Sam Fox
Encyclopedia
Sam Fox is an American
businessman in St. Louis
. He was the United States Ambassador to Belgium
from April 11, 2007 until January 2, 2009. President
George W. Bush
appointed Fox to the post by a recess appointment
on April 4, 2007.
to Jewish and Ukrainian-American
immigrant Michel Fuks (later Max Fox), and Fanny Gold. Fox went to Washington University in St. Louis
were he joined Sigma Alpha Mu
Fraternity. He graduated with a A.B. in business in 1951 and served in the United States Naval Reserve. He married Marilyn Widman Fox and has five children; Sherri, Pamela, Jeff, Greg, and Steve. He has 14 grandchildren.
Fox founded Harbour Group Industries
, a multi-billion dollar investment firm.http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/41/41020.htmlhttp://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/23_fox.html
A major donor to the Republican Party
, Fox was a Bush Pioneer
in 2000 and a "Ranger" in 2004, categories for donors who recruit others to donate. Very late in the 2004 election campaign, on October 29, 2004, Fox also donated $50,000 Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ("SBVT"), a 527 group
that opposed John Kerry
in the 2004 presidential election
by claiming that Kerry exaggerated his service record. The SBVT has since been widely dismissed as a political attack group failing to substantiate any of their claims.
Fox is the past chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition
. Fox has also been involved in numerous philanthropic events; he has been chairman of the Greater St. Louis Boy Scouts
and a member of the Board of Trustees at Washington University since 1989. He also endowed the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
at Washington University, which includes the School of Art and the School of Architecture.
Additionally, President George W. Bush
appointed Sam and Marilyn Fox to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
Fox was nominated for the position of Ambassador in December 2006. During his February 2007 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Fox faced lengthy questioning from the target of attacks by the 527 group he funded in 2004, Senator John Kerry. Kerry interrogated Fox for approximately 35 minutes, beginning with 20 minutes of questioning directly pertinent to the ambassadorial position for which Fox was nominated, such as the tensions over the U.S. Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
which accessed transaction databases of the SWIFT
network. Kerry continued with a series of questions related to Fox's financial support of a 527 group
which had attacked Kerry's military record during the 2004 campaign. In response to the question from Kerry, "I assume that you believe the truth in public life is important," Fox answered, "Yes, sir." Kerry then followed with,
"And might I ask you what your opinion is with respect to the state of American politics, as regards the politics of personal destruction?" to which Fox replied "I'm against 527s, I've always been against 527s....Senator Kerry, I very much respect your dedicated service to this country... Senator, you're a hero."
But in response to follow up questions from Kerry, Fox did not denounce or acknowledge any responsibility or regret for his own support of the attacks on Kerry's military record in 2004.
, Bush used his power of recess appointment
to secure Fox's position without the need for Senate approval. This made Fox ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, and effectively made him ambassador for the remainder of the Bush presidency.
Three Democratic senators wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office
Thursday calling for an investigation of whether President Bush's Wednesday appointment of Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium was legal. Bush bypassed Congress and gave Fox the position without confirmation from the Senate, angering Democrats who were strongly against his nomination.
Bush used his power to make recess appointments and gave Fox the job while lawmakers were on a one-day break. Recess appointments are generally made if Congress is out for a long time, such as a month-long summer vacation.
The letter, submitted by Democrats Chris Dodd of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Robert Casey
of Pennsylvania, read: "We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power."
Dodd argued that the law that enables the president to make recess appointments was not created to get around the approval of the Senate.
"This is really now taking the recess appointment vehicle and abusing this beyond anyone's imagination," Dodd said, according to AP. "This is a travesty."
He said in a statement that what the President did was "deceptive at best and illegal at worst."
appeared on the Rush Limbaugh
radio program and discussed the Sam Fox controversy.
Transcript of Rush Limbaugh Broadcast
RUSH: The recess appointment of Sam Fox. Sam Fox is from my home state, and I know of Sam Fox.
He was treated horribly by Senator Kerry and others on that committee, simply because he had made a political donation.
