Claiborne Pell

Claiborne Pell

Claiborne de Borda Pell (born November 22, 1918 in New York City , † January 1, 2009 in Newport , Rhode Island ) was an American politician who represented the state of Rhode Island in the US Senate .

Life

Origin and education

Claiborne Pell grew up in a diplomatic family. For example, his father Herbert Pell (1884–1961) was the US ambassador to Portugal and Hungary and briefly, from 1919 to 1921, a member of the House of Representatives for Rhode Island in the United States . Other well-known politicians who come from the Pell family are Pell's great, great, great grandfather John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne (1809–1884), once a congressman for the state of Mississippi , and Pell 's great, great, great uncle George M. Dallas , who held the office of US under James K. Polk. Vice President . He was also a Ururururenkel the governor of Louisiana , William Charles Cole Claiborne , and Nathaniel Claiborne , a congressman from Virginia . Pell was also distantly related to the mathematician John Pell .

Pell grew up in Rhode Island, where he graduated from schools. In 1940 he received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Princeton University and in 1946 his Master of Arts from Columbia University . He then did his military service in the United States Coast Guard . In 1945 he received a position at the US State Department and served in embassies in Czechoslovakia and Italy until 1952 .

Political career

In 1960, Pell ran for the post of US Senator from Rhode Island as the successor to Theodore F. Green, who was no longer in office after 24 years in office, and was able to leave behind even former governors, including Dennis J. Roberts and J. Howard McGrath , in the primary elections . As a Democratic candidate , Pell finally won the election in the fall of 1960 and took office on January 3, 1961. He then served in the Senate for 36 years, served six terms and did not step down until January 3, 1997 for reasons of age. Pell was thus the longest-serving Senator from Rhode Island. From 1987 to 1995 he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee . The Pell Grant was named after Pell , a law brought into being in 1973 to make it easier for poorer students to access universities.

Private life

Pell was married to Nuala O'Donnell, the heir to the supermarket chain The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company . The couple have four children, three sons and a daughter. Pell was considered a supporter of homosexual rights in the US , probably also because his daughter had come out as a lesbian . Pell last suffered from Parkinson's disease , from which he died in January 2009 at the age of 90.

Awards

• 1994: Presidential Citizens Medal
• 1997: Light of Truth Award

Web links

• Claiborne Pell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)