John Danforth
John Claggett Danforth (born
September 5,
1936), also referred to as Jack Danforth, is a former
United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former
Republican United States Senator from
Missouri. He is an ordained
Episcopal priest.
Danforth is married with five adult children.
Danforth was born in
1936 in
St. Louis, Missouri. He attended
St. Louis Country Day School, received his bachelor's degree from
Princeton University in
1958, and attended both law and divinity graduate schools at
Yale University. Danforth is the grandson of
William H. Danforth founder of
Ralston Purina. His father was Donald Danforth, a former chief exective of the company. One of his brothers is Dr. William H. Danforth, former chancellor of
Washington University.
In his first bid to run for public office at any level he was elected in 1968 at the age of 32 to be Missouri's
Attorney General. On his staff as an assistant attorney general was a youthful
Kit Bond.
In 1972 Bond was elected
Missouri Governor at the age of 33 and Danforth was re-elected. The two projected an image of Missouri's young Republican
wunderkind in a state that traditionally had been Democratic.
In 1976 Danforth ran to succeed retiring Senator
Stuart Symington.
Danforth ran in the Republican primary with little opposition. The Democrats had three-way battle among Symington's son
James W. Symington, former Missouri Governor
Warren Hearnes and rising political star Congressman
Jerry Litton. Litton and his entire family were killed when the plane taking them to their victory party in Kansas City crashed on take off in
Chillicothe, Missouri. Hearnes, who had finished well back in the primary, was appointed to challenge Danforth and Danforth easily won the election.
Danforth was narrowly re-elected in 1982.
His Democrat opponent was
Harriett Woods, a relatively unknown state senator from the St. Louis suburb of
University City, Missouri. She was active in women's rights organizations and collected union support. Her speeches denounced the
Ronald Reagan policies so vigorously that she ran on the nickname, "Give 'em Hell, Harriett" (a play on the famous Truman phrase).
Danforth won 51% to 49%. Woods pro-abortion stance was said to be the reason for her defeat.[
1]
Woods and Danforth have stayed on good terms. In January 2001 when Missouri Democrats lined up against former
Missouri Governor John Ashcroft to oppose his nomination for U.S. Attorney General, Danforth's name was evoked.
Woods testified in the Senate Judiciary hearings:
He (Ashcroft) is indeed a man of deep conviction, but in Missouri, he increasingly has been seen as an extremist who can be ruthless for political ends. Former U.S. Senator
Tom Eagleton reacted to the nomination by saying: "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."[
2]
In 1988 Danforth crushed Democrat
Jay Nixon, 68% to 32%. Danforth chose not to run for a fourth term and retired from the Senate in
1995.
During the
1991 Senate hearings regarding
U.S. Supreme Court nominee
Clarence Thomas, Danforth used his considerable clout to aid the confirmation of Thomas who had served Danforth during his state attorney general years and later as an aide in the Senate. The bond was further strengthened in that both men had studied to be ordained. Thomas was studying to be a Cathloic priest at
Conception Seminary College in
Nodaway County, Missouri when he said a racial comment at the college about the assassination of
Martin Luther King caused him to quit. After leaving the seminary Thomas attended Episcopal services and Danforth is an ordained Episcopal minister.
A political moderate Danforth was once quoted as saying he joined the
Republican Party for "the same reason you sometimes choose which movie to see — [it's] the one with the shortest line".
When Danforth entered politics, Missouri was a reliably Democratic state with both its
U.S. Senators and
Governors regularly being Democrats. Besides Symington (who had challenged
John F. Kennedy for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1960) Danforth's seat in the Senate was previously held by Democrat heavyweights
Thomas Hart Benton and
Harry S. Truman.
|
Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together by John Danforth |
Danforth has had a colorful post-Senate career.
*
Waco siege investigation - In
1999,
Democratic U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Danforth to lead the investigation into the
FBI's role in the
Waco siege disaster of
1993. Danforth appointed
Democratic U.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd, Jr. for the Eastern District of
Missouri as his deputy special counsel for Waco. He also hired
Bryan Cave law firm partner
Thomas A. Schweich as his
chief of staff.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James G. Martin served as Danforth's director of investigative operations for what became known as the "
Waco Investigation"
*
Short list of vice president candidates - In July
2000, Danforth's name was leaked as being on the short list of potential vice presidential nominees for Republican candidate
George W. Bush, along with Michigan Governor
John Engler, New York Governor
George Pataki, Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge, and former
American Red Cross President
Elizabeth Dole. Just one week before the
Republican nominating convention was to be held in Philadelphia, campaign sources said that
Dick Cheney, the man charged with leading the selection process for the nominee, had recommended Danforth to Bush for the position [
3]. Bush secretly met with Danforth at a hotel in Chicago, and three days later Danforth held a press conference stating he would be stepping-down from his appointed role in the Waco investigations because an unforeseen political opportunity had suddenly come-up. However, despite growing speculation that Danforth was Bush's final pick, Bush selected Cheney himself for the position.
*
Special envoy to Sudan - In September
2001,
President Bush appointed Danforth a special envoy to
Sudan. He brokered a peace deal that officially ended the civil war (called the
Darfur conflict between Sudan's Islamic government and Christian-backed Sudanese rebels. However the results of the conflict still remain unresolved.
*
Ambassador to the United Nations - On
July 1,
2004, Danforth was sworn in as the U.S.
Ambassador to the
United Nations, succeeding
John Negroponte, who had left his post after becoming the U.S. Ambassador to
Iraq on
June 23,
2004. Danforth is best remembered on attempts to bring peace to the Sudan but only stayed at the UN for five months. Danforth was mentioned as a successor to Secretary of State
Colin Powell. Six days after the announcement that
Condoleezza Rice was going to take the position Danforth submitted his resignation on
November 22,
2004, effective
January 20,
2005. Danforth's resignation letter said, "Forty-seven years ago, I married the girl of my dreams, and, at this point in my life, what is most important to me is to spend more time with her."[
4]
*
Funerals of Ronald Reagan and Katharine Graham - As an ordained
Episcopal priest, Danforth officiated the
funeral services of former president Ronald Reagan on
June 11,
2004 at the
Washington National Cathedral. He did the same for
Washington Post executive
Katharine Graham in
2001, also at the National Cathedral.
*
Battles with the Christian Right - On March 30, 2005, Danforth wrote an
Op-Ed piece in the
New York Times critical of the Republican party. The article began: "By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians..."[
5]. The article by an ordained Episcopal minister (followed by June 17, 2005 piece headlined "Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers" [
6])ignited considerable debate both pro and con. The
Washington Post on February 2, 2006, headlined its article. 'St. Jack' and the Bullies in the Pulpit [
7] Danforth is the author of the forthcoming book "Faith and Politics : How the 'Moral Values' Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together," to be released in September 2006 by the Viking Press.
Danforth has received a star on the
St. Louis Walk of Fame.
*
UN Press release on becoming US Ambassador to the UN*
Letter of resignation (pdf file)*
New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled "In the Name of Politics"*
New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled "Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers"*
Washington Post Article about Danforth's criticisms of the Religious Right
