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Paul Simon (politician)
Encyclopedia
Paul Martin Simon was an American politician from Illinois
. He served in the United States House of Representatives
from 1975 to 1985 and United States Senate
from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination
.
He later served as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
in Carbondale
, starting in 1997. There, he taught classes on politics, history and journalism.
Simon was noted during his career for his distinctive appearance that included a bowtie and horn-rimmed glasses
.
missionary, and Martin Simon, a Lutheran minister who was a missionary to China
. His father, a native of Wisconsin
, was of German descent, and his mother, from Iowa
, was adopted by a German-speaking family in St. Louis. Simon was born in Eugene, Oregon
, shortly after his parents were forced back to America following a controversy about what the appropriate Chinese term for God should be. He was educated in Eugene's local schools and Concordia Academy High School (now Concordia University
) in Portland
, a Lutheran school. He attended the University of Oregon
and Dana College
in Blair, Nebraska
, but never graduated. After meeting with local Lions Club
members, he borrowed $3,600 to take over the defunct Troy Call newspaper in 1948, becoming the nation's youngest editor-publisher of the renamed Troy Tribune in Troy
, Madison County, Illinois
, eventually building a chain of 14 weeklies
. His activism against gambling, prostitution, and government corruption while at the Troy Tribune forced the newly elected governor, Adlai Stevenson, to take a stand on these issues, creating national exposure for Simon that later resulted in his testifying before the Kefauver Commission
.
Simon served in the United States Army
during the Korean War
from 1951 to 1953, becoming an intelligence
officer. Upon his discharge, he began his political career, serving in the Illinois House of Representatives
from 1955 to 1963. As a state legislator, he worked to achieve fiscal responsibility and to expand public utilities in rural parts of the state that did not yet have them. He was also active in promoting civil rights
, and once hosted an event attended by former First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
.
He was one of the youngest elected state legislators in Illinois history (at 26 he was only a year older than Abraham Lincoln
had been when he entered the state legislature). He upset two Democratic Party machine candidates, and adopted his trademark bowtie when a newspaper account of a debate stated "the man with the bowtie did well." When he married Jeanne Hurley Simon
on April 21, 1960, she was a member of the state legislature (1957–1961) and it was the first time in Illinois history that two sitting members of the General Assembly
were married to each other. They had two children, Sheila and Martin. She did not seek re-election but was an integral part of Simon's rise to national prominence. She later became a successful lawyer
and author
, and served as chairperson of National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
. She died in February 2000 of brain cancer. Upon her death, Illinois senator Richard Durbin delivered a tribute to Mrs. Simon on the senate floor.
In 2001, Simon married Patricia Derge.
He moved to the Illinois State Senate in 1963, serving there until 1968. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
in 1968 and served from 1969 to 1973. As a Democrat, he served with Republican
Governor Richard B. Ogilvie
. His bipartisan teamwork with Ogilvie produced the state's first income tax
and paved the way for the state
constitutional convention
in 1969, which created the fourth and current Illinois Constitution
. The Ogilvie-Simon ticket was the only one in Illinois history in which the governor and lieutenant governor were from opposing political parties. (On at least two other occasions there was an acting Lt. Governor from the opposing party. The state constitution ratified in 1970 requires the governor and lieutenant governor to run and be elected together on a joint ticket.)
Simon's 1972 campaign to win the Democratic nomination for governor was upset by Dan Walker
, who went on to win in the general election.
, which has now helped launch the careers of more than 500 journalists especially prepared to cover government and politics. Simon, who had written his first four books at the time, also taught a course entitled "Non-Fiction Magazine and Book Writing" at Sangamon State and taught at Harvard University's
John F. Kennedy School of Government
in 1973.
He resumed his political career and was elected as a Democrat to the 94th Congress in 1974 and was reelected to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975–January 3, 1985). He then ran and was elected to the United States Senate in 1984. Simon upset three-term incumbent Charles H. Percy
with 50% of the vote to win the election.
