Paul Sarbanes
Encyclopedia
Paul Spyros Sarbanes a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, is a former United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 who represented the state of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in Maryland history
History of Maryland
The history of Maryland included only Native Americans until Europeans, starting with John Cabot in 1498, began exploring the area. The first settlements came in 1634 when the English arrived in significant numbers and created a permanent colony. In 1776, during the American Revolution, Maryland...

, having served from 1977 until 2007. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin
Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis "Ben" Cardin is the junior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate, Cardin was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1987 to 2007.Cardin was elected to succeed Paul Sarbanes in...

. Sarbanes was known for his low-key style, often shunning the limelight over his 30-year Senate career. In 2002 Sarbanes co-sponsored the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, which put his name in the headlines.

Early life and family

Paul Sarbanes was born on Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

's Eastern Shore in the city of Salisbury
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...

. His parents, Spyros P. Sarbanes and Matina Tsigounis, were immigrants from Laconia
Laconia
Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, and owned a Salisbury restaurant.

A graduate of Wicomico High School
Wicomico High School
Wicomico High School is a high school located in Salisbury, Wicomico County, Maryland. It is one of four public high schools in Wicomico County along with James M. Bennett High School, Mardela Middle and High School and Parkside High School. Wicomico High School currently enrolls grades 9 through 12...

 in Salisbury, Maryland
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...

, Sarbanes attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, earning a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in 1954. As a senior he received the Moses Taylor Pyne
Moses Taylor Pyne
Moses Taylor Pyne , was a financier and philanthropist, and one of Princeton University's greatest benefactors and most influential Trustees....

 Honor Prize, Princeton's highest undergraduate honor. He also was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...

 that brought him to Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

 of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 in Oxford, England, graduating with a First Class degree in 1957. Sarbanes then returned to the United States and attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

.

After graduating in 1960, he clerked for Federal Judge Morris A. Soper before entering private practice with two Baltimore, Maryland law firms. In June 1960, Sarbanes married Christine Dunbar of Brighton, England; they have three children (John Sarbanes
John Sarbanes
John Peter Spyros Sarbanes is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the state capital of Annapolis, central portions of the city of Baltimore, and parts of Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties.-Early life, education...

, Michael Anthony Sarbanes, and Janet Matina Sarbanes) and seven grandchildren. Christine Sarbanes died of cancer on March 22, 2009. Sarbanes holds the highest lay office in the Greek Orthodox Church, "Order of St. Andrew, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate" and is a member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation is a church of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America located in, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the oldest of all the 18 Greek Orthodox parishes in Maryland...

 in Baltimore.

His son, John Sarbanes
John Sarbanes
John Peter Spyros Sarbanes is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the state capital of Annapolis, central portions of the city of Baltimore, and parts of Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties.-Early life, education...

, won the general election for Maryland's 3rd congressional district
Maryland's 3rd congressional district
Maryland's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district from the state of Maryland. It comprises portions of Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as a significant part of the independent city of Baltimore...

 in 2006, the district that Paul Sarbanes represented prior to his election as senator.

Political career

In 1966, Sarbanes ran for the Maryland House of Delegates
Maryland House of Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 in Baltimore City and won. During his four years as a State delegate in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

 he served on both the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in 1970 from the fourth district
Maryland's 4th congressional district
Maryland's 4th congressional district comprises portions of Prince George's and Montgomery County. The seat is currently represented by Donna Edwards, a Democrat, who has represented the district since 2008....

 of Maryland and was reelected in 1972 and 1974 from the third district
Maryland's 3rd congressional district
Maryland's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district from the state of Maryland. It comprises portions of Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as a significant part of the independent city of Baltimore...

. While in the House, Sarbanes served on the Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...

, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and the Select Committee on House Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic colleagues on the House Watergate Committee to introduce the first Article of Impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

, for obstruction of justice, against President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

.

In 1976, Sarbanes was elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 and re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994 and 2000. In 2002, Sarbanes was the Senate sponsor of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 , also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act' and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act' and commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002, which...

