Arlen Specter

Former U.S. Senator (since January 1981-2011)

Why He Matters

Specter's nearly 30-year Senate career ended in May 2010 when he was ousted by a Democratic congressman after deciding to bolt the Republican Party just a year earlier because he was threatened with defeat in a GOP primary. He may live to regret his party switch, or the anti-incumbent political tides of 2010 may simply have been against him, no matter what party label he bore.

Despite support from President Obama and the rest of the national and state Democratic establishment, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) beat the veteran incumbent by tying him to former ally George W. Bush.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Practicing Attorney (1974 to 1980); Pennsylvania District Attorney (1965 to 1973); Assistant Counsel, Warren Commission (1964)
Birthday: Feb. 12, 1930
Hometown: Russell, Kan.
Alma Mater: University of Pennsylvania, B.A. (International Relations), 1951; Yale Law School, J.D., 1956
Spouse: Joan

Religion: Jewish
DC Office: 711 Hart Senate Office Building, 202-228-1229
State Offices: Allentown, 610-434-1444; Erie, 814-453-3010; Harrisburg, 717-782-3951; Philadelphia, 215-597-7200; Pittsburgh, 412-644-3400; Scranton, 570-346-2006; Wilkes-Barre, 570-826-6265
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Path to Power

Specter was born in Wichita, Kan., and was raised in nearby Russell, which is also the hometown of former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.). Despite financial struggles, his father, a Russian immigrant who juggled a wide array of jobs including working as a tailor and owning a junkyard, sent Specter and his three siblings to college.

Specter attended the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, then served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1953. After graduating from Yale Law School, Specter returned to Philadelphia where he practiced law.

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Specter began his career in public service as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. In 1964, he was named to the Warren Commission, where he served as a top staffer investigating the Kennedy assassination. He is credited with helping develop the controversial single-bullet theory which ruled out the possibility that there were two shooters.

Specter, then a Democrat, returned to the left-leaning Philadelphia area and ran for district attorney on the Republican ticket after a local Democratic chairman told him "they didn't want a young Tom Dewey as D.A."After winning the race, Specter officially switched his party affiliation, registering as a Republican.

After losing his re-election bid for district attorney in 1973, Specter continued to seek public office, but fell short in primary bids for the Senate in 1978 and in the 1980 gubernatorial race.

To win his Senate seat in 1980, he edged a former state party chairman in the Republican primary, 36 t to 33 percent, and prevailed, 50 to 48 percent, in a tight general election victory.

In 1995, Specter threw his hat into the ring as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, but pulled out of the race before the first caucus or primary.

Senate Judiciary Committee

A veteran Senate Judiciary Committee member, his pointed questioning of Anita Hill, who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearing, drew sharp criticism from feminists, and jeopardized his 1992 Senate re-election campaign. He eventually squeezed by with a narrow victory. Specter also played a key role in the defeat of conservative Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

People close to the senator say he is most proud of his short chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee from 2005 to 2007 (he is currently ranking GOP member). His candidacy for the top spot was in jeopardy after social conservatives attacked him for allegedly telling President George W. Bush not to nominate judges in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade. But with typical Specter drive, he relentlessly lobbied his fellow senators, ultimately securing the endorsement of all 18 members of the Judiciary Committee despite the fact that then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) opposed him.

Specter was widely considered an efficient and effective Judiciary chairman, tackling an array of issues while simultaneously undergoing chemotherapy treatments during his first bout of Hodgkin's.

In his 2004 reelection race, Specter found himself embroiled in a hotly-contested GOP primary battle with conservative Rep. Pat Toomey (Pa.). Specter edged out Toomey, 51 to 49 percent, with Toomey losing by just 17,000 of more than 1.4 million votes cast. Despite knocking heads with party leaders, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Republican Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) endorsed Specter because they were intent on defending the GOP Senate majority.

Party Switch

On April 27, 2009, Specter announced that he would become a Democrat, angering his former GOP colleagues and not immediately endearing himself to Democrats after voting against Obama's 2010 budget outline and a bill that would have enabled judges to modify mortgage terms for struggling homeowners.

