Warren Rudman
Encyclopedia
Warren Bruce Rudman is an American
attorney
and Republican
politician
who served as United States Senator
from New Hampshire
between 1980 and 1993. He was known as a pragmatic centrist, to such an extent that President Clinton
approached him in 1994 about replacing departing Treasury Secretary
Lloyd Bentsen
in Clinton's cabinet, an offer that Rudman declined.
After two terms in office, Rudman chose not to run for re-election in 1992. He is now a co-chair of Albright Stonebridge Group
, a retired partner in the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
, and previously sat on the board of directors of Raytheon
, Collins & Aikman
, Allied Waste Corporation, Boston Scientific
and a number of funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds.
. He received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University
, and served in the United States Army
during the Korean War
. He received his law
degree from Boston College Law School
in 1960, and was appointed Attorney General of New Hampshire in 1970; serving in that capacity until 1976.
From 2004 to 2006, Rudman also led a team of attorneys that investigated accounting practices at Fannie Mae
.
Prior to the September 11 attacks, Sen. Rudman had served on a now oft-cited and praised national panel investigating the threat of international terrorism. He, along with fellow former Senator Gary Hart
(D-CO), chaired the panel, and both Rudman and Hart have been lauded since September 11 for their prescient conclusions.
Senator Rudman is an Advisory Board member and Co-Chair of the Partnership for a Secure America
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.
Rudman is one of the few Jewish politicians elected in New Hampshire. He is currently a resident of Hollis, New Hampshire
, a suburb of both Nashua
and Boston (and one of New Hampshire's wealthiest communities).
He is author of a memoir called Combat.
John Durkin
in the 1980 election
, riding the wave of Ronald Reagan
's landslide victory
. Durkin resigned and the Governor appointed Rudman to fill the vacancy in late December 1980. Rudman served on the Senate Appropriations Committee
and the Ethics Committee. His best-known legislative effort was the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
Rudman, along with John H. Sununu
, was a key factor in the appointment of Rudman's personal friend, Supreme Court
Justice David Souter
, to both the federal circuit and the Supreme Court. The Wall Street Journal later editorialized about the appointment, saying: "Mr. Rudman, the man who helped put liberal jurist David Souter on the high court" and who in his "Yankee Republican liberalism" took "pride in recounting how he sold Mr. Souter to gullible White House chief of staff John Sununu as a confirmable conservative. Then they both sold the judge to President Bush, who wanted above all else to avoid a confirmation battle." Rudman wrote in his memoir that he had "suspected all along" that Souter would not "overturn activist liberal precedents." Sununu later said, "In spite of it all, he's a good friend. But I've always known that he was more liberal than he liked the world to think he was."
offered to be his running mate on Reform Party
ticket, but Rudman refused (as former Democratic Senator David Boren of Oklahoma
did). Perot eventually selected Pat Choate
.
Also in 2004, Rudman was mentioned as possible running mate for Democratic nominee, John Kerry
. Kerry eventually selected John Edwards
.
Rudman did accept Senator John McCain
's offer to serve as campaign chair in McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.
The Warren B. Rudman United States Courthouse in Concord
is named for him.
On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
by President Clinton
. He is the founding and current Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Concord Coalition
.
He is a co-chair, along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, of Albright Stonebridge Group
a global business consulting and strategy firm based in Washington, D.C.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attorney
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 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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served as 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...
from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
between 1980 and 1993. He was known as a pragmatic centrist, to such an extent that President 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...
approached him in 1994 about replacing departing Treasury Secretary
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
in Clinton's cabinet, an offer that Rudman declined.
After two terms in office, Rudman chose not to run for re-election in 1992. He is now a co-chair of Albright Stonebridge Group
Albright Stonebridge Group
The Albright Stonebridge Group is a global strategy company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albrightand former National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, and former Senator Warren Rudman...
, a retired partner in the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. The firm has well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms...
, and previously sat on the board of directors of Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
, Collins & Aikman
Collins & Aikman
Collins & Aikman Corporation was a manufacturer of cockpit modules and automotive floor and acoustic systems and a supplier of instrument panels, automotive fabric, plastic based trim and convertible top systems...
, Allied Waste Corporation, Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific
The Boston Scientific Corporation , is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices whose products are used in a range of interventional medical specialties, including interventional cardiology, peripheral interventions, neuromodulation, neurovascular intervention,...
and a number of funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds.
Biography
Rudman has lived his entire life in New Hampshire, with few exceptions. He attended the Valley Forge Military Academy boarding school in Wayne, PAWayne, Pennsylvania
Wayne is an unincorporated community located on the Main Line, centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. While the center of Wayne is in Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County...
