Allard Lowenstein | |
|---|---|
 Lowenstein in 1968 | |
| United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights | |
| In office February 7, 1977 – August 5, 1977 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Philip E. Hoffman |
| Succeeded by | Edward Mezvinsky |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's5th district | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert Tenzer |
| Succeeded by | Norman F. Lent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Allard Kenneth Lowenstein (1929-01-16)January 16, 1929 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 14, 1980(1980-03-14) (aged 51) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Manner of death | Assassination by gunshot |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jennifer Lyman |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) Yale University (LLB) |
Allard Kenneth Lowenstein (January 16, 1929 – March 14, 1980)[1][2] was an AmericanDemocratic politician who served as theU.S. representative for the5th congressional district inNassau County, New York, for one term from 1969 to 1971.
Lowenstein was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son ofLithuanian Jewish immigrants Gabriel Lowenstein [Löwenstein] and Augusta Goldberg Lowenstein.[3][4] Lowenstein had two older brothers, Bert and Larry. His mother died from breast cancer when he was very young, and his father remarried soon after.[3] Lowenstein was a graduate of theHorace Mann School inNew York City[5] and of theUniversity of North Carolina.[2] As an undergraduate, he was president of theNational Student Association and theDialectic Society.[2] Lowenstein received a J.D. fromYale Law School in 1954.[2]
After law school, Lowenstein served in theU.S. Army from 1954 to 1956, then became a college professor and administrator, holding posts atStanford University,North Carolina State University, andCity College of New York.[6]
In 1949 Lowenstein worked as a special assistant on the staff of SenatorFrank Porter Graham[7] and was a foreign policy assistant on SenatorHubert H. Humphrey's staff in 1959.[8] In the 1960s Lowenstein spent time in Mississippi as part of theFreedom Summer, and an interview of Lowenstein was featured in episode 5 of theCivil Rights Movement documentaryEyes on the Prize.[9]
In 1959, Lowenstein made a clandestine tour ofSouth-West Africa, nowNamibia. While he was there, he collected testimony against theSouth African-controlled government (South-West Africa was aUnited Nations Trust Territory). After his return, he spent a year promoting his findings to various student organizations and then wrote a book,A Brutal Mandate, with an introduction byEleanor Roosevelt, with whom he had worked in 1957 at theAmerican Association for the United Nations.
In 1960 Lowenstein was a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention.[6]
In 1964, he attended the1964 Republican National Convention[citation needed] with his close friend and Congressional colleague[10]Donald Rumsfeld.
In 1966 he helped SenatorRobert F. Kennedy in writing his famousDay of Affirmation Address, given to theNational Union of South African Students at theUniversity of Cape Town.[11]
Along withCurtis Gans in 1967, and later that fall joined by Wisconsin'sMidge Miller, Lowenstein started the"Dump Johnson" movement, approaching SenatorsRobert F. Kennedy and, at Kennedy's suggestion,George McGovern about challenging President Johnson in the1968 Democratic primaries. When Kennedy and McGovern both declined, Lowenstein, a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention, recruited and worked forEugene McCarthy, to whosecandidacy he remained loyal, even after Kennedy's late entry into the race (before Johnson bowed out). Johnson's withdrawal from the presidential nomination process has been attributed to the impact of the "Dump Johnson" movement, culminating in the historical precedent of McCarthy's strong showing against Johnson in the New Hampshire primary.[12][13]
Lowenstein was elected toCongress onLong Island,New York, in 1968 but was defeated in a modified district in 1970 byNew York State SenatorNorman F. Lent by 9,300 votes, effectivelygerrymandered out of office by the Republican-controlled state legislature, which determined the district's boundaries.Long Island's generally liberalFive Towns region had been removed from the district, and the far more conservativeMassapequa added. Lowenstein captured 46% of the vote in the new district.
The 1970 election was viewed nationwide as a referendum on President Richard Nixon's conduct of the Vietnam War.[14] In 1971, Lowenstein became head of theAmericans for Democratic Action and spearheaded the "Dump Nixon" movement, earning himself the number 7 spot onNixon's Enemies List.
In 1972, Lowenstein ran unsuccessfully for Congress inBrooklyn against CongressmanJohn J. Rooney, aconservative Democrat supported by the party "machine," in the Democratic primary. After Rooney's victory was challenged and the election recalled due to allegations of fraud, Rooney narrowly won the rescheduled primary, but Lowenstein continued in the race on theLiberal Party line, finishing with 28% of the vote.
After an abortive 1974U.S. Senate bid, Lowenstein unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican CongressmanJohn Wydler in a largely Republican district in Long Island in 1974 and 1976, receiving crucial support and endorsements from some local conservative Republicans as well as conservativeWilliam F. Buckley, Jr. In 1974, he was defeated by Wydler, 58-42 percent.
