Richard Lugar
From Conservapedia
| Richard Lugar | |
|---|---|
| |
| U.S. Senator from Indiana From: January 3, 1977-Present | |
| Predecessor | Vance Hartke |
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) |
| Information | |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Charlene Smeltzer Lugar |
| Religion | Methodist |
Richard Green "Dick" Lugar (born April 4, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Indiana. He is the most senior Republican in the United States Senate and would become President pro tempore if Republicans gained the majority during his tenure.
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Early Life
Lugar graduated from Oxford University with an honors degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1956 and served as an officer from 1957 until 1960. Lugar's first elected office was when he served on the Indianapolis School Board from 1964-1967, where he advocated voluntary public school desegregation. Lugar was elected Mayor of Indianapolis in 1967 and in 1971 was elected to a term as President of the National League of Cities. During his two terms as Mayor he was dubbed Richard Nixon's "favorite mayor" for his calls for fewer government programs and similar conservative positions. Lugar's name was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. [1]
United States Senate
Lugar unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 1974, however went on to unseat Democrat incumbent Vance Hartke in 1976. He has since been reelected five times. Lugar is best known for his work involving national security. He served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1985-1987 and again from 2003-2007. He co-sponsored the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program act which was an ambitious program to safeguard and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union, it has destroyed more than 7,500 nuclear warheads, and funded the removal of all nuclear weapons from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. He has also been a strong proponent of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In 2006 he was honored by Time Magazine as one of America’s 10 best Senators. [2] Richard Lugar is known as a moderate Republican. He has voted with Democrats on issues such as gun control, immigration, and policy in Iraq. He was one of the first Senate Republicans to announce support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. [3] However, on government spending, health care, free trade and the environment, Lugar's positions are well within the mainstream of conservatives. In the United States Senate he has voted with his Republican colleagues 76.5% of the time. [4]