In 1987–88, he sought the Democratic nomination for President
, narrowly losing the Iowa caucus
to U.S. Representative
Richard Gephardt of Missouri
. Gephardt won 31.24 percent of the weighted delegate
s to Simon's 26.68 percent, a margin of 4.56 points. Simon finished third in the New Hampshire primary
and won the Illinois primary, but Michael Dukakis
went on to win the Democratic nomination. Because he briefly captured the national attention and was considered a major candidate, he made an appearance on the popular television show Saturday Night Live
, co-hosting with musician Paul Simon
. Simon also "appeared" from time to time on SNL, as an impression by comedian Al Franken
(who has a resemblance to Simon), who would run for and win a Senate seat in real life, also as a Democrat, some two decades later.
He won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 1990 by defeating U.S. Representative Lynn Morley Martin
with 65 percent of the vote and by nearly 1 million votes the largest plurality of any contested candidate for senator or governor
of either party that year. While serving in the Senate, he co-authored an unsuccessful Balanced Budget Amendment
with Republican
Senator Orrin Hatch
of Utah
.
Simon was remembered for famously criticizing President George H. W. Bush
during the 1992 presidential campaign
when Bush claimed a central role in overseeing the collapse of the Soviet bloc and aggressively promoting the successes of his own presidency and the preceding Reagan administration
in Eastern Europe
during a speech at Chicago
's Taste of Polonia
. An attempt by Bush to woo Chicago's Polish community
to win Illinois (an important state in the election) was roundly denounced by Simon, and Bush eventually lost the state. Simon did not seek reelection in 1996.
He was a prolific author. He came to national prominence in the 1960s, due in part to his well-researched book, Lincoln's Preparation for Greatness: The Illinois Legislative Years. Despite being published 100 years after Abraham Lincoln
's death, it was the first book to exhaustively cite original source documents from Lincoln's eight years in the General Assembly. He later went on to write more than 20 books on a wide range of topics, including interfaith marriages (he was a Lutheran and his wife, Jeanne, was a Catholic
), global water shortages, United States Supreme Court nomination battles that focused heavily on his personal experiences with Robert Bork
and Clarence Thomas
(he was on the Senate Judiciary Committee during these hearings), his autobiography, and even a well-received book on slain Illinois preacher Elijah Lovejoy. His last book, Our Culture of Pandering, was published in October 2003.
After his retirement from politics, he continued to play a role in public life by writing books, and through the SIU Public Policy Institute, which was named for him after his death.
He fiercely took a stand against obscenity and violence in the media in the 1990s. His efforts against media violence partly led to the adoption of the V-chip
.
He opposed the Contract with America
and Clintonian
welfare reform
s, and was one of 21 senators who voted against the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
.
In foreign affairs, he promoted the military response to Somalia
during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, and he was an outspoken critic of President
Bill Clinton
's response to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
. Simon believed America should have acted faster, and Clinton later said his belated response was the biggest mistake of his presidency. He is, together with Jim Jeffords
, credited by Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire
, Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
(UNAMIR) from 1993 to 1994, for actively lobbying the U.S. administration into mounting a humanitarian mission to Rwanda
during the genocide. According to Dallaire's book Shake Hands with the Devil, he "owe[s] a great debt of gratitude" to both senators.
Simon was also a supporter of Taiwan
and opposed United States policy to isolate Taiwan. He was one of the Senators who convinced President Clinton to allow then-Republic of China
President Lee Teng-hui
to visit the United States.
Simon was a staunch opponent of the mandatory minimum sentence. In 1996 he and libertarian
researcher Dave Kopel
co-authored an article in National Law Journal denouncing the practice.
, south of Carbondale, where he was a professor and director of the SIU Public Policy Institute
. While there, he tried to foster the Institute into becoming a think tank that could advance the lives of all people.
