Ted Stevens
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Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens (born November 18, 1923) is an American politician from Alaska. He is currently the longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate and, because of this, is the current president pro tempore.
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Biography
Ted Stevens was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1923. During World War II, he was a pilot in China with the "Flying Tigers" of the 14th Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946, holding the rank of First Lieutenant. There he received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals, as well as the Yuan Hai medal of Taiwan.
After the war ended, Stevens attended UCLA and Harvard Law School. In the early 1950s he moved to Alaska, then a territory. In Fairbanks Stevens practiced law, and he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Fairbanks in 1953.
In 1956 Stevens was transferred to Washington, D.C.. There he worked as legislative counsel and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. He also pushed for the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which occurred in 1959. In 1960, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Stevens to solicitor of the Interior Department.
After returning to Alaska, Stevens practiced law in Anchorage. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, and House majority leader in his second term. In December 1968, Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Stevens to the U.S. Senate after the death of Bob Bartlett. In 1970, Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election, and has been reelected six times since, in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002. His current term will expire in 2008.
Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Whip from 1977 to 1985. In 1994, Stevens was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber in 2003. He has been Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee since 1996 and is a former chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. In the past, Stevens also has served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage is named after him. In December 1978, Stevens survived the crash of a lear jet at the airport, which killed five people, including his first wife, Ann.
Stevens' son, Ben Stevens, was appointed to the Alaska Senate in 2001 by Governor Tony Knowles, and is currently the Senate President.
Stevens' current home in Alaska is in Girdwood. His campaign political action committee is called the "Northern Lights PAC."
Ethics Questions
In 2003, The Los Angeles Times published charges that Stevens had gotten rich through influence peddling, steering government contracts to his associates, and insider trading, all of which Stevens denied.
The details of the case are as follows. In 1997, Stevens invested $50,000 with developer Jonathan B. Rubini. In 2002 Rubini and his partner bought back the senator's interests in their deals for $872,000. During which time that Stevens had money invested with Rubini, Stevens steered a $450 million contract to Rubini to build and own housing at Elmendorf Air Force Base.
References
- Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper. "Senator's Way to Wealth Was Paved With Favors." The Los Angeles Times. December 17, 2003, [1] (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1217-05.htm). A1.
External links
- Official Senate website (http://www.senate.gov/~stevens/)
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (http://www.dot.state.ak.us/anc/aiawlcm.html)
- Ted Stevens' Issue Positions (http://www.issues2002.org/Senate/Ted_Stevens.htm)
| Preceded by: Bob Bartlett | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Alaska 1968–present | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Robert C. Byrd | President pro tempore of the United States Senate 2003–present | Succeeded by: current incumbent |
| Preceded by: J. Dennis Hastert | United States Presidential Line of Succession | Succeeded by: Condoleezza Rice |