Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; born May 16, 1931) is an American politician who served as a
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 ...
,
U.S. Senator
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 power ...
, and the
85th Governor of Connecticut. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president 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 – In ...
. He was known as a
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 ...
in Congress, causing conservative-leaning Republicans to endorse his opponent
Joe Lieberman, a
New Democrat, in the
1988 Senate election which he subsequently lost. Weicker later left the Republican Party, and became one of the few
third-party candidates to be
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
to a state
governorship
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 r ...
in the United States in recent years, doing so on the ticket of
A Connecticut Party.
As of 2022, Weicker is the last person to have represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate as a
Republican.
Early life
Weicker was born in Paris, the son of American parents Mary Hastings (née Bickford) and Lowell Palmer Weicker. His grandfather Theodore Weicker was a German immigrant who co-founded the
E. R. Squibb corporation. Weicker graduated from the
Lawrenceville School
The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Sch ...
(class of 1949),
Yale University (1953), and the
University of Virginia School of Law (1958). He began his political career after serving in the
United States Army between 1953 and 1955, reaching the rank of
first lieutenant.
Career in Congress
Weicker served in the
Connecticut State House of Representatives
The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...
from 1963 to 1969 and as
First Selectman of
Greenwich, Connecticut before winning election to the
U.S. House of Representatives, in 1968 as a Republican. Weicker only served one term in the House before being elected to the
U.S. Senate in 1970. Weicker benefited from a split in the Democratic Party in that election. Two-term incumbent
Thomas Dodd ran as an independent after losing the Democratic nomination to
Joseph Duffey. Ultimately, Weicker won with 41.7 percent of the vote. Dodd finished third, with 266,500 votes–far exceeding Weicker's 86,600-vote margin over Duffey.
Weicker served in the U.S. Senate for three terms, from 1971 to 1989. He gained national attention for his service on the
Senate Watergate Committee, where he became the first Republican senator to call for
Richard Nixon's resignation.
He recalled: "People in Connecticut were very much behind President Nixon, like the rest of the country. They thought he could do no wrong, and when I was in Connecticut, I would get flipped the bird all the time, whether it was on the streets or in the car, for the role that I was playing. After Watergate was over, then the needle goes all the way the other way, and I've got huge favorability ratings."
Proving this, Weicker was convincingly reelected in 1976.
In 1980, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for president.
Weicker was a liberal voice in an increasingly
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
Republican Party. For instance, in 1986,
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pr ...
rated Weicker as by far the most liberal Republican in the Senate, and gave him a higher rating than Connecticut's other Senator, Democrat
Chris Dodd
Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the List of United Sta ...
. He was critical of the increasing influence of the
Christian right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...
on the party; he described the
separation of church and state as "this country's greatest contribution to world civilization",
and the party in 2012 as "swung off so far to the right that no moderate could've survived a primary."
Weicker 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
Pla ...
establishing
Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a
federal holiday and the
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (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). Weicker voted against the nomination of
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...
as
Chief Justice of the United States, as well as 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 ...
.
Weicker was a strong advocate for the
rights of the disabled during his time in Congress, although he ultimately lost his seat before the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
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 196 ...
passed. In later interviews, Weicker identified his work on the Americans with Disabilities Act, funding the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, increasing the funding for the
National Institutes of Health, and funding research into
AZT
Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child ...
as his proudest achievements in the Senate.
Weicker's tense relations with establishment Republicans may have roots in receiving strong support from Nixon in his 1970 Senate bid, support repaid in the eyes of his critics by a vehement attack on the White House while serving on the Watergate Committee. Later, his relations with the
Bush family
The Bush family is an American dynastic family that is prominent in the fields of American politics, news, sports, entertainment, and business. They were the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, and w ...
soured, and
Prescott Bush Jr. (the brother of the then Vice President) made a short-lived bid against Weicker to gain the 1982 Republican Senate nomination. His liberalism increasingly alienated Connecticut Republicans, particularly after an effort to prevent the nomination of conservatives to state office, which resulted in a poor showing during the 1986 local elections, and he was defeated in the
1988 Senate election by
Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman benefited from the support of ''
National Review'' founder
William F. Buckley Jr.
