Harris Wofford

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Harris Wofford
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
In office May 9, 1991 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	H. John Heinz III
Succeeded by	Rick Santorum
Born	April 9, 1926 (1926-04-09) (age 83) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic

Harris Llewellyn Wofford (born April 9, 1926) served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995, as the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College, and is a well recognized advocate of national service and volunteering. Sen. Wofford served as a surrogate for Senator Barack Obama's campaign for President. Sen. Wofford introduced Sen. Obama in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center before Sen. Obama gave his speech on race in America, "A More Perfect Union."

Biography

Harris Wofford was born in New York City in 1926. While attending high school^[1], he was inspired by Clarence Streit's plea for a world government to found the Student Federalists.^[2] After attending the University of Chicago, he attended law school at Yale and Howard University. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War.

He began his public service career as an attorney for the United States Commission on Civil Rights, serving from 1954 to 1958. In 1959, he became a law professor at University of Notre Dame. He was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement in the south in the late 1950s and became a friend and unofficial advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr..

Kennedy administration

Wofford's political career began in 1960 when he served as an adviser to the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. When King was imprisoned shortly before the election, Wofford persuaded Kennedy to call King's wife and offer his support — a move that helped shift the African American vote decisively in Kennedy's favor and may have won him the election.^[3]

In 1961, Kennedy appointed him as a special assistant to the President on civil rights. He also served as chairman of the Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights. He was instrumental in the formation of the Peace Corps and served as the Peace Corps' special representative to Africa and director of operations in Ethiopia. He was appointed associate director of the Peace Corps in 1962 and held that position until 1966. Wofford's book Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties details his years in the civil rights movement and the creation of the Peace Corps.

Private practice

In 1966, Wofford left politics to become president of the State University of New York at Old Westbury. At the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, Wofford risked his career by allowing himself to be arrested in protest of police brutality. In 1970, he became president of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and held that post until 1978.

Pennsylvania political career

After spending seven years in private law practice and one year as state chairman of the Democratic Party, Wofford was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey as the state's Secretary of Labor and Industry in 1987.

On April 4, 1991, Pennsylvania's senior U.S. Senator, John Heinz, died in an aviation accident leaving his seat in the U.S. Senate open. By law, the Pennsylvania governor was required to appoint a replacement until a special election could be held for the seat. After considering several potential candidates, including Allentown, Pennsylvania, native Lee Iacocca, who turned down the job, Casey appointed Wofford to the seat on May 9, 1991.

In the special election held in November 1991, Wofford faced Dick Thornburgh, the former Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Attorney General under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Candidates for this special election were chosen by the party committees because the vacancy had happened too late to set up a primary. Wofford began the campaign so far behind in the polls that most pundits assumed he had no chance of winning. His eventual victory over the former governor by ten percentage points surprised many.^{[citation needed]} His campaign was run by Paul Begala and James Carville, and their dramatic success brought them to national attention. The campaign was also a proving ground for many of the themes that would underlie Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election victory such as the focus on the economy and health care. Wofford was a finalist for the vice presidential nomination,^[4] although Clinton would ultimately choose U.S. Senator Al Gore.

In May 1993, Wofford received an honorary doctorate degree from Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania.

Wofford narrowly lost his bid for re-election to Republican Congressman Rick Santorum, 32 years his junior, who defeated Wofford 49%-47%. The election, in November 1994, was part of the 1994 Republican landslide in which many Democrats were ousted from both houses of the United States Congress. One reason for Wofford's loss were his stands on controversial abortion and gun control legislation in the 103rd Congress.^{[citation needed]} His support for a Federal ban on semi-automatic firearms cost him significant support throughout the state.^{[citation needed]}

National service career

After his time in the Senate, Wofford served as chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service (the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other domestic volunteer programs), from 1995 to 2001. Since his retirement, he has taught at the University of Maryland, College Park and served on the boards of several charities and service organizations including America's Promise, Youth Service America, and the Points of Light Foundation. He is currently a board member of the Center for Citizen Leadership and Malaria No More, a New York-based nonprofit that was launched at the 2006 White House Summit with the goal of ending all deaths caused by malaria. He was the recipient of the John W. Gardner Leadership Award in 2002. He is currently a senior fellow at the Case Foundation in Washington, D.C. Since February 2007, Wofford has been national spokesperson for Experience Wave [1], a national campaign advancing state and federal policies to make it easier for mid-life and older adults to stay engaged in work and community life. [2]

On January 4, 2007, Wofford was present for the swearing-in of Senator Bob Casey, Jr., who defeated Santorum in his bid for a third term.^[5]

References

External links

• Peace Corps biography of Harris Wofford
• Trailer for upcoming documentary on Harris Wofford

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