Activities included going to Liberia
and Croatia
to monitor their elections
, bringing major speakers
to campus, denouncing the death penalty
, trying to end the United States embargo against Cuba
, fostering political courage among his students, and promoting amendment
s to the Constitution
to end the Electoral College and to limit the president to a single six-year term of office. Concerning the Electoral College during the controversial Election 2000
fiasco, Simon said, "I think if somebody gets the majority vote, they should be president. But, I don't think the system is going to be changed."
Simon believed modern presidents practice "followship," rather than leadership
, saying, "We have been more and more leaning on poll
s to decide what we're going to do, and you don't get leadership from polls... and not just at the presidential level. It's happening with senators, House members and even state legislators sometimes [when they] conduct polls to find out where people stand on something."
, founder of Bread for the World
.
In 1960, Simon married state Rep. Jeanne Hurley (Simon) (ca.1923–2000). The Simons had 2 children and were married for nearly 40 years. Their daughter Sheila was a member of the city council and a failed mayoral candidate in Carbondale
. Sheila was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
, a job her father once held, on November 2, 2010. Mrs. Simon died in 2000 at the age of 77 due to brain cancer.
Simon remarried in May 2001 to Patricia Derge. Both Simon and his second wife were widowed. The marriage lasted until his death 2-1/2 years later at the age of 75. His widow is also the widow of former Southern Illinois University president David Derge.
following heart surgery at the age of 75 in 2003. WBBM-TV
(CBS 2 Chicago) reported his death as a "massive gastric blow-out." Just four days before, despite being hospitalized and awaiting surgery, he had endorsed Howard Dean
's 2004 presidential bid in a telephone conference call he conducted from his hospital bed. He was also an early supporter of Barack Obama
's bid for the Democratic nomination for the Senate. After Simon's death, his daughter, Sheila, made a television commercial in which she declared "Barack Obama will be a U.S. senator in the Paul Simon tradition." The ad was considered a major reason for Obama's surprise victory in the Democratic primary. In the Senate, Obama praised Simon as a "dear friend."
In July 2005, the U.S. Senator Paul Simon Museum was opened in Troy, Illinois, where Simon lived for 25 years. It includes memorabilia from throughout his life, including the desk and camera from his days as a young editor of the Troy Tribune, items from his presidential campaign, and his lieutenant governor license plates.
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He served in 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...
from 1975 to 1985 and 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...
from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party
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...
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1988
The 1988 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1988 U.S. presidential election...
.
He later served as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is located at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It was founded by Paul Simon, a former two-term U.S. Senator from Illinois and one-time candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States...
at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public research university located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1869, SIUC is the flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system...
in Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois
Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...
, starting in 1997. There, he taught classes on politics, history and journalism.
Simon was noted during his career for his distinctive appearance that included a bowtie and horn-rimmed glasses
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
.
Early life and career
Simon was the son of Ruth (Tolzmann), a LutheranLutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
missionary, and Martin Simon, a Lutheran minister who was a missionary to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. His father, a native of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, was of German descent, and his mother, from Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, was adopted by a German-speaking family in St. Louis. Simon was born in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, shortly after his parents were forced back to America following a controversy about what the appropriate Chinese term for God should be. He was educated in Eugene's local schools and Concordia Academy High School (now Concordia University
Concordia University (Portland, Oregon)
Concordia University is a private, Christian university located in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1905 as a University-preparatory school, the institution added college classes in 1950 and the high school was split-off in 1977...
) in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, a Lutheran school. He attended the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
and Dana College
Dana College
Dana College is a now defunct baccalaureate college located in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre campus is approximately 25 miles northwest of Omaha, and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley....
in Blair, Nebraska
Blair, Nebraska
Blair is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,990 at the 2000 census. Blair is a part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, but never graduated. After meeting with local Lions Club
Lions Clubs International
Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...
members, he borrowed $3,600 to take over the defunct Troy Call newspaper in 1948, becoming the nation's youngest editor-publisher of the renamed Troy Tribune in Troy
Troy, Illinois
Troy is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,524 at the 2000 census.Troy is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Madison County, Illinois
Madison County, Illinois
Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Madison County is part of the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 269,282, which is an increase of 4.0% from 258,941 in 2000. The county seat is Edwardsville, home to...