, which reformed federal securities laws in the wake of the 2002 accounting scandals
Accounting scandals
Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals, are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations...

.

Sarbanes served on the following Senate committees:
  • Ranking Member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
  • Ranking Member of the Special Whitewater Committee.
  • Senior Member Foreign Relations Committee.
  • Senior Member Budget Committee.
  • Senior Member Joint Economic Committee.


On March 11, 2005, Sarbanes, the longest serving senator in Maryland history, announced at a news conference his decision not to seek re-election in 2006. When the 110th Congress convened in 2007, he was succeeded by Ben Cardin
Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis "Ben" Cardin is the junior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate, Cardin was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1987 to 2007.Cardin was elected to succeed Paul Sarbanes in...

. For more information, see United States Senate election in Maryland, 2006.

Election history

{| class=wikitable
|- valign=bottom
! Year
! Office sought
! Election
! rowspan=99 |
! Subject
! Party
! Votes
! %
! rowspan=99 |
! Opponent
! Party
! Votes
! %
|-
| 1970
United States House election, 1970
The U.S. House election, 1970 was an election for the United States House of Representatives held on November 3, 1970, in the middle of President Richard M. Nixon's first term. The President's Republican Party lost seats, in this case a net of 12, to the Democratic Party, which thus increased...


|
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 93,093
| | 69.7%
| | David Fentress
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 40,442
| | 30.3%
|-
| 1972
United States House election, 1972
The U.S. House election, 1972 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1972 which coincided with the landslide re-election victory of President Richard M. Nixon...


|
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 93,218
| | 83.8%
| | William Matthews
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 17,967
| | 16.2%
|-
| 1974
United States House election, 1974
The U.S. House election, 1974 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1974 that occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard M. Nixon to resign in favor of Gerald Ford...


|
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 54,936
| | 70.1%
| |
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 23,491
| | 29.9%
|-
| 1976
United States Senate election in Maryland, 1976
The 1976 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 3, 1976. Incumbent Republican senator J. Glenn Beall Jr. sought election to a second term. He was defeated by Democratic challenger Paul Sarbanes.-Results:-References:...


| U.S. Senator, Class 1
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 772,101
| | 59.3%
| | John Glenn Beall, Jr.
John Glenn Beall, Jr.
John Glenn Beall, Jr. was a Republican member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland 1971–1977. He was also a member of the Maryland House of Delegates 1962–1968, and the U.S. House of Representatives from the sixth district of Maryland from 1969 to 1971...

 (incumbent)
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 530,439
| | 40.7%
|-
| 1982
| U.S. Senator, Class 1
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 707,356
| | 63.5%
| | Lawrence Hogan
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 407,334
| | 36.5%
|-
| 1988
United States Senate election in Maryland, 1988
The 1988 United States Senate Election in Maryland was held on November 7, 1988. Incumbent Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes won re-election to a third term.-Republican:*Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs...


| U.S. Senator, Class 1
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 999,166
| | 61.8%
| | Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...


| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 617,537
| | 38.2%
|-
| 1994
United States Senate election in Maryland, 1994
The 1994 United States Senate Election in Maryland was held on November 7, 1994. Incumbent Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes won re-election to a fourth term.-Results:...


| U.S. Senator, Class 1
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 809,125
| | 59.1%
| | Bill Brock
Bill Brock
William Emerson "Bill" Brock III is a former Republican United States senator from Tennessee, having served from 1971 to 1977. He is the grandson of William Emerson Brock I, who was a Democratic U.S. senator from Tennessee from 1929 to 1931.-Early life and career:Brock was a native of Chattanooga,...


| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 559,908
| | 40.9%
|-
| 2000
United States Senate election in Maryland, 2000
The 2000 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes won re-election to a fifth term.-Republican:...


| U.S. Senator, Class 1
|General
| | Paul Sarbanes
| | Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...


| align=right | 1,230,013
| | 63.2%
| | Paul Rappaport
| | Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...


| align=right | 715,178
| | 36.8%

Footnotes

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