Bob Bennett | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2009 | |
| United States Senator fromUtah | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Jake Garn |
| Succeeded by | Mike Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Foster Bennett (1933-09-18)September 18, 1933 Salt Lake City,Utah, U.S. |
| Died | May 4, 2016(2016-05-04) (aged 82) Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Salt Lake City Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Parent |
|
| Education | University of Utah (BS) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1957–1969 |
| Unit | Utah Army National Guard Army Chaplain Corps |
Bennett on the death ofGordon B. Hinckley, then-president ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Recorded January 28, 2008 | |
Robert Foster Bennett (September 18, 1933 – May 4, 2016) was an American politician and businessman who served as aUnited States Senator fromUtah from 1993 to 2011. A member of theRepublican Party, Bennett held chairmanships and senior positions on various key Senate committees, including the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; Appropriations Committee; Rules and Administration Committee; Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Joint Economic Committee.
Bennett was a popular and reliablyconservative senator for most of his tenure, earning high ratings from conservative activist groups such as theNRA Political Victory Fund,[1] theU.S. Chamber of Commerce, and theAmerican Conservative Union.[2][3] However, in 2010, Bennett became one of the most prominent targets of theTea Party Movement, which criticized his support of theBush Administration'sbank bailout and argued that Bennett was insufficiently conservative. Despite an enthusiastic endorsement fromMitt Romney, Bennett was denied a place on the primary ballot by the 2010 Utah State Republican Convention, placing third behind two Tea-Party-backed candidates.[4]
Following his exit from the Senate, Bennett joined the law firmArent Fox as senior policy advisor.[5] He also became Chairman of Bennett Group, a consulting firm with offices in Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., and announced his intention to become a registeredlobbyist in early 2013, after being out of office for the legally required two years.[6] He served as a senior fellow at theBipartisan Policy Center, where he focused on budget, energy, and health issues.[7] Bennett was also a part-time teacher, researcher, and lecturer at theUniversity of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and was a fellow at theGeorge Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.[8] He was a member of the board of theGerman Marshall Fund.
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Born on September 18, 1933, inSalt Lake City, Utah,[9][10] Bennett was the son of Frances Marion (née Grant) and the U.S. SenatorWallace Foster Bennett,[11] as well as a grandson ofHeber J. Grant, the seventhpresident ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a great-grandson ofJedediah M. Grant (Heber J. Grant's father) andDaniel H. Wells (through Heber J. Grant's wifeEmily H. Wells), early mayors of Salt Lake City and counselors in theFirst Presidency of the LDS Church.
Bennett attended high school at East High, and he earned hisB.S. from theUniversity of Utah in 1957 majoring in Political Science. He also served as theStudent Body President at theUniversity of Utah and was initiated intoOwl and Key. After graduation in 1957, Bennett joined theUtah Army National Guard and spent six months on active duty. Upon his return, he was commissioned a Chaplain in the Guard and served until 1960.
In 1963 he went to Washington as press secretary to a Utah Congressman,Sherman P. Lloyd, and later as administrative assistant to his father. He became the head of the Governmental Affairs office of theJ. C. Penney Company in 1965 but resigned from Penney's to accept an appointment in theNixon Administration, as Director of Congressional Affairs in theUnited States Department of Transportation. He held this position through 1969 and 1970, leaving in 1971 to purchase theRobert Mullen Company, aWashington, D.C., public-relations company.[citation needed] While at Mullen, Bennett was chair of several dummy committees that funneled corporate donations into Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign[12]
Bennett's principal client was the CIA-alignedSumma Corporation, the holding company of billionaireHoward Hughes. In 1974, after his CIA ties and those of the Mullen Company had been revealed by theWatergate scandal.[13][a]
He subsequently became chairman of American Computer Corporation, and then president of the Microsonics Corporation, a public firm listed onNASDAQ. In 1984, Bennett was named as the CEO of the Franklin International Institute, a startup that produced Franklin Day Planners and grew intoFranklin Quest, which was listed on theNew York Stock Exchange in 1992. After being named Entrepreneur of the Year for the Rocky Mountain Region byInc. Magazine, he stepped down as CEO in 1991, prior to his run for the Senate.[14]
A Senate seat opened up in1992, whenJake Garn declined to enter the race for a fourth term. Bennett narrowly won the heavily contestedRepublican Party primary election (with 51% of the votes cast) in 1992, his primary opponent beingJoseph A. Cannon, another millionaire with prominentLDS forebears. Bennett then went on to defeat hisDemocratic opponent, CongressmanWayne Owens, in the general election. He was re-elected in1998 and2004.
Bennett was challenged by seven other Republicans and two Democrats in his bid for re-election in2010, includingMike Lee,Cherilyn Eagar,Tim Bridgewater, and DemocratsSam Granato andChristopher Stout. Utah Attorney GeneralMark Shurtleff dropped out of the race, citing family concerns.[15][16][17]
Despite a strong approval rating among statewide voters, Bennett was defeated on May 8, 2010, at the Utah Republican Convention after finishing third in the second round of balloting, to Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater.[18]
After the convention, Senator Bennett was widely encouraged by his constituents and colleagues to pursue a write-in bid to retain his U.S. Senate seat, but ultimately declined, citing the toxic atmosphere such a bid would bring to the state's political environment.[19]
During the106th Congress, Bennett was tapped by thenMajority Leader,Bill Frist, to serve as the Chief Deputy Republican Party"Whip". Later, as Counsel toMitch McConnell, Senator Bennett was an influential member of the Republican Leadership Team and advised theMinority Leader on "legislative strategy and policy priorities".[20]
Bennett was a strongopponent ofabortion and supported measures to restrict it. These included requirements of parental notification for one to take place and bans on allowing minors to cross state lines to obtain the procedure and late-term abortions. He showed some support, however, forembryonic stem cell research.[21]
On March 25, 2010, during theHealth Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 debate, the U.S. Senate defeated an attempt by Bennett[22] to "suspend the issuance of marriage licenses to any couple of the same sex until the people of the District of Columbia have the opportunity to hold a referendum or initiative on the question".[23]
Bennett supportedBush Administrationwiretapping proposals. He was one of only three Republican senators to vote against a proposedconstitutional ban onflag burning.[24]
Bennett was a supporter of aflat tax and also was a leading voice for the repeal of theinheritance tax,alternative minimum tax, and "marriage penalty". He stated that it was unfair for the tax burden to fall on the wealthiest one percent of the population. Bennett voted againstminimum wage increases and bills that would increase the ease in which workers could organize.[21]
Afree trade advocate, Bennett voted in favor ofCAFTA, presidential fast-tracking for normalizing trade relations, and removing common goods from national security export controls. He favored recent trade deals with countries such asChile,Singapore, andOman.[21]
Bennett was an opponent of public health care and blamed government policies for the high cost of insurance. He voted against proposals to expand government health care, such as those that would letMedicare negotiate in bulk with drug companies or those that would enroll more children in federally provided insurance. He also voted against theState Children's Health Insurance Program. During his final Senate campaign, he stated that high taxes were causing insurers to pass the costs off to customers. He believed that new drugs were not being properly developed because pharmaceutical companies feared lawsuits if unexpected side effects occurred.[21]
Bennett was the lead Republican sponsor of theHealthy Americans Act, championed byDemocratic SenatorRon Wyden.[25][citation needed]
Bennett had a mixed record on immigration control. He voted in favor of the fence along theMexico–United States border, makingEnglish the nation's official language and denying citizenship toguest workers. He voted for the 2006Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, which would have granted legalization of status to an estimated 12 millionillegal immigrants.
Bennett was a supporter of thePATRIOT Act. He voted no on limiting the tours of duty for soldiers inIraq and on grantinghabeas corpus rights to detainees inGuantanamo Bay.[21]
Bennett earned a lifetime score of 6% from the League of Conservation Voters.[26] He was againstCorporate Average Fuel Economy standards, defining goals for a 40 percent reduction in oil use by 2025 and factoringglobal warming into government planning. Bennett supportedArctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling and usingnuclear power as an energy solution. He also voted against providing emergency energy funding toLouisiana afterHurricane Katrina.[21]
In 1962, Bennett married Joyce McKay, a granddaughter ofDavid O. McKay, the ninth president of the LDS Church. This couple has six children: Julie, Robert, James, Wendy, Heather, and Heidi. Bob and Joyce together have 20 grandchildren.
Bennett died on May 4, 2016, aged 82, at his home inArlington, Virginia, after suffering frompancreatic cancer and astroke.[27][28]
Bennett spent the last days of his life apologizing to the Muslim community for controversial rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates, including the eventual nominee and overall victor,Donald Trump.[29]
| Candidate | Pct | Candidate | Pct | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert F. Bennett | 51% | Joseph A. Cannon | 49% |
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Wayne Owens | 301,228 | 40% | Robert F. Bennett | 420,069 | 55% | Anita R. Morrow | Populist | 17,549 | 2% | Maury Modine | Libertarian | 14,341 | 2% | Patricia Grogan | Socialