Paul M. Simon

Paul Simon (left) with comedian and later Senator Al Franken (1991)

Paul Martin Simon (born November 29, 1928 in Eugene , Oregon , † December 9, 2003 in Springfield , Illinois ) was an American politician from the US state of Illinois. He was Vice Governor of the state from 1969 to 1973, a member of the US House of Representatives from 1974 to 1985 and the US Senate from 1985 to 1997 and a member of the Democratic Party . In 1988 he ran for the Democratic nomination for the US presidential candidate , but lost to Michael Dukakis . He became known for his typical clothes: bow ties and striking horn-rimmed glasses .

In the US Senate, Simon campaigned early on for the US to intervene in the genocide in Rwanda . When he was no longer in office, he founded the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale , where he taught politics, history and journalism. In the 1970s he was brief lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University .

Young years

Simon was born the son of a Lutheran pastor. His parents, who were missionaries in China, were forced to leave China shortly before he was born because of a controversy over the Chinese term for God. Simon studied at the University of Oregon and the Dana College in Blair ( Nebraska ), but made no statements. He then worked as an editor and later editor of the local newspaper Troy Tribune in Troy , a place in Madison County in Illinois. From this newspaper he later built up a chain of 14 weekly newspapers. His vehement campaigns against gambling, prostitution and corruption forced the then newly elected Governor Adlai Stevenson to take a position on these issues, and it was during this period that he first attracted national attention, which is why he witnessed the matter before a Senate committee in Washington in 1950 organized crime was charged.

From 1951 to 1953 he served as an intelligence officer in the US Army during the Korean War . In 1955 he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, in 1963 he ran for elections for the state Senate and was also successful. During this time he published his book on the early years of Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois Parliament, which was a positive sensation in the political landscape . Although Lincoln was dead and of outstanding prominence by this time, Lincoln's Preparation for Greatness: The Illinois Legislative Years was the first book to delve deeply into sources on this phase in Lincoln's life.

In 1968 he ran for the post of lieutenant governor in the state and was also elected. Together with Republican Governor Richard B. Ogilvie , he introduced the state's first income tax and was involved in drafting a new constitution. The fourth constitution of Illinois passed at that time is the one that is valid until today (2006). In the elections for governor in 1972, he failed in the Democratic primary against the eventual winner Dan Walker .

Briefly without political office he taught in 1973 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University . He was elected to the US House of Representatives as early as 1974 and was able to repeat this success in the subsequent four elections.

politics

In 1984 he ran for the US Senate, won and was also able to repeat this in the next election in 1990. As a senator, he campaigned early on for the US to intervene in the genocide in Rwanda. For a long time he was unsuccessful, but later Roméo Dallaire , Commander of the United Nations Support Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), praised him for having been instrumental in bringing about this mission together with Jim Jeffords .

Even while holding various offices, he continued to publish books. Among other things, about spouses from different denominations (he was Lutheran, his wife a Roman Catholic), global water shortages, political battles over the occupation of the US Supreme Court , the murdered abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy and his autobiography.

Late years

After retiring from active politics, he founded the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute , which he wanted to establish as a left-liberal think tank. He invited various speakers and published numerous statements on political issues. He attacked the death penalty, campaigned for an end to sanctions against Cuba and supported initiatives to abolish the Electoral College under the US Constitution. He was an election observer in Croatia and Liberia . He unsuccessfully supported Howard Dean as a US presidential candidate; his support for Barack Obama in the US Senate elections in Illinois, however, was an important contribution to securing this victory in the primary elections.

On the occasion of his presidential candidacy, Simon made an appearance with singer Paul Simon on Saturday Night Live . In the movie Dave (1993) he played a small role himself. In 2005, the Paul Simon Historical Museum opened in Troy, Illinois, showing numerous exhibits from his life.

Web links

• Paul M. Simon in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
• Obituary for Paul Simon in the regional newspaper
• Our Culture of Pandering , ISBN 0-8093-2529-2