, eventually building a chain of 14 weeklies
Weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
. His activism against gambling, prostitution, and government corruption while at the Troy Tribune forced the newly elected governor, Adlai Stevenson, to take a stand on these issues, creating national exposure for Simon that later resulted in his testifying before the Kefauver Commission
Kefauver hearings
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the United States...
.
Simon served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
from 1951 to 1953, becoming an intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
officer. Upon his discharge, he began his political career, serving in the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
from 1955 to 1963. As a state legislator, he worked to achieve fiscal responsibility and to expand public utilities in rural parts of the state that did not yet have them. He was also active in promoting civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, and once hosted an event attended by former First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
.
He was one of the youngest elected state legislators in Illinois history (at 26 he was only a year older than Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
had been when he entered the state legislature). He upset two Democratic Party machine candidates, and adopted his trademark bowtie when a newspaper account of a debate stated "the man with the bowtie did well." When he married Jeanne Hurley Simon
Jeanne Hurley Simon
Jeanne Hurley Simon, the first wife of Senator Paul Simon and the mother of Illinois Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, was a state and national public official in her own right....
on April 21, 1960, she was a member of the state legislature (1957–1961) and it was the first time in Illinois history that two sitting members of the General Assembly
Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois and comprises the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Illinois has 59 legislative districts, with two...
were married to each other. They had two children, Sheila and Martin. She did not seek re-election but was an integral part of Simon's rise to national prominence. She later became a successful lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and served as chairperson of National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science was an agency in the United States government between 1970 and 2008. The activities of the Commission were consolidated into the Institute of Museum and Library Services.-Origins:...
. She died in February 2000 of brain cancer. Upon her death, Illinois senator Richard Durbin delivered a tribute to Mrs. Simon on the senate floor.
In 2001, Simon married Patricia Derge.
He moved to the Illinois State Senate in 1963, serving there until 1968. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor run separately in the primary from candidates for...
in 1968 and served from 1969 to 1973. As a Democrat, he served with 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...
Governor Richard B. Ogilvie
Richard B. Ogilvie
Richard Buell Ogilvie was the 35th Governor of Illinois from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he achieved fame as the mafia-fighting Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois in the 1960s....
. His bipartisan teamwork with Ogilvie produced the state's first income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
and paved the way for the state
State constitution (United States)
In the United States, each state has its own constitution.Usually, they are longer than the 7,500-word federal Constitution and are more detailed regarding the day-to-day relationships between government and the people. The shortest is the Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1793 and currently...
constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
in 1969, which created the fourth and current Illinois Constitution
Illinois Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970.-History:...
. The Ogilvie-Simon ticket was the only one in Illinois history in which the governor and lieutenant governor were from opposing political parties. (On at least two other occasions there was an acting Lt. Governor from the opposing party. The state constitution ratified in 1970 requires the governor and lieutenant governor to run and be elected together on a joint ticket.)
Simon's 1972 campaign to win the Democratic nomination for governor was upset by Dan Walker
Daniel Walker
Daniel Walker was the 36th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1973 to 1977.-Early life and career:He was born in Washington, D.C. and raised near San Diego, California. He was the second Governor of Illinois to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. He served as a naval officer in...
, who went on to win in the general election.
Rise to national prominence
Following his defeat, Simon, drawing on his early newspaper experience and his good relations with the capitol press corps, started the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at Sangamon State University in Springfield, IllinoisSpringfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, which has now helped launch the careers of more than 500 journalists especially prepared to cover government and politics. Simon, who had written his first four books at the time, also taught a course entitled "Non-Fiction Magazine and Book Writing" at Sangamon State and taught at Harvard University's
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
in 1973.
