Floyd Kirk Haskell (February 7, 1916August 25, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

from 1973 to 1979.

Early life and career

Floyd Haskell was born in Morristown,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, to Edward Kirk and Gladys (née Clarkson) Haskell. His father was an investment banker. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1937. During college, he played on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, rugby, and soccer teams, later developing as a tennis player, and was president of the Rocky Mountain Club. He received a law degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1941. That same year he married Eileen Nicoll, to whom he remained married until their divorce in 1976; they had three daughters, Ione, Evelyn, and Pamela. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Haskell served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

from 1941 to 1945, seeing action in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, viewing the immediate aftermath of Hiroshima, and reaching the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for his intelligence work. Following his military service, he was admitted to the bar in 1946 and moved to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, where he worked as a tax lawyer. In 1964, Haskell was elected as a Republican to the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

from Arapahoe County, serving until 1969. As a state legislator, he became assistant majority leader in 1967 and also served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Education and Finance Committees. In 1970, he left the Republican Party and became a Democrat in protest of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's invasion of Cambodia.

U.S. Senate

In 1972, Haskell decided to challenge three-term Republican incumbent Gordon L. Allott for a seat in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. He defeated

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Anthony Vollack in the Democratic primary. In the general election, he narrowly won a four-way race between Allott and candidates from the

Raza Unida Party Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida (LRUP; National United Peoples PartyArmando Navarro (2000) ''La Raza Unida Party'', p. 20 or United Race Party) was a Hispanic political party centered on Chicano (Mexican-American) nationalism. It was created in ...

and the

American Independent Party The American Independent Party (AIP) is an American political party that was established in 1967. The American Independent Party is best known for its nomination of Democratic then-former Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five s ...

, receiving only 49% of the vote. He defeated his closest competitor, Senator Allott, by less than 10,000 votes while President Nixon carried Colorado by over 267,000 votes. Haskell was sworn into the Senate on January 3, 1973. He served as a member of the Senate Finance and Energy and Natural Resources Committees, where he earned a reputation as a

tax reform Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...

er and an

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. He supported the historic Alaska Lands legislation and regulation of auto emissions, the

Panama Canal treaties Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, and alternative sources of energy. In 1978, lacking campaign funds and media acumen, he was defeated for re-election by Congressman William L. Armstrong, the first in Colorado to raise over a million dollars, losing by a landslide margin of 59%-40%.

Later life and death

After his Senate career, Haskell established his residence in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he practiced law before joining

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

and a bipartisan group of retired lawmakers calling for campaign finance reform and an end to congressional gridlock. In 1979, he married

Nina Totenberg Nina Totenberg (born January 14, 1944) is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) focusing primarily on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's news magazines ''All Things Consid ...

, the legal affairs correspondent for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

; they remained married until his death in 1998. Haskell suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

in 1994 after falling on ice near his home in Washington. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

four years later, at age 82, while returning from a vacation in Maine with his wife.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, Floyd K. 1916 births 1998 deaths Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Colorado lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Members of the Colorado House of Representatives Politicians from Morristown, New Jersey Military personnel from Morristown, New Jersey Lawyers from Morristown, New Jersey United States Army officers Colorado Democrats Democratic Party United States senators from Colorado Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C. Colorado Republicans 20th-century American lawyers United States Army personnel of World War II Totenberg family 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly