Kenneth Bentley Kramer (born February 19, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and jurist 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 ...

. He is a former Republican member of the

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

, serving four consecutive terms from 1979 to 1987.

Early life and education

Born in 1942, in Chicago, Kramer grew up in the city's suburb of

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a Village (United States), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's dow ...

. He attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, and after earning his degree, entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, from which he received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

Career

In 1966, he was admitted to the bar, and by 1970, he had risen to the position of assistant district attorney for the state's Fourth Judicial District. In 1972, Kramer was elected 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 ...

and served for three terms until 1978.

Congress

That year, he was elected to represent the state's 5th congressional district, filling the vacancy left by U.S. Senator-elect William Armstrong. Kramer held the seat for eight years.

Senate race

In 1986, he retired to run for the

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

, but lost the election to

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Tim Wirth Timothy Endicott Wirth (born September 22, 1939) is an American politician from Colorado who served as a Democrat in both the United States Senate (1987–1993) and the United States House of Representatives (1975–1987). He also served in se ...

Later career

Kramer returned to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

to be an attorney in private practice. Since retiring, Kramer has held several positions. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

nominated Kramer to be

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) (abbreviated ASA(FM&C)) is a civilian office in the United States Department of the Army. The office of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) ...

on June 10, 1988; the

confirmed Kramer by unanimous consent on October 14, 1988. He was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and appointed as a Judge on the

United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

in 1989. He was chief judge of the court from 2000 until he retired in 2004. He is married to Louise Kotoshirodo Kramer.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * 1942 births People from Skokie, Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Harvard Law School alumni Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Living people Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims United States Article I federal judges appointed by George H. W. Bush Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado lawyers United States Army civilians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly Jewish state legislators in Colorado {{Colorado-politician-stub