He resumed his political career and was elected as a Democrat to the 94th Congress in 1974 and was reelected to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975–January 3, 1985). He then ran and was elected to the United States Senate in 1984. Simon upset three-term incumbent Charles H. Percy
Charles H. Percy
Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964. He was elected United States Senator from Illinois in 1966, re-elected through his term ending in 1985; he concentrated on business and foreign relations...
with 50% of the vote to win the election.
In 1987–88, he sought the Democratic nomination for 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....
, narrowly losing the Iowa caucus
Iowa caucus
The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
to U.S. Representative
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...
Richard Gephardt of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Gephardt won 31.24 percent of the weighted delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
s to Simon's 26.68 percent, a margin of 4.56 points. Simon finished third in the New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
and won the Illinois primary, but Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
went on to win the Democratic nomination. Because he briefly captured the national attention and was considered a major candidate, he made an appearance on the popular television show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, co-hosting with musician Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
. Simon also "appeared" from time to time on SNL, as an impression by comedian Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
(who has a resemblance to Simon), who would run for and win a Senate seat in real life, also as a Democrat, some two decades later.
He won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 1990 by defeating U.S. Representative Lynn Morley Martin
Lynn Morley Martin
Lynn Morley Martin is a businesswoman and former United States politician.-Political career:Born in Evanston, Illinois, she served as a member of the Winnebago County Board before she served in the Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives, where she...
with 65 percent of the vote and by nearly 1 million votes the largest plurality of any contested candidate for senator or governor
Governor (United States)
In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...
of either party that year. While serving in the Senate, he co-authored an unsuccessful Balanced Budget Amendment
Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government....
with 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...
Senator Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...
of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Simon was remembered for famously criticizing President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
during the 1992 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
when Bush claimed a central role in overseeing the collapse of the Soviet bloc and aggressively promoting the successes of his own presidency and the preceding Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
during a speech at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Taste of Polonia
Taste of Polonia
The Taste of Polonia is a Chicago festival held at the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States every Labor Day weekend since 1979. It is the Copernicus Foundation's major fundraiser and a four-day celebration of...
. An attempt by Bush to woo Chicago's Polish community
Poles in Chicago
Chicago Polonia, refers to both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage living in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide Polonia, the proper term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago...
to win Illinois (an important state in the election) was roundly denounced by Simon, and Bush eventually lost the state. Simon did not seek reelection in 1996.
He was a prolific author. He came to national prominence in the 1960s, due in part to his well-researched book, Lincoln's Preparation for Greatness: The Illinois Legislative Years. Despite being published 100 years after Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's death, it was the first book to exhaustively cite original source documents from Lincoln's eight years in the General Assembly. He later went on to write more than 20 books on a wide range of topics, including interfaith marriages (he was a Lutheran and his wife, Jeanne, was a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
), global water shortages, United States Supreme Court nomination battles that focused heavily on his personal experiences with Robert Bork
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
and Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
(he was on the Senate Judiciary Committee during these hearings), his autobiography, and even a well-received book on slain Illinois preacher Elijah Lovejoy. His last book, Our Culture of Pandering, was published in October 2003.
After his retirement from politics, he continued to play a role in public life by writing books, and through the SIU Public Policy Institute, which was named for him after his death.
Political positions
Simon spent his career denouncing racism, supporting women's rights, and encouraging equality for racial and ethnic minorities. He was a fiscal conservative who described himself as "a pay-as-you-go Democrat." As a senator, he overhauled the college student loan program to allow students and their families to borrow directly from the federal government, thus saving money by not using private banks to disburse the loans.He fiercely took a stand against obscenity and violence in the media in the 1990s. His efforts against media violence partly led to the adoption of the V-chip
V-chip
V-chip is a generic term for technology used in television set receivers in the USA, Canada, and Brazil which allows the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children's television viewing...
.
He opposed the Contract with America
Contract with America
The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter, who was aided by Newt Gingrich, Robert Walker, Richard Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay, John Boehner and Jim Nussle, and in part using text...
and Clintonian
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
welfare reform
Welfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...
s, and was one of 21 senators who voted against the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is a United States federal law considered to be a fundamental shift in both the method and goal of federal cash assistance to the poor. The bill added a workforce development component to welfare legislation, encouraging...
