Harris Wofford

Harris Wofford
Wofford as a U.S. Senator
Chief Executive Officer of theCorporation for National and Community Service
In office 1995–2001
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Eli J. Segal
Succeeded by	Leslie Lenkowsky
United States Senator fromPennsylvania
In office May 8, 1991 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	John Heinz
Succeeded by	Rick Santorum
Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry
In office March 23, 1987 – May 8, 1991
Governor	Bob Casey Sr.
Preceded by	James Knepper
Succeeded by	Tom Foley
Chair of thePennsylvania Democratic Party
In office June 28, 1986 – December 6, 1986
Preceded by	Edward Mezvinsky
Succeeded by	Larry Yatch
5th President ofBryn Mawr College
In office 1970–1978
Preceded by	Katharine Elizabeth McBride
Succeeded by	Mary Patterson McPherson
President of theState University of New York at Old Westbury
In office 1966–1970
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	John D. Maguire
Personal details
Born	Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. (1926-04-09)April 9, 1926 New York City,U.S.
Died	January 21, 2019(2019-01-21)(aged 92) Washington, D.C.,U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Clare Lindgren ​ ​ (m.1948; died 1996)​ Matthew Charlton ​ (m.2016)​
Children	3
Education	University of Chicago(BA) Yale University(LLB)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	United States Army Air Forces
Battles/wars	World War II

Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr.(April 9, 1926 – January 21, 2019) was an American attorney,civil rightsactivist, andDemocratic Partypolitician who representedPennsylvaniain theUnited States Senatefrom 1991 to 1995.A noted advocate of national service and volunteering, Wofford was also the fifth president ofBryn Mawr Collegefrom 1970 to 1978, served as chairman of thePennsylvania Democratic Partyin 1986 and also asPennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industryin the cabinet of GovernorRobert P. Caseyfrom 1987 to 1991, and was a surrogate forBarack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. He introduced Obama in Philadelphia at theNational Constitution Centerbefore Obama's speech on race in America, "A More Perfect Union".

Early life

Wofford was born in 1926 inManhattan,New York City,the son of Estelle Allison (née Gardner) and Harris Llewellyn Wofford.He was born to a wealthy and prominent Southern family.

At age 11 he accompanied his widowed grandmother on a six-month world tour. They spent Christmas Eve inBethlehem,visitedShanghaishortly after theImperial Japanese Armycaptured it,spent time in India where Wofford became "fascinated" byMahatma Gandhiand visited Rome, where they sawBenito Mussoliniannounce Italy's withdrawal from theLeague of Nationsand a subsequent fascist parade.While attendingScarsdale High School,he was inspired byClarence Streit's plea for aworld governmentto found theStudent Federalists.By the time he was 18, the organization had grown so large thatNewsweekpredicted he would become president.

He served in theUnited States Army Air Forcesduring theSecond World Warand was a 1948 graduate of theUniversity of Chicago.After eight months on a fellowship in India, conducting a study of the recently assassinated Gandhi, he and his wife Clare returned to America. He subsequently enrolled at historically blackHoward Law School,the first white male student to do so.After one year, he concluded his studies atYale Law School,where he received his law degree in June 1954.He began his public service career as a legal assistant for Rev.Theodore M. Hesburghon theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights,serving from 1957 to 1959. In 1959, he became a law professor atUniversity of Notre Dame.He was an early supporter of theCivil Rights Movementin the South in the 1950s, accompanying Indian activistRam Manohar Lohiaon a tour of the South in 1951and becoming a friend and unofficial advisor toMartin Luther King Jr.

Kennedy administration

Wofford first metJohn F. Kennedyin 1947 at a party atClare Boothe Luce's Connecticut home.Wofford's political career began in 1960 when Kennedy asked him to join his presidential campaign and work withSargent Shriveron winning over the "Negro vote".

When King was imprisoned shortly before the election, Wofford and Shriver persuaded Kennedy to call King's wife,Coretta Scott King,who faced the specter of her husband sentenced to hard labor in a Georgia prison for a minor traffic violation while she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. This promptedMartin Luther King Sr.to switch his endorsement fromRichard Nixonto Kennedywithout the knowledge ofTed Sorensen,Ted KennedyandKenneth O'Donnell.Following the phone call, Wofford and other Kennedy aides assembled a pamphlet that referenced the call, printed on blue paper and known as the "blue bomb"; some 2 million copies were circulated, mostly through African American churches— "below the registry of the news and white culture. It had enormous influence among black voters."

In 1961, Kennedy appointed him as a Special Assistant to the President for Civil Rights. In the White House, he served as chairman of the Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights. Wofford was instrumental in the formation of thePeace Corpsand served as the Peace Corps' special representative toAfricaand director of operations inEthiopia.He was appointed associate director of the Peace Corps in 1964 and held that position until 1966. He also participated in theSelma to Montgomery marchesin 1965.Wofford's bookOf Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixtiesdetails his years in the civil rights movement and the creation of the Peace Corps.

Academic career and private practice

In 1966, Wofford left politics to become president of theState University of New York at Old Westbury.At the1968 Democratic Conventionin Chicago, Wofford risked his career by allowing himself to be arrested in protest of police brutality.In 1970, he became president ofBryn Mawr CollegeinPennsylvania,holding that post until 1978.

In 1978, Wofford joined the law firm ofSchnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP.

Political career

In Pennsylvania

After spending seven years in private law practice inPhiladelphia,Wofford served as the Chairman of thePennsylvania Democratic Partyfrom June to December 1986.In March 1987, he was appointed byPennsylvania GovernorRobert P. Caseyas the state's Secretary of Labor and Industry.

