| Charles Spittal Robb | |
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| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Paul S. Trible, Jr. |
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| Succeeded by | George Allen |
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64th Governor of Virginia
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| In office January 16, 1982 – January 18, 1986 |
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| Lieutenant | Richard Joseph Davis |
| Preceded by | John N. Dalton |
| Succeeded by | Gerald L. Baliles |
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| Born | June 26, 1939 Phoenix, Arizona |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lynda Johnson |
Charles Spittal "Chuck" Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American politician. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He served as governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States senator from 1989 until 2001. The Governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. In 2004, he chaired the Iraq Intelligence Commission. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction was a panel created by Executive Order 13328 signed by U
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Early life
Charles Robb was born in Phoenix, Arizona and grew up in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria, Virginia. Phoenix (ˈfiːˌnɪks O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo, Mount Vernon is a Census-designated place (CDP in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Alexandria is an Independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1961, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Chi Phi (ΧΦ Fraternity is an American College social fraternity that was established as the result of three separate organizations that each were
A United States Marine Corps veteran and honor graduate of Quantico, Robb became a White House social aide. The Basic School ( TBS) is where all newly commissioned United States Marine Corps officers are sent to learn the art and science of being an Officer of Marines [1] It was there that he met and eventually married Lynda Johnson, the daughter of then U. Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder of the two daughters of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Robb went on to serve two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he commanded a rifle company in combat, and was awarded the Bronze Star. The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration which may be awarded for bravery acts of merit or meritorious service After the war he earned a J.D. at the University of Virginia Law School in 1973, and following a clerkship with a federal appeals judge entered private practice. Juris Doctor (abbreviated JD or JD, from the Latin, Teacher of Law) is a first professional graduate degree and Professional The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a Judge in researching issues before the Court and in writing opinions The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond Virginia with Appellate jurisdiction over the [2]
Political career
Lieutenant Governor and Governor
In 1977, Robb won election as a Democrat for the lieutenant governorship of Virginia. Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state He served as lieutenant governor from 1978 to 1982 and as governor from 1982 to 1986. In the 1977 election, Robb was the only of three Democrats running for statewide office to win that year, leaving him as the sole head of a political party that had not won a governor's race in a dozen years. Four years later in 1981, Robb led all three Democrats into office by appealing to conservatives who were disenchanted with his opponent's maverick style. Virginia Democrats again won all three statewide offices in 1985, which was viewed as an endorsement of Robb's leadership while in office. As a campaigner, Robb was capable but reserved. During a time when political communication styles were beginning to favor sound bites, Robb was known for speaking in paragraphs about complex policy issues. He was also noteworthy among his contemporaries for raising substantial sums of campaign funds.
Politically, Robb was a moderate, but known as a conservative Democrat. As governor, he balanced the state budget without raising taxes, and dedicated an additional $1 billion for education. He appointed a record number of women and minorities to state positions, including the first African American to the state Supreme Court. He was the first Virginia governor in 25 years to use the death penalty. Robb was instrumental in creating the Super Tuesday primary that brought political power to the Southern states. In the United States Super Tuesday, in general refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold He was also a co-founder in creating the Democratic Leadership Council. He was a strong vote-getter in Virginia in the 1980s and helped mold a more progressive Virginia Democratic Party than the one that had ruled the state for decades. He was considered a presidential or vice-presidential prospect for a time. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death
U. S. Senator
Robb later served as Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from 1989 until 2001. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives Robb was elected in 1988, defeating Maurice Dawkins with 71% of the vote. Robb ranked annually as one of the most ideologically centrist senators, and he often acted as a bridge between Democratic and Republican members, preferring background deal-making to seeking the legislative limelight. His fellow Democrats removed him from the Budget Committee for advocating deeper cuts in federal spending. In 1991, he was one of a handful of Democratic senators to support authorizing the use of force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed That same year he was one of only eleven Democrats to vote in favor of Clarence Thomas's controversial nomination to the Supreme Court. Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American Jurist. He has been serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United In 1992 he was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and during his term the DSCC raised record amounts of funding to elect seven new Democrats to the Senate.