After a public skirmish with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Specter nabbed the gavel of the Judiciary subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, which has jurisdiction over many Justice Department issues. When he switched, Specter claimed he was guaranteed to retain his seniority on committees, but Reid clarified that he would revisit the issue after the 2010 election. Nonetheless, Senate Democrats granted their new colleague the chairmanship of the Judiciary Crime and Drugs subcommittee.

The Issues

Up until his party switch, Specter's top priorities have been asbestos litigation reform, promoting biomedical research and protecting Constitutional rights by curtailing executive power. Specter's voting record places him straight down the middle of the partisan divide, and several key votes have put the lawmaker at increasing odds with his party. He sided with Senate Democrats on Bush 's 2001 tax cuts; the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear explosions; increasing the minimum wage; and HMO regulation. He twice blocked a Bush administration-backed overhaul of overtime-pay regulations, which was strongly opposed by labor unions. In the 110th Congress , Specter voted with the Republican Party 70.6 percent of the time.

Reproductive Rights

Specter generally supports abortion rights. His position on the issue almost prevented him from winning the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee in 2005 after he came under fire from social conservatives for reportedly warning President Bush not to nominate judges who were in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade . But Specter did vote with his party to override President Bill Clinton 's veto of a ban on partial-birth abortions. And his support of conservative judicial nominees has earned him mixed reviews from pro-abortion rights groups. NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Specter a 100 percent score in 2007 and his 1998 Senate bid was endorsed by the group's Pennsylvania chapter. But in 2004, the organization's president declared Specter "emphatically not pro-choice" because of his 'yes' votes on conservative court nominees and abstinence education programs.

Ending Asbestos Lawsuits

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Specter has tried to clear the court system of class-action suits brought against companies by workers with asbestos-related illness.

In 2005, Specter proposed the creation of a $140 billion trust fund to pay off asbestos claims and shrink the backlog of class action suits that have bankrupted companies. The fund, which would have been financed by asbestos manufacturers and insurers, was opposed by Democrats and some Republicans.

As Judiciary chairman, Specter was able to get the bill through committee in May 2005, but not before considering more than 100 amendments. Then-Majority Leader Frist refused to bring the bill to the Senate floor, however, until January 2006, where it fell one vote short of passing a procedural roadblock.

Specter, whose son, Shanin Specter, is a successful medical malpractice lawyer, stridently opposed President Bush's $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases.

Presidential Authority

As Judiciary chairman, Specter often clashed with the Bush administration over the limits of presidential authority, particularly as it related to the warrantless wiretapping program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). At one point in 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney went behind Specter's back to broker a deal involving telecom companies with other Republicans on the committee.

While Judiciary chairman, Specter conducted a series of hearings on Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, pressed the Defense Department to allow him to hold hearings on the treatment of prisoners at military detention facility Guantanamo Bay and spoke out against what he sees as a lack of oversight and poor management of the FBI . In response to reports that the National Security Agency was conducting surveillance of communications between suspected terrorists and U.S. citizens, Specter introduced several bills aimed at strengthening privacy protections in FISA. In July 2008, Specter supported the FISA reauthorization compromise, but lamented the fact that an amendment he authored to make the government liable for telecom companies that had provided the government with information in the wake of Sept. 11 was rejected. As ranking Judiciary Republican in 2007, Specter also rankled the Bush administration when he supported Democrats' demands for subpoenas for testimony from Bush administration officials in the case of nine suspiciously fired U.S. attorneys.

Stem-Cell Research

Specter is a strong advocate for federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research and has been an ardent supporter of increasing funding and awareness of biomedical research in general. The former chairman of the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee increased education spending 146 percent over 11 years and fought to double funding for the National Institutes of Health .

The Network

Specter has developed a close relationship with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D- Vt.), with whom he shares a seat on the Judiciary Committee and a commitment to preserving constitutional rights. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is also a confidante. Specter also has had a long relationship with Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell . The fellow UPenn alumnus was Specter's first hire upon joining the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

Additional Resources

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