Peter Dominick
| Peter Hoyt Dominick | |
 | |
| Preceded by | John Albert Carroll |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Gary Hart |
U.S. Representative for
Colorado's 2nd congressional district | |
| In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963 | |
| Preceded by | Byron L. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Donald G. Brotzman |
Colorado State Representative from Denver
| |
| In office 1957–1961 | |
U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
| |
| In office April 25, 1975 – July 10, 1975 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Shelby Cullom Davis |
| Succeeded by | Nathaniel Davis |
| Born | July 7, 1915 Stamford, Connecticut |
| Died | March 18, 1981 (aged 65) Hobe Sound, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy Parks Dominick |
| Children | Peter Dominick, Jr. Michael Parks Dominick |
| Residence | Cherry Hills Village in Colorado |
| Alma mater | Yale University (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws |
Military Service
| |
| Service/branch | United States |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | United States Army Air Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Peter Hoyt Dominick (July 7, 1915 – March 18, 1981) was a Republican U.S. Senator for his adopted state of Colorado, with service for two terms from 1963 to 1974. He lost his bid for a third term to later Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart, who in 1972 had managed the campaign to elect George McGovern of South Dakota in the unsuccessful race against Richard M. Nixon.
Background
Dominick was born in Stamford, Connecticut, forty miles northeast of New York City. His maternal uncle, Howard Alexander Smith, was a U.S. Senator for New Jersey from 1944 to 1959. He graduated in 1933 from St. Mark's School in Massachusetts. He then graduated in 1937 from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and then Yale Law School in 1940. For the next two years, he practiced law in New York City.[1]
In 1942, Dominick joined the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the Air Force, as an aviation cadet]] at the outset of America's entry into World War II. He served until his release as a captain in 1945. Years after his death, his youngest son, Alexander S. Dominick found a journal of the entirety of his war-time service during the war. He flew over "the Hump" in the Himalayas.[2]
Legal and political career
In 1946, he resumed his legal practice in New York City but soon moved to the capital city of Denver, Colorado, at which he became a founding partner of the law firm Holland & Hart, founded by Joseph Holland and Steve Hart, no relation to Dominick's last political opponent, Gary Hart.[3][1]
In 1956, Dominick was elected as a state representative, a post he filled from 1957 to 1961. In 1960, with Richard Nixon carrying Colorado over John F. Kennedy, Dominick made a successful run for the United States House of Representatives. He defeated freshman Democrat Byron Lindberg Johnson (1917-2000) and ended his law career in 1961. After a single term in the House of Representatives, Dominick was elected to the United States Senate. He defeated the one-term incumbent Democrat John Albert Carroll (1901-1983), 53.6 to 45.6 percent. He was reelected in 1968 over Democrat Stephen Lucid Robert McNichols (1914-1997), a former Colorado governor, 58.6 to 41.5 percent. Dominick voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall as the first African American nominated to the United States Supreme Court.[4]
A strong environmentalist, Dominick advocated for the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[5]
In 1971 to 1972, Dominick was the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He lost his bid for a third term to Gary Hart, 57.2 to 39.5 percent. By then Dominick was suffering from multiple sclerosis.[6]
After leaving the Senate at the end of his term in 1975, he was appointed as United States Ambassador to Switzerland by U.S. President Gerald Ford, but served less than three months. He died at his second home in Hobe Sound, Florida, and is interred at Fairmount Cemetery in Denver.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Statesman Peter H. Dominick dead at 65. United Press International (March 19, 1981). Retrieved on July 15, 2021.
- ↑ Alexander S. Dominick, Flying the Hump: The War Journal of Peter H. Domin,k (Green Bay, Wisconsin: M&B Global Solutions, Inc., 2018).
- ↑ J. Y. Smith (March 20, 1981). Peter H. Dominick dies; served 2 terms in Senate. The Washington Post. Retrieved on July 15, 2021.
- ↑ TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. govtrack.us. Retrieved on July 15, 2021.
- ↑ "Colorado's Republican Civil Rights Icon," Law Week Colorado, issue 13, March 29, 2021.
- ↑ Peter H. Dominick is dead at 65; 2-term senator from Colorado," The New York Times, March 20, 1981.
- ↑ Peter Hoyt Dominick (1915-1981) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 15, 2021}}