On social issues though, Robb was more liberal. He voted for the Assault Weapons Ban and against the execution of minors. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban ( AWB) was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a Federal law of the United States He was opposed to a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. In 1993, he supported President Clinton's proposal to adopt the Don't ask, don't tell policy on homosexuals in the armed forces. "Don't ask don't tell" is the common term for the policy about homosexuality in the U Three years later Robb was the only senator from a Southern state to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act. The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is the short title of a Federal law of the United States passed on September 21 1996 as Public Law No In stating his opposition to the bill, which his friends and supporters urged him to support, he said the following: "I feel very strongly that this legislation is wrong. Despite its name, the Defense of Marriage Act does not defend marriage against some imminent, crippling effect. Although we have made huge strides in the struggle against discrimination based on gender, race, and religion, it is more difficult to see beyond our differences regarding sexual orientation. The fact that our hearts don't speak in the same way is not cause or justification to discriminate. " Some have speculated that his position on gay rights, along with his positions on other hot-button issues like abortion, only alienated the generally conservative voters of Virginia, contributing to his eventual defeat.
In 1994, Robb narrowly defeated former Iran-Contra figure Oliver North in a poor year nationally for Democrats and despite being outspent 4 to 1. The Iran-Contra affair was a political scandal which was revealed in November 1986 as a result of earlier events during the Reagan administration. Oliver Laurence North (born October 7 1943 in San Antonio Texas) is an American best known for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. Senator John Warner refused to support North and instead backed third-party candidate and former Virginia Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman, whom Robb had defeated in the 1981 gubernatorial contest. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives John William Warner (born February 18 1927 is an American Politician, who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and has served as the The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. J Marshall Coleman (born June 8, 1942) is a Republican politician in Virginia who ran for several statewide offices between the late 1970s to The 1994 senate campaign was documented in the 1996 film A Perfect Candidate. During the campaign, Robb won the endorsement of former Reagan Naval Secretary (and future U. The United States Secretary of the Navy ( SECNAV) is the Civilian head of the Department of the Navy. S. senator from Virginia) James Webb, and high profile Republicans such as Elliot Richardson, William Ruckelshaus, and William Colby. James Henry "Jim" Webb Jr (born February 9 1946 is the Junior Senator from Virginia. Elliot Lee Richardson ( July 20, 1920 &ndash December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet William Doyle Ruckelshaus (born July 24, 1932 in Indianapolis Indiana) is an American attorney and civil servant William Egan Colby ( January 4, 1920 – April 27, 1996) spent a career in Intelligence for the United States culminating in holding
Following his re-election in 1994, Robb continued to promote fiscal responsibility and a strong national defense; he was the only senate Democrat to vote for all items in the GOP's "Contract with America" when they reached the Senate floor, including a Balanced Budget Amendment and a line item veto. The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign The Balanced Budget Amendment is any one of various proposed amendments to the United States Constitution which would require a balance in the projected Revenues In Government, the line-item veto is the power of an executive to nullify or "cancel" specific provisions of a bill usually budget appropriations without He became the only senator to simultaneously serve on all three national security committees: Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Intelligence. After two terms in the Senate and 25 years in statewide politics, he was defeated in a close race in 2000 by his Republican opponent, George Allen, who was also a former governor. George Felix Allen (born March 8 1952 is a former Republican United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former Robb was the only Democratic incumbent senator to be defeated in that election.
Scandals and criticisms
Scandals in Robb's term as Governor were few. In June 1983, Washington Post reporter Michael Isikoff broke the news that a Robb appointee who was responsible for mine safety also owned stock in a coal mine where seven miners were killed in an accident during the previous month. Later, Isikoff reported that two mine inspectors also held ownership interests in companies where they were responsible for enforcing safety regulations. The highest level appointee implicated in the scandal sold off his ownership interest in the mine and later two mine inspectors were suspended for owning shares in mines they were responsible for inspecting. Robb responded with calls for reforming conflict of interest laws, but this effort languished in the Virginia legislature and criticism of Robb on the mine safety issue likewise vanished.