.
In foreign affairs, he promoted the military response to Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, and he was an outspoken critic of 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....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's response to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. Simon believed America should have acted faster, and Clinton later said his belated response was the biggest mistake of his presidency. He is, together with Jim Jeffords
Jim Jeffords
James Merrill "Jim" Jeffords is a former U.S. Senator from Vermont. He served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become an independent. He retired from the Senate in 2006.-Background:...
, credited by Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
, Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
The United Nations Assistance Mission In Rwanda was a mission instituted by the United Nations to aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed August 4, 1993, which were meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996...
(UNAMIR) from 1993 to 1994, for actively lobbying the U.S. administration into mounting a humanitarian mission to Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
during the genocide. According to Dallaire's book Shake Hands with the Devil, he "owe[s] a great debt of gratitude" to both senators.
Simon was also a supporter of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and opposed United States policy to isolate Taiwan. He was one of the Senators who convinced President Clinton to allow then-Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
President Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui is a politician of the Republic of China . He was the 7th, 8th, and 9th-term President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct...
to visit the United States.
Simon was a staunch opponent of the mandatory minimum sentence. In 1996 he and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
researcher Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel is an American author, attorney, political science researcher and contributing editor to several publications. He is currently Research Director of the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, contributor to the National Review magazine...
co-authored an article in National Law Journal denouncing the practice.
Public Policy Institute
Simon lived for many years in the small town of MakandaMakanda, Illinois
Makanda is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 561. In the early 20th Century it used the slogan "Star of Egypt."Makanda is part of the Carbondale, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, south of Carbondale, where he was a professor and director of the SIU Public Policy Institute
Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is located at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It was founded by Paul Simon, a former two-term U.S. Senator from Illinois and one-time candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States...
. While there, he tried to foster the Institute into becoming a think tank that could advance the lives of all people.
Activities included going to Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
to monitor their elections
Election monitoring
Election monitoring is the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or a non-governmental organization , primarily to assess the conduct of an election process on the basis of national legislation and international standards. There are national...
, bringing major speakers
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
to campus, denouncing the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, trying to end the United States embargo against Cuba
United States embargo against Cuba
The United States embargo against Cuba is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo partially imposed on Cuba in October 1960...
, fostering political courage among his students, and promoting amendment
Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
s to the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
to end the Electoral College and to limit the president to a single six-year term of office. Concerning the Electoral College during the controversial Election 2000
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
fiasco, Simon said, "I think if somebody gets the majority vote, they should be president. But, I don't think the system is going to be changed."
Simon believed modern presidents practice "followship," rather than leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
, saying, "We have been more and more leaning on poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
s to decide what we're going to do, and you don't get leadership from polls... and not just at the presidential level. It's happening with senators, House members and even state legislators sometimes [when they] conduct polls to find out where people stand on something."
Personal life
Simon is the brother of Arthur SimonArthur Simon
Arthur Simon ) is founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, where he served for almost two decades.-Career:...
, founder of Bread for the World
Bread for the World
Bread for the World is a non-partisan, Christian citizens' movement in the United States to end hunger. The organization describes itself as a collective Christian voice urging nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad...
.
In 1960, Simon married state Rep. Jeanne Hurley (Simon) (ca.1923–2000). The Simons had 2 children and were married for nearly 40 years. Their daughter Sheila was a member of the city council and a failed mayoral candidate in Carbondale
Carbondale
Carbondale may refer to:*Carbondale, California*Carbondale, Colorado*Carbondale, Illinois*Carbondale, Indiana*Carbondale, Kansas*Carbondale, Ohio*Carbondale, Oklahoma, an area in Tulsa, Oklahoma*Carbondale, Pennsylvania...
. Sheila was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor run separately in the primary from candidates for...
