Charles Mathias

Charles Mathias

Charles "Mac" McCurdy Mathias (born July 24, 1922 in Frederick , Maryland , † January 25, 2010 in Chevy Chase , Maryland) was an American politician who represented the state of Maryland in both chambers of Congress .

biography

Professional career and Congressman

Charles Mathias began studying at Haverford College after attending school , but completed his military service in the US Navy in 1942 after the United States entered World War II . This first sent him to continue his studies at Yale University and Columbia University . After he had also completed his studies at Haverford College with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1944 , he became an ensign at sea and took part in the occupation of Japan after a combat mission in the Philippines . Upon his return to the United States, he completed postgraduate studies in law at the University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore, and was subsequently admitted to the bar .

Mathias began his political career in 1960 with the first candidacy for the House of Representatives of the United States as a representative of the Republican Party . He criticized his opponent John R. Foley as someone who would vote with the liberal group " Americans for Democratic Action ". His own voting behavior later on showed that he, too, supported the ideas of this movement to 57 percent during his time as a member of the House of Representatives, and as much as 69 percent during his membership in the US Senate . After his election he represented Maryland's interests in the House of Representatives after three re-elections between 1961 and 1969.

Mathias played an important role in drafting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the Republican negotiator in the House of Representatives.

US Senator for Maryland

In his first election as US Senator for Maryland in 1968, he stood against the Democratic incumbent Daniel Brewster . Both had a personal friendship since their student days and so Brewster was not only a companion ("Usher") at Mathias' wedding, but Mathias was also the godfather of Brewster's son. Nonetheless, the election campaign was vigorous and Mathias described Brewster as the union's "messenger boy" and the mouthpiece of US President Lyndon B. Johnson . Ultimately, Mathias was elected Senator with 48 percent of the vote against Brewster and one other challenger. After the election, the friendship with Brewster held on and so it was that Mathias in a trial for bribery testified as a character witness in favor of Brewster 1,972th

At the beginning of President Richard Nixon's tenure , Mathias was seen as his supporter. Later, however, there was a break with the president by criticizing his "Southern Strategy" to slow down the desegregation in schools and on the other hand supporting the laws to end the Vietnam War . Second, he spoke out against the nomination of two Supreme Court judges during Nixon's tenure. During the legislative process for campaign finance ( Campaign Finance Legislation ) on December 21, 1973 Mathias advocated public funding of the election campaign and a cap on donations . He stated that in his campaign for 1974 he would refuse cash donations, would not report any donations from individuals over 100 US dollars , would report every donation and expenditure and would voluntarily comply with the donation cap.

Visit to the Gerontological Research Center in Baltimore (1980)

The criticism of Nixon led to attempts in the White House to build up an internal party candidate for the 1974 Senate election. However, this did not happen because of the processing of the Watergate affair in 1973. Rather, Nixon advocated the re-election of Mathias, as both had concluded a "good governance decision" after the Senator asked the president to expose the Watergate affair.

In a campaign speech in 1974 he quoted from a letter from Edmund Burke to the Bristol electorate in 1774:

"Your representative owes you not just his diligence, but his intellect. And he deceives you instead of serving you when he sacrifices this to your opinion." ("Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.")

After the applause, Mathias admitted that Burke would be defeated in the next election, but that he still believed his statement to be correct.

In 1974 he was re-elected as a US Senator with 57 percent of the vote, in contrast to the nationwide success of the Democrats.

Mathias, however, resisted a general definition of his political position and told the Washington Post in 1974:

"I'm not liberal about everything. In fact, I'm conservative on certain matters . Some time ago I tabled a bill to uphold the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to prohibit unauthorized wiretapping. I assumed everyone would say this was a new one liberal endeavor, but it was as conservative as it could be because it preserved the United States Constitution . ("I'm not all that liberal," he told The Washington Post in 1974. "In fact, in some respects I'm conservative. A while ago I introduced a bill preserving the guarantees of the Bill of Rights by prohibiting warrantless wiretaps. I suppose they'll say it's another liberal effort, but it's as conservative as you can get. It's conserving the Constitution. ")

He did not implement his plan to run as an independent candidate in the 1976 presidential election.

Speech at the launching ceremony of the USS Baltimore on July 24, 1982

Nevertheless, his voting behavior and his dissatisfaction with the growing conservatism in the Republican Party and his lack of support for Ronald Reagan led to his being denied leading positions. In 1979 , the influential Senator Strom Thurmond ensured that Mathias did not become the spokesman for the Republicans in the important judicial committee of the Senate , but only received this position in the less important Committee on Rules and Administration .

In the years that followed, the focus of activity was, in addition to civil rights, to strengthen relations with Europe and support legislation to end the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and to expand the independence of Washington DC . He was also a key figure in electoral and housing legislative processes, and campaigned to maintain its success during the Ronald Reagan presidency . Between 1981 and 1987 he was chairman of the Senate's committee of rules of procedure. After being re-elected in 1980, he resigned in 1987 after serving eighteen years in the US Senate. The successor as Senator was the Democrat Barbara Mikulski . He then worked as a lawyer in Washington himself.

Long-time Democratic Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes , declared on his death that Mathias's most intense critics were in his own party, but that he deserved enormous respect from both factions in the Senate. The 2001 deceased former Democratic faction leader Mike Mansfield called his behavior exemplary and described him as the conscience of the Senate ( "The conscience of the Senate").

Web links

• Charles Mathias in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Charles Mathias in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Charles Mathias, Former US Senator, Dies at 87 . In: New York Times , January 25, 2010