In June 1984, Virginia experienced its worst death row escape when six prisoners awaiting execution overpowered guards at Mecklenberg maximum security prison and fled in a prison vehicle. Two were immediately caught but the other four went unapprehended for weeks. Later that summer, two even more notorious death row prisoners from Richmond also escaped from their prison and were eventually recaptured in Philadelphia. In September, 1984, six prisoners at a medium security prison took a guard as hostage for six hours and demanded to be relocated to a higher security facility for their own safety. Robb focused attention to reforming the administration of Virginia's correctional system and was not blamed for the mismanagement scandal that resulted in so many incidents of violence and escapes.
In 1991, Robb admitted that he had spent time with former Miss Virginia USA Tai Collins alone in a hotel room during the time he was governor in the 1980s. The Miss Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss USA pageant Tai Collins (born Tanquil Lisa Collins 1963 in Roanoke, Virginia) is a model, Actress, Screenwriter, and former However, he denied having an affair with her, merely — and somewhat improbably — admitting to sharing a bottle of champagne and receiving a nude massage. Collins later told Playboy magazine that the two had been having an affair since 1983. Playboy is an American Men's magazine, founded in Chicago Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates which has grown into Playboy There were also rumors that during the time he was governor, Robb was present at parties where cocaine was used. He strongly denied this when the issue was raised during his 1988 campaign for the U. S. Senate. Robb so vehemently denied the cocaine allegation that he claimed to not even know what cocaine looked like. This claim only added to the sensationalism.
Also in 1991, three of Robb's aides resigned after listening to illegally-recorded cell phone conversations of Virginia Governor (and possible 1994 Senate primary opponent) Doug Wilder. Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American Politician and was the first African American to be elected The scandal of the phone conversation morphed into a federal grand jury investigation when it was learned that Robb's staff and Robb himself may have been guilty of conspiring to distribute the contents of an illegal wiretap. Robb and his staff claimed to be unaware of the fact that that conversations on cell phones are protected by the same laws governing land lines. The grand jury concluded its work without indicting Robb.
Robb and Wilder had one of the longest and most public running feuds of any two Virginia politicians in recent memory.
Current life
Following his two terms in the Senate, Robb served on the Board of Visitors at the U.S. Naval Academy, and began teaching at George Mason University School of Law. The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States that educates and commissions officers of the United States George Mason University School of Law (Mason Law or GMUSL is the law school of George Mason University, a State university in the U On February 6, 2004, Robb was appointed co-chair of the Iraq Intelligence Commission, an independent panel tasked with investigating U. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction was a panel created by Executive Order 13328 signed by U S. intelligence surrounding the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e In 2006 he was appointed to serve on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. He also served on the Iraq Study Group with former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. The Iraq Study group (ISG also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, was a ten-person Bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, See also James Addison Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28 1930) is a American attorney politician political A New York Times article on October 9, 2006 credited Robb with being the only member of the group to venture outside the American controlled "Green Zone" on a recent trip to Baghdad. Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Green Zone (the common name for the International Zone of Iraq is a 10 km² (4 mile² area in central Baghdad that was the center of the Coalition Provisional He is also a former member of the Trilateral Commission. The Trilateral Commission is a private organization established to foster closer cooperation between America Europe and Japan He resides in McLean, Virginia. McLean (pronounced "mick-CLANE") is an Unincorporated community located in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia.
References
- ^ Robb, Charles. George Mason University (2007-12-15). George Mason University (also referred to as GMU or Mason) is a large Public university in the United States. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Retrieved on 2008-03-20. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden.
- ^ Washington Post.com
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John N. Dalton |
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia 1978 – 1982 |
Succeeded by Richard J. Davis |
| Governor of Virginia January 16, 1982 – January 18, 1986 |
Succeeded by Gerald L. Baliles |
|
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by Paul S. Trible, Jr. |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Virginia January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001 Served alongside: John W. Warner |
Succeeded by George F. Allen |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Dick Gephardt |
Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council 1986 – 1988 |
Succeeded by Sam Nunn |
| Preceded by John Breaux Louisiana |
Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee 1991 – 1993 |
Succeeded by Bob Graham Florida |
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