ...

in 36 years to represent this Delaware County-based district. Serving in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

from 1975 to 1987, Edgar sought to improve

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

, authored the community Right to Know provisions of Super Fund legislation, and co-authored the new

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

for the all-volunteer service. Among other appointments, he served as chair of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future from 1982 through 1986, and as a member of the

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 ...

, from 1976 through 1978, that investigated the deaths of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, and President

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 ...

. Representing what was then a classic

Rockefeller Republican The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to- liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of ...

district, Edgar was reelected five times against vigorous Republican opposition. His closest contests came in 1978, when he only survived by 1,300 votes, and in 1984, when he won by only 412 votes. The latter election came in the midst of Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory; Reagan won the district by over 20 points. Edgar ran for the United States Senate 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 enter ...

, defeating

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

Don Bailey, a former congressman from western Pennsylvania, in the primary, but lost the general election to incumbent

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 ...

Senator

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 fr ...

by more than 12 percentage points. It is this experience that led Edgar to become frustrated with

political campaigning A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

and money in politics, even taking a somewhat sympathetic and supportive stance on clean elections and campaign finance reform, which he dictated at the 2004 Democracy Matters Conference in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

Claremont School of Theology

In 1990, Edgar began a ten-year term of service as President of

Claremont School of Theology Claremont School of Theology (CST) is an American graduate school focused on religion and theology and located in Claremont, California. CST is fully recognized and approved as one of thirteen official theological schools of the United Methodi ...

, Claremont, California, a graduate-professional school related to the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

and part of the Claremont educational consortium east of Los Angeles. He is credited with bringing the school from financial distress into a stable and successful period of growth.

National Council of Churches

In 2000, Edgar began a seven-year term as chief executive of the

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. Under his leadership, the 50-year-old NCC began to reshape its mission, focusing its energies on major initiatives in the areas of overcoming poverty, protecting the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses ...

, fostering

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

understanding Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object ...

, and building international peace. Following his retirement from the NCC, he served six years as President of Common Cause, from 2007 until his death in 2013.

Additional positions

Edgar served on the boards of several organizations, including Independent Sector, the National Coalition for Health Care, and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. He also served on the board of directors of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, an independent, non-profit organization that is a principal resource for Congress on environmental and energy issues. He was an endorser of the

Genocide Intervention Network 300px, Genocide Intervention Network logo The Genocide Intervention Network (or GI-NET) was a non-profit organization aiming to "empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide". Founded in 2004, in 2005 the Genoc ...

Honors and awards

Edgar was recognized by several national organizations for his work, including by the American Legion,

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is th ...

and the

National Taxpayers Union The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is a fiscally conservative taxpayer advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1977 by James Dale Davidson. NTU says that it is the oldest taxpayer advocacy organization in th ...

References

External links

with Robert William Edgar
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, December 3, 2010

at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Robert 1943 births 2013 deaths American Christian religious leaders Politicians from Philadelphia Politicians from Williamsport, Pennsylvania People from Annandale, Virginia Drew University alumni Lycoming College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 20th-century American politicians People from Burke, Virginia