. He received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, and 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...
. He received his law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
degree from Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.With approximately 800 students and...
in 1960, and was appointed Attorney General of New Hampshire in 1970; serving in that capacity until 1976.
From 2004 to 2006, Rudman also led a team of attorneys that investigated accounting practices at Fannie Mae
Federal National Mortgage Association
The Federal National Mortgage Association , commonly known as Fannie Mae, was founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal. It is a government-sponsored enterprise , though it has been a publicly traded company since 1968...
.
Prior to the September 11 attacks, Sen. Rudman had served on a now oft-cited and praised national panel investigating the threat of international terrorism. He, along with fellow former Senator Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
(D-CO), chaired the panel, and both Rudman and Hart have been lauded since September 11 for their prescient conclusions.
Senator Rudman is an Advisory Board member and Co-Chair of the Partnership for a Secure America
Partnership for a Secure America
The Partnership for a Secure America is a policy center in the United States. It describes its mission as "recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy."...
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.
Rudman is one of the few Jewish politicians elected in New Hampshire. He is currently a resident of Hollis, New Hampshire
Hollis, New Hampshire
Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,684 at the 2010 census. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hollis Village Historic District....
, a suburb of both Nashua
Nashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
and Boston (and one of New Hampshire's wealthiest communities).
He is author of a memoir called Combat.
Senate career
Rudman defeated incumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
John Durkin
John A. Durkin
John Anthony Durkin was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1975 until 1980.Durkin graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1959 and Georgetown University Law Center in 1965...
in the 1980 election
United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 1980
The 1980 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 2, 1980. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Durkin was defeated by attorney Warren Rudman in a relatively close election, where nationwide Republicans would have a landslide election known as the Reagan...
, riding the wave of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's landslide victory
United States presidential election, 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
. Durkin resigned and the Governor appointed Rudman to fill the vacancy in late December 1980. Rudman served on the Senate Appropriations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
and the Ethics Committee. His best-known legislative effort was the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
Rudman, along with John H. Sununu
John H. Sununu
John Henry Sununu is a former Governor of New Hampshire and former White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. He is the father of John E. Sununu, a former senator from New Hampshire, and formerly a U.S. Representative...
, was a key factor in the appointment of Rudman's personal friend, Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
Justice David Souter
David Souter
David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...
, to both the federal circuit and the Supreme Court. The Wall Street Journal later editorialized about the appointment, saying: "Mr. Rudman, the man who helped put liberal jurist David Souter on the high court" and who in his "Yankee Republican liberalism" took "pride in recounting how he sold Mr. Souter to gullible White House chief of staff John Sununu as a confirmable conservative. Then they both sold the judge to President Bush, who wanted above all else to avoid a confirmation battle." Rudman wrote in his memoir that he had "suspected all along" that Souter would not "overturn activist liberal precedents." Sununu later said, "In spite of it all, he's a good friend. But I've always known that he was more liberal than he liked the world to think he was."
Post-Senate years
After leaving the Senate, Rudman was twice considered as a possible Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket of two parties other than the GOP. In 1996, Ross PerotRoss Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
offered to be his running mate on Reform Party
Reform Party of the United States of America
The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
ticket, but Rudman refused (as former Democratic Senator David Boren of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
did). Perot eventually selected Pat Choate
Pat Choate
Patrick Choate is an American economist who is perhaps most known for being the 1996 Reform Party Vice President candidate, the running-mate of H. Ross Perot...
.
Also in 2004, Rudman was mentioned as possible running mate for Democratic nominee, 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...
. Kerry eventually selected John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
.
Rudman did accept Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
's offer to serve as campaign chair in McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.
The Warren B. Rudman United States Courthouse in Concord
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
is named for him.
On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
Presidential Citizens Medal
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded by the President of the United States, and may be given posthumously....
by President Clinton
William Clinton
Bill Clinton is the 42nd President of the United States. William Clinton may also refer to:*William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon , English nobleman from prominent Norman family dating to William the Conqueror; Lord High Admiral as of 1333*William Henry Clinton , British general from...
. He is the founding and current Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Concord Coalition
Concord Coalition
The Concord Coalition is a political advocacy group in the United States, formed in 1992. A bipartisan organization, it was founded by former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman, former Secretary of Commerce Peter George Peterson, and the late U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas. The Concord Coalition's advocacy...
.
He is a co-chair, along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, of Albright Stonebridge Group
Albright Stonebridge Group
The Albright Stonebridge Group is a global strategy company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albrightand former National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, and former Senator Warren Rudman...
a global business consulting and strategy firm based in Washington, D.C.