William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
, and his brother, former New York Senator
James Buckley; William F. Buckley ran columns in support of Lieberman and circulated bumper stickers with the slogan, "Does Lowell Weicker Make You Sick?".
Governor
Weicker's political career appeared to be over after his 1988 defeat, and he became a professor at the
George Washington University Law School. However, he entered the
1990 gubernatorial election as the candidate of
A Connecticut Party, running as a
good government
Good government is a normative description of how government is supposed to be constituted. It has been frequently employed by various political thinkers, ideologues and politicians.
Thomas Jefferson and good government
Thomas Jefferson often r ...
candidate
and drawing on his coalition of liberal Republicans, moderate Democrats, and independent voters.
The
early 1990s recession
The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over inc ...
had hit Connecticut hard, worsened by the fall in revenues from traditional sources such as
sales tax
A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
and
corporation tax
A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed a ...
.
Connecticut politics had a tradition at the time of opposition to a state
income tax — one had been implemented in 1971 but rescinded after six weeks under public pressure.
Weicker initially campaigned on a platform of solving Connecticut's fiscal crisis without implementing an income tax. He won in a three-way race with Republican
John G. Rowland
John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American politician, author, and convicted felon who served as the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. He served two nonconsecutive prison terms on various corruption charges. A Rep ...
and Democrat
Bruce Morrison
Bruce Andrew Morrison (born October 8, 1944) is a former Congressman from Connecticut and candidate for Governor of Connecticut. He is a lobbyist and immigration lawyer. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and an officer of the National D ...
, taking 40% of the vote against Rowland's 37% and Morrison's 20%. Weicker lost
Fairfield and
New Haven County
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, Ne ...
counties to Rowland, but won eastern Connecticut, drawing especially strong support from the
Hartford metro area, where he had been strongly endorsed by the ''
Hartford Courant'' and by many state employee labor unions. The ''
Los Angeles Times'' wrote that support from Democrats was credited for Weicker's victory, reflected in Morrison's third-place finish.
After taking office, with a projected $2.4 billion deficit,
Weicker reversed himself and pushed for the adoption of an income tax, a move that was very unpopular.
He stated, "My policy when I came in was no income tax, but that fell apart on the rocks of fiscal fact."
Weicker vetoed three budgets that did not contain an income tax, and forced a partial government shutdown, before the General Assembly narrowly passed it in 1991.
The 1991 budget set the income tax rate at 6%, lowered the sales tax from 8% to 6% while expanding its base, reduced the corporate tax to 10.5% over two years, and eliminated taxes on capital gains, interest, and dividends.
It also included $1.2 billion in line-by-line budget cuts,
including the elimination of state aid to private and parochial schools, but held the line on social programs.
His drastic measures provoked controversy.
A huge protest rally in
Hartford attracted some 40,000 participants, some of whom cursed at and spat at Governor Weicker.
The Assembly attempted to pass a measure repealing the broad-based income tax, which he vetoed, and the override of a veto fell one vote short.
Weicker earned lasting criticism for his implementation of the income tax; the conservative Yankee Institute claimed in August 2006 that after fifteen years the income tax had failed to achieve its stated goals. However, he earned national attention for his leadership on the issue, receiving the
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's
Profile in Courage Award
The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to recognize displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy originally described in his book of the same name. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in acc ...
for taking an unpopular stand, then holding firm. Within two years, the state's budget was in surplus and he was well-regarded among voters.
In retirement, he commented, "You've had 19 years to repeal it, and all you've done is spend it."
Despite his popularity, he did not seek re-election as governor in 1994, citing wanting to spend time with his children as the reason. His last year in office was marked by a controversy over the firing of the state commissioner of motor vehicles, Louis Goldberg.
In 2000, he endorsed Senator
Bill Bradley
William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination ...
(D-NJ) for President. In 2004, Weicker supported former
Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean's (D-VT) presidential bid. He expressed sympathy for the budget struggles of Governor
Dannel Malloy
Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On Jul ...
, drawing a parallel with his own efforts to remedy a fiscal crisis.
In his book ''Independent Nation'' (2004), political analyst
John Avlon describes Weicker as a
radical centrist
Radical centrism (also called the radical center, the radical centre or the radical middle) is a concept that arose in Western nations in the late 20th century.