They essentially told him he did not have free speech in this country, and until he would apologize, 'til he would go up to Kerry and apologize for supporting the swift boats.
Now the president has recess appointed him (Ambassador to Belgium), and of course the Democrats say they're going to investigate this and going to look into this. This is the kind of move that garners a lot of support from the people in the country. This shows the administration willing to engage these people, and not allow them to get away with this kind of—well, my term, you don't have to accept it -- "Stalinist behavior".
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, you're dead on, Rush.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. He was the United States Ambassador to Belgium
United States Ambassador to Belgium
In 1832, shortly after the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the United States established diplomatic relations. Since that time, a long line of distinguished envoys have represented American interests in Belgium. These diplomats included men and women whose career paths would lead them to...
from April 11, 2007 until January 2, 2009. 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....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
appointed Fox to the post by a recess appointment
Recess appointment
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
on April 4, 2007.
Life and career
Fox was born in Desloge, MissouriDesloge, Missouri
Desloge is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. The estimated 2008 population was 5,190. It was 4,802 at the 2000 census.-History:...
to Jewish and Ukrainian-American
Ukrainian-American
Ukrainian Americans are citizens and permanent residents of the United States who have recently emigrated to the United States and are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2006 there were 961,113 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.33% of the American population...
immigrant Michel Fuks (later Max Fox), and Fanny Gold. Fox went to Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
were he joined Sigma Alpha Mu
Sigma Alpha Mu
Sigma Alpha Mu , also known as "Sammy", is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Originally only for Jewish men, Sigma Alpha Mu remained so until 1953, when members from all backgrounds were accepted. Originally headquartered in New York, Sigma Alpha Mu has...
Fraternity. He graduated with a A.B. in business in 1951 and served in the United States Naval Reserve. He married Marilyn Widman Fox and has five children; Sherri, Pamela, Jeff, Greg, and Steve. He has 14 grandchildren.
Fox founded Harbour Group Industries
Harbour Group Industries
Harbour Group Industries is a diversified investment corporation. The company was founded in 1976 and is invested heavily in North American companies involved in the several diverse sectors, auto accessories, plastic-processing equipment, music, and entertainment. Harbour Group has acquired more...
, a multi-billion dollar investment firm.http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/41/41020.htmlhttp://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/23_fox.html
A major donor to the Republican Party
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...
, Fox was a Bush Pioneer
Bush Pioneer
Bush Pioneers are people who gathered $100,000 for George W. Bush's 2000 or 2004 presidential campaign. Two new levels, Bush Rangers and Super Rangers, were bestowed upon supporters who gathered $200,000+ or $300,000+, respectively, for the 2004 campaign, after the 2002 McCain–Feingold campaign...
in 2000 and a "Ranger" in 2004, categories for donors who recruit others to donate. Very late in the 2004 election campaign, on October 29, 2004, Fox also donated $50,000 Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ("SBVT"), a 527 group
527 group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code...
that opposed John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
in the 2004 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
by claiming that Kerry exaggerated his service record. The SBVT has since been widely dismissed as a political attack group failing to substantiate any of their claims.
Fox is the past chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition
Republican Jewish Coalition
The Republican Jewish Coalition , founded in 1985, is a political lobbying group in the United States that promotes Jewish Republicans. The RJC claims that it is the most important voice on conservative political issues for the Jewish-American community...
. Fox has also been involved in numerous philanthropic events; he has been chairman of the Greater St. Louis Boy Scouts
Scouting in Missouri
Scouting in Missouri has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.-Early history :According to William D...
and a member of the Board of Trustees at Washington University since 1989. He also endowed the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is the visual arts and design degree granting branch of Washington University in St. Louis. The Sam Fox School was created in 2005 by merging the existing Colleges of Art and Architecture; the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts combines the strengths...
at Washington University, which includes the School of Art and the School of Architecture.