1991 U.S. Senate special election victory

Main article:1991 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

Wofford takes the U.S. Senate Oath of Office, administered by Senate President pro TemporeRobert Byrd

On April 4, 1991, Pennsylvania's senior U.S. Senator,H. John Heinz III,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, includingChryslerpresident andAllentownnativeLee Iacocca,who turned down the job, Governor Casey appointed Wofford to the seat on May 8, 1991.He had previously considered running for office, but never thought the opportunity was quite right.He thus became the first Democrat to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate sinceJoe Clarkleft office in 1969.

In thespecial election,held in November 1991, Wofford facedDick Thornburgh,the former Pennsylvania Governor andU.S. Attorney Generalunder PresidentsRonald ReaganandGeorge 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. Indeed, at one point his own internal polls showed him losing by over 40 points. His eventual upset victory over the former governor by ten percentage points surprised many, and was later described as a turning point for the political prospects of President George H. W. Bush.

Wofford's campaign was run byPaul BegalaandJames Carville,and their dramatic success brought them to national attention.Wofford's campaign pivoted on a promise of universal healthcare, and according to political scientist Jacob Hacker, helped propel healthcare reform into national discussion.Themes such as theeconomyandhealth carewould also be crucial toBill Clinton's1992 presidential election victory.In 2015, conservative commentatorRush Limbaughcomplained of Wofford, "Health care as a right—you know who started that line of thinking? A guy named Harris Wofford, who was a senator from Pennsylvania."

Although Clinton ultimately choseAl Gore,Wofford wasa finalist for the vice presidential nomination.

1994 U.S. Senate defeat

Main article:1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

Wofford narrowly lost his 1994 bid for a full term toRepublicanRep.Rick Santorum,thirty-two years his junior, who defeated Wofford 49%–47%.The election was part of that year'sRepublican Revolution,in which many Democrats were ousted from both houses of theUnited States Congress.Wofford and Tennessee'sJim Sasserwere the only incumbent Senators to lose re-election in the 1994 cycle

Subsequent career

Wofford speaks atPeace Corpsceremony in 2014.

From 1995 to 2001, Wofford served as chief executive officer of theCorporation for National and Community Service,the federal agency that runsAmeriCorpsand other domestic volunteer programs.

In 2005, he metBarack Obama.The two became friends and when Obama made his speech on race in America, "A More Perfect Union",Wofford introduced him.

On January 4, 2007, Wofford was present for the swearing-in of SenatorBob Casey Jr.,who defeated Santorum in his bid for a third term,and on January 3, 2013, Wofford again accompanied Casey to his swearing-in for a second term on the floor of the Senate.

From 2001, Wofford served on the boards of several charities and service organizations, includingAmerica's Promise,Youth Service Americaand thePoints of Light Foundation.He was a trustee to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change.Between 2007 and 2009, Wofford was the national spokesperson for Experience Wave, a national campaign that sought to advance state and federal policies to make it easier for mid-life and older adults to stay engaged in work and community life.

Wofford was a board member ofMalaria No More,a New York-based nonprofit that was launched at the 2006White HouseSummit with the goal of ending all deaths caused by malaria. He served on the Board of Selectors ofJefferson Awards for Public Service.He served as a senior fellow at theCase Foundationin Washington, D.C.

From 2012 to 2015, Wofford served as a senior advisor to theFranklin Project,a policy program of theAspen Institutethat sought to make a year of service a common opportunity and expectation for young Americans.

In 2014,The New Republicfeatured Wofford in its 100th Anniversary issue, in a profile titled, "The Man Who Was Everywhere".

Personal life

Wofford was raised anEpiscopalian,and converted to Catholicism in the 1980s.

In 1948, Wofford married Clare Lindgren. The Woffords later had three children. In January 1996, Clare Wofford died of acute leukemia at age 69.

In April 2016 at the age of 90, Wofford announced that he would marry interior designer Matthew Charlton,a man 50 years his junior and his companion since 2001.That month, he published an opinion piece inThe New York Timesentitled "Finding Love Again, This Time With a Man".Wofford and Charlton married that year.

On January 21, 2019, Wofford died at age 92 inWashington, D.C.,of complications from a fall.Approximately 1,000 people attended his memorial service held on March 3, 2019, in Cramton Auditorium atHoward University.The Howard University Choir performed and speakers included his husband, his brother, his children,Wayne A.I. Frederick,Tom Wolf,Timothy Shriver,Bob Casey Jr.,Bill Clinton(via video),Paul Begala,Ghebre Selassie Mehreteab andPeter Yarrow(via video), among others.

Awards

• In 2002, Wofford was the recipient of the John W. Gardner Leadership Award.
• In 2011, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, theNational Peace Corps Associationcreated the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award. It is given annually to an outstanding global leader who grew up and lives in a country where Peace Corps Volunteers served and whose life was influenced by the Peace Corps. The leader should be a person whose life's work has made a significant contribution to the world in a way that reflects the core Peace Corps values of service, peace, development, human rights, health, and understanding.
• In 2012, Wofford received thePresidential Citizens Medal.
• In 2015, Wofford was an honored speaker at the Memorial Tribute to Rev.Theodore M. Hesburgh,C.S.C., 1917–2015, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross and former chairperson of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

See also

• List of LGBT members of the United States Congress

External links

• United States Congress."Harris Wofford (id: W000665)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award
• Peace Corps biography of Harris Wofford
• Harris Wofford National Service Papersat Indiana University Indianapolis Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives
• Trailer for upcoming documentary on Harris WoffordArchivedJuly 31, 2016, at theWayback Machine
• AppearancesonC-SPAN
• with Harris Woffordby Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, September 21, 1996