The ''radical'' in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical cen ...
governor and thinker.
2006 candidacy for U.S. Senator from Connecticut
Lowell Weicker was said to be considering a rematch against Senator
Joe Lieberman in the 2006 election cycle. He objected to Lieberman's support for the
Iraq War and noted in a ''
New York Times'' article published on December 6, 2005, "If he's out there scot-free and nobody will do it
un against Senator Lieberman I'd have to give serious thought to doing it myself, and I don't want to do it."
The Lieberman campaign released an ad that borrowed from one aired during the 1988 Senate race, which depicted Weicker as a hibernating bear ignoring his Senate duties except at election time. In the 2006 ad, Weicker reappeared as a wounded bear while Lieberman's Democratic challenger,
Ned Lamont, was depicted as a bear cub sent and directed by Weicker. On June 18, 2006, Weicker held a fundraiser for Lamont and described himself as an "anti-war activist." (Lamont won the primary, but Lieberman, running as an independent with heavy Republican support, maintained his seat in the general election.)
Post-government
In 1996, Weicker joined the Board of Directors for
Compuware
Compuware Corporation was an American software company based in Detroit, Michigan. The company offers products aimed at the information technology (IT) departments of large businesses, and its services also include testing, development, automation ...
and still holds this position. In 1999, Weicker became a member of the Board of Directors for the
World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE), and held this position until 2011. Despite the long professional relationship, Weicker did not support former WWE CEO
Linda McMahon in either of her unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...
or
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...
.
Weicker served from 2001–2011 as President of the Board of Directors of
Trust for America's Health
Trust for America's Health (TFAH) is a Washington, D.C.-based health policy organization. The organization's website calls the group "a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and ...
, a Washington, DC-based non-profit, non-partisan health policy research organization, and formerly a member of the Board of Directors of United States Tobacco. Since 2003, Weicker has served on the board of Medallion Financial Corp., a lender to purchasers of taxi medallions in leading cities across the U.S. He was named to the board through his personal and business relationship with
Andrew M. Murstein, president of Medallion.
During the
2016 Republican primaries, Weicker wrote an editorial in the ''
Hartford Courant'' in which he criticized the repudiation of
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 ...
s, the party's alienation of various population groups, and its obstructionist stance in Congress. He stated that the selection of
Donald Trump as their presidential candidate "will complete their slow and steady descent into irrelevance."
In 2020, he filed an
amicus brief
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 ...
on the side of
Pennsylvania in the notable election case
Texas v. Pennsylvania
''Texas v. Pennsylvania'', 592 U.S. ___ (2020), was a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the administration of the 2020 presidential election in certain states, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump.
Fil ...
. Pennsylvania won the case and Biden was sworn in shortly after. Weicker had served with Biden in the Senate for 16 years before he was voted out.
See also
*
Obama Republican
United States President Barack Obama, a member of the Democratic Party, was endorsed or supported by some members of the Republican Party and by some political figures holding conservative views in the 2008 election. Although the vast majority ...
*
Profile in Courage Award
The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to recognize displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy originally described in his book of the same name. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in acc ...
*
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 ...
*
List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States
In total, 72 governors of U.S. states have been born outside the current territory of the United States. Joe Lombardo of Nevada, born in Japan, is the only current governor to have been born outside the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger ...
References
Further reading
* Barone, Michael, et al. ''The Almanac of American Politics 1976: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts'' (1975); new editions every 2 years through the 1996 editions cover his political career
* Lowell Weicker's papers are held at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the Universit ...
at the
University of Virginia
External links
*
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weicker, Lowell
1931 births
Living people
American anti–Iraq War activists
Connecticut local politicians
Governors of Connecticut
American people of German descent
Radical centrist writers
Republican Party United States senators from Connecticut
United States Army officers
University of Virginia School of Law alumni
Yale University alumni
Independent state governors of the United States
Connecticut Independents
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut
Lawrenceville School alumni
Military personnel from Connecticut
Watergate scandal investigators
Candidates in the 1980 United States presidential election
A Connecticut Party politicians