Additionally, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
appointed Sam and Marilyn Fox to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
Ambassadorial nomination
Late in the 2004 election campaign, on October 29, 2004, Mr. Fox donated $50,000 to The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT). Mr. Fox made this donation knowing that the SBVT claims against Kerry had been challenged.Fox was nominated for the position of Ambassador in December 2006. During his February 2007 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Fox faced lengthy questioning from the target of attacks by the 527 group he funded in 2004, Senator John Kerry. Kerry interrogated Fox for approximately 35 minutes, beginning with 20 minutes of questioning directly pertinent to the ambassadorial position for which Fox was nominated, such as the tensions over the U.S. Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
The Terrorist Finance Tracking Program is a United States government program to access the SWIFT transaction database revealed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times in June 2006. It is part of the Bush administration's "Global War on Terrorism"...
which accessed transaction databases of the SWIFT
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
network. Kerry continued with a series of questions related to Fox's financial support of a 527 group
527 group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code...
which had attacked Kerry's military record during the 2004 campaign. In response to the question from Kerry, "I assume that you believe the truth in public life is important," Fox answered, "Yes, sir." Kerry then followed with,
"And might I ask you what your opinion is with respect to the state of American politics, as regards the politics of personal destruction?" to which Fox replied "I'm against 527s, I've always been against 527s....Senator Kerry, I very much respect your dedicated service to this country... Senator, you're a hero."
But in response to follow up questions from Kerry, Fox did not denounce or acknowledge any responsibility or regret for his own support of the attacks on Kerry's military record in 2004.
Recess Appointment
On April 4, 2007, while the Senate was in recessRecess (motion)
In parliamentary procedure, "recess" refers to legislative bodies—such as parliaments, assemblies, juries—that are released to reassemble at a later time. The members may leave the meeting room, but are expected to remain nearby. A recess may be simply to allow a break or it may be...
, Bush used his power of recess appointment
Recess appointment
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
to secure Fox's position without the need for Senate approval. This made Fox ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, and effectively made him ambassador for the remainder of the Bush presidency.
Senate / Democratic Reaction
Several Democratic Senators criticized Bush's decision to make a recess appointment when the nomination was no longer pending before Congress. They also argued that this use of the recess appointment power was illegal because of statutory restrictions applicable to ambassadorships.Three Democratic senators wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
Thursday calling for an investigation of whether President Bush's Wednesday appointment of Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium was legal. Bush bypassed Congress and gave Fox the position without confirmation from the Senate, angering Democrats who were strongly against his nomination.
Bush used his power to make recess appointments and gave Fox the job while lawmakers were on a one-day break. Recess appointments are generally made if Congress is out for a long time, such as a month-long summer vacation.
The letter, submitted by Democrats Chris Dodd of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Robert Casey
Bob Casey, Jr.
Robert Patrick "Bob" Casey, Jr. is the senior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as Pennsylvania Treasurer, and Pennsylvania Auditor General. He is the son of former Governor Bob Casey, Sr..He is the first Democrat elected to a full term in...
of Pennsylvania, read: "We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power."
Dodd argued that the law that enables the president to make recess appointments was not created to get around the approval of the Senate.
"This is really now taking the recess appointment vehicle and abusing this beyond anyone's imagination," Dodd said, according to AP. "This is a travesty."
He said in a statement that what the President did was "deceptive at best and illegal at worst."
Administration / Republican Reaction
On April 5, 2007, Vice President Dick CheneyDick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
appeared on the Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
radio program and discussed the Sam Fox controversy.
Transcript of Rush Limbaugh Broadcast
RUSH: The recess appointment of Sam Fox. Sam Fox is from my home state, and I know of Sam Fox.
He was treated horribly by Senator Kerry and others on that committee, simply because he had made a political donation.
They essentially told him he did not have free speech in this country, and until he would apologize, 'til he would go up to Kerry and apologize for supporting the swift boats.
Now the president has recess appointed him (Ambassador to Belgium), and of course the Democrats say they're going to investigate this and going to look into this. This is the kind of move that garners a lot of support from the people in the country. This shows the administration willing to engage these people, and not allow them to get away with this kind of—well, my term, you don't have to accept it -- "Stalinist behavior".
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, you're dead on, Rush.
External links
- Profile from Horatio Alger Association