, a job her father once held, on November 2, 2010. Mrs. Simon died in 2000 at the age of 77 due to brain cancer.
Simon remarried in May 2001 to Patricia Derge. Both Simon and his second wife were widowed. The marriage lasted until his death 2-1/2 years later at the age of 75. His widow is also the widow of former Southern Illinois University president David Derge.
Death and aftermath
Simon died in Springfield, IllinoisSpringfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
following heart surgery at the age of 75 in 2003. WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
(CBS 2 Chicago) reported his death as a "massive gastric blow-out." Just four days before, despite being hospitalized and awaiting surgery, he had endorsed Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
's 2004 presidential bid in a telephone conference call he conducted from his hospital bed. He was also an early supporter of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's bid for the Democratic nomination for the Senate. After Simon's death, his daughter, Sheila, made a television commercial in which she declared "Barack Obama will be a U.S. senator in the Paul Simon tradition." The ad was considered a major reason for Obama's surprise victory in the Democratic primary. In the Senate, Obama praised Simon as a "dear friend."
In July 2005, the U.S. Senator Paul Simon Museum was opened in Troy, Illinois, where Simon lived for 25 years. It includes memorabilia from throughout his life, including the desk and camera from his days as a young editor of the Troy Tribune, items from his presidential campaign, and his lieutenant governor license plates.
Other
- Simon made a humorous cameo in the 8th episode of the 13th season of Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by the musician Paul SimonPaul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
. The duo did a comedy routine about often being mistaken for each other. - Simon made a brief cameoCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as himself in the 1993 political comedy film DaveDave (film)Dave is a 1993 comedy-drama film written by Gary Ross, directed by Ivan Reitman, and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Co-stars include Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley. Ross was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay...
. - Simon's daughter, Sheila SimonSheila SimonSheila J. Simon is an American politician and educator who is the 46th and current Lieutenant Governor of the state of Illinois. She was a Professor of Law at the Southern Illinois University School of Law. Simon is the daughter of former U.S...
, is the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. She previously served as a councilwoman in CarbondaleCarbondale, IllinoisCarbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...
and was a law professor at Southern Illinois UniversitySouthern Illinois UniversitySouthern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
.
Publications
- P.S.: The autobiography of Paul Simon by Paul Simon; ISBN 1-56625-112-5 ; Bonus Books, Inc., 1st ed.
- Fifty-two Simple Ways to Make a Difference, 2004
- Our Culture of Pandering, 2003
- Healing America, 2003
- How to Get into Politics - and Why (with Michael Dukakis), 2000
- Tapped Out: The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It, 1998
- The Dollar Crisis (with Ross Perot), 1996
- Freedom's Champion: Elijah Lovejoy, 1995
- We Can Do Better, 1994
- Advice and Consent, 1992
- Winners and Losers by Paul Simon, ISBN 0-8264-0428-6, The Continuum Publishing Company, 1989
- Let's Put America Back to Work, 1987
- Beginnings: Senator Paul Simon Speaks to Young Americans, 1986
- The Glass House, 1984
- The Once and Future Democrats, 1982
- The Tongue-Tied American, 1980
- The Politics of World Hunger (with Arthur Simon), 1973
- You Want to Change the World? So Change It, 1971
- Protestant-Catholic Marriages Can Succeed (with Jeanne Hurley Simon), 1967
- A Hungry World, 1966
- Lincoln's Preparation for Greatness, 1965
- Lovejoy: Martyr to Freedom, 1964
External links
Retrieved on 2008-07-20- Senator Paul Simon Papers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections Research Center
- Jeanne Hurley Simon Papers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections
- U.S. Senator Paul Simon Museum
- Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
- CNN obituary
- Paul Simon Tribute in Daily Egyptian
- Our Culture of Pandering, ISBN 0-8093-2529-2
- Booknotes interview with Jeanne Simon on Codename: Scarlett Life on the Campaign Trail by the Wife of a Presidential Candidate, July 23, 1989.