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 Allard Lowenstein speaking at UCLA (Apr. 7, 1969) |
Lowenstein was one of the first public figures to cast doubt upon the official account of the June 6, 1968,assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Lowenstein made a one-hour appearance on the PBS television showFiring Line in 1975, where he was interviewed byWilliam F. Buckley Jr., in which he stated that he did not believe thatSirhan Sirhan alone had shot Kennedy.[15]
President Carter appointed Lowenstein asUnited States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and thus head of the United States delegation to the thirty-third regular annual session of theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1977.[16] Lowenstein served with the rank of ambassador from August 1977 to June 1978 in the capacity of alternate United States Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations.
In 1978 he resigned his U.N. post to run for Congress in Manhattan's"Silk Stocking District", narrowly losing the Democratic primary toCarter Burden, who in turn lost the general election to RepublicanS. William Green.
Lowenstein was a close friend of conservative commentatorWilliam F. Buckley, Jr., who featured Lowenstein on numerousFiring Line programs, publicly endorsed his candidacies for U.S. Congress, and delivered a eulogy at his funeral.[17][18]
Lowenstein reportedly was RepublicanDonald Rumsfeld's "best friend in Congress" during Lowenstein's term of office, the two having become good friends while serving as Congressional aides in the late 1950s. Despite their party and ideological differences, Rumsfeld joined Lowenstein on the victory platform upon Lowenstein's election to Congress in 1968. In 1970, Rumsfeld publicly defended Lowenstein against his Republican opponent's attacks, only to recant and endorse the opponent,Norman Lent, under pressure from the Nassau County (Long Island) Republican organization and Nixon White House. Rumsfeld's public reversal contributed to Lowenstein's reelection defeat and the end of their friendship.[10]
Lowenstein's subsequent campaigns for Congress from Long Island against Republican incumbentJohn Wydler in a largely Republican district were significantly aided by active, public support from several local conservative Republicans.
On March 14, 1980, Lowenstein was shot in hisManhattan office by Dennis Sweeney, who was mentally ill and believed that Lowenstein was plotting against him. Sweeney then calmly waited for the police to arrive.
Sweeney was foundnot guilty by reason of insanity and committed to full-time psychiatric treatment forschizophrenia. In 2000, a judge found that Sweeney was no longer a danger to society and granted him a conditional release.[19]
Lowenstein was married to Jennifer Lowenstein (née Lyman, now Littlefield) from 1966 to 1977, when they divorced, and the two had three children:Frank Graham, Thomas Kennedy, and Katharine Eleanor.[20][21]
While he dated women and later married one, Lowenstein's leading biographer asserts that he was gay, notes that toward the end of his life he became active in gay rights causes and speculates that he was on the verge of focusing on this issue and coming out, when he was killed.[22] Lowenstein's homosexuality was later confirmed by many friends and associates interviewed by an oral history project.[23]
Katharine Lowenstein is a victims rights attorney and juvenile justice advocate.[24][25] Thomas Lowenstein founded and directs theNew Orleans Journalism Project, and has worked with the New OrleansInnocence Project.[26] He is author of "The Trials of Walter Ogrod."[27] Frank Lowenstein was the U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and Senior Advisor to theU.S. Secretary of State[28] during the presidency ofBarack Obama.
In the early 1960s, he briefly served as dean of Stern Hall, then a men's dormitory atStanford University, during which time he met and befriended undergraduate students includingDavid Harris and Dennis Sweeney.
Hofstra University established the Allard K. Lowenstein Civil Rights Scholarship in 2007.
Yale Law School also has several programs named in honor of Lowenstein. TheAllard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Project was founded in 1981 shortly after Lowenstein's death to honor his contributions in the field of human rights and provide law students with a vehicle to continue his work. The Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic,[29] an outgrowth of the Project, is a clinical course in which law students participate in legal and advocacy research and writing projects for academic credit.
Lowenstein's papers are held as a special collection of the Long Beach Public Library and offer much material relative to his activities and his times. TheLong Beach, New York Public Library is also named after Lowenstein (since the 1980s).
In 1980, Lowenstein received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually byJefferson Awards.[30]
In 1980 singer/songwriterHarry Chapin, a personal friend of Lowenstein's, wrote his song "Remember When the Music"[31] after hearing the news of Lowenstein's death. On his posthumous live albumThe Bottom Line Encore Collection, Chapin dedicated the song to Lowenstein andJohn Lennon, who also died in 1980.
An area adjacent to theUnited Nations headquarters in New York City is named Allard K. Lowenstein Square.
In 1983, the documentary filmCitizen: The Political Life of Allard K. Lowenstein was produced by Brogan De Paor,Mike Farrell and Julie Thompson and directed by Thompson.[32][33] It was broadcast on PBS Television in 1984.[33]
Lowenstein was portrayed byBrent Spiner in the 1984 television miniseriesRobert Kennedy and His Times, based on the book byArthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Media related toAllard K. Lowenstein at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toAllard K. Lowenstein at Wikiquote| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 5th congressional district 1969–1971 | Succeeded by |
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