Arlen specter biography

Specter lost his first race for the U.S. Senate in 1976 in the GOP primary to John Heinz, but he ran again in 1980 and never looked back, winning that race and re-election four times until, after having switched to the Democratic Party in 2010, he lost his seat in the Democratic primary.  

During his time in the Senate, Specter was known for his independent positions, including his support – unusual support for a Republican – for Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, as well as embryonic stem cell research.

He helped derail the nomination of GOP-favored Robert Bork to the high court, but then supported Clarence Thomas, while enraging many with his aggressive questioning of Anita Hill. Specter also voted to acquit President Clinton in 1999, calling his impeachment proceeding before the Senate a “sham trial” without witnesses.  

In a later and politically fatal break with Republicans, Specter cast the critical vote supporting President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Specter said he was putting country before party as he felt the economic stimulus package was needed to move the country out of the Great Recession, as many in retrospect believe was the case. That decision undermined Specter’s support within the Republican Party, causing him to seek re-election as a Democrat. 

After leaving the U.S. Senate, Specter returned to the practice of law in Philadelphia. He took on special matters of interest on appellate court arguments and provided strategic advice on federal and state legislation, though he did no lobbying. He also taught about the U.S. Supreme Court as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
  
During his lifetime, Arlen Specter was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. He was selected by Time magazine during his last term in office as one of the nation’s Ten Best Senators. Locally, the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Associ

Arlen Specter, born February 12, 1930 in Wichita, Kansas, wais the senior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 and served five terms.

Specter graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1951 and served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. He graduated from Yale University Law School in 1956 and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1956 where he commenced practice in Philadelphia. From 1959 to 1964 he served as assistant distric attorney of Philadelphia and from 1966 to 1974 as district attorney of Philadelphia. In 1964 he was assistant counsel on the President's Commission on the Assasination of President Kennedy (Warren Commission). He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1979 and to the District of Columbia bar in 1983.

Specter was first elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1980 and then reelected in 1986, 1992, 1998 and 2004. He changed party affiliation on April 30, 2009, becoming a Democrat. He has served on the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Veterans Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary.

Since 1981, he played a significant role in Supreme Court nomination hearings, for Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justices O’Conner, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer and Judge Bork. Notwithstanding debilitating chemotherapy treatments in 2005, he stayed on the job as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee to preside over historic Supreme Court confirmation hearings. His work on the Judiciary Committee included writing significant legislation about Constitutional law, civil rights and privacy.

On the Appropriations Committee, Specter fought to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health from $12 to $30 billion to expand medical research to find cures for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other maladies. He supported expanding health

Arlen Specter was born on February 12, 1930, to immigrant Jewish parents in Wichita, KS. Raised in a small town on the plains of western Kansas, Specter attended a local public school. At four, Specter was jokingly made a deputy sheriff of Sedgwick County, Kansas, and the comic story landed him in "Ripley's Believe it or Not!"

Specter's pursuit of higher education led him to Philadelphia, where he attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa in 1951. After the completion of his undergraduate degree, Specter served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. After leaving the service, Specter attended Yale University where he worked as editor for the Yale Law School Journal while earning his law degree.

After passing the Pennsylvania bar in 1956, Specter began to practice law in Philadelphia, where he became a renowned lawyer. He is most noted for defending convicted murderer and former felon Ira Einhorn. From 1959 to 1964, Specter worked as assistant district attorney of Philadelphia. On April 28, 2005, Specter commented on his former work as assistant district attorney at a Congressional Executive Session saying, "Sometimes I am asked what is the best job I ever had, Senator or district attorney, and I say assistant district attorney. That is where there is a great deal of experience."

In 1964, Specter investigated the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy with the Warren Commission. As a chief counsel for the Warren Commission, he devised the controversial "single bullet theory," concluding that a single gunman had killed Kennedy. He shares his investigative experience in his 2000 memoir Passion for Truth: From Finding JFK's Single Bullet to Questioning Anita Hill to Impeaching Clinton. In his memoir, Specter explains his pursuit for facts that guided his involvement in the investigation. In Passion for Truth, coauthored with press secretary Charles Robbins, Specter claims, "Everyone is entitled to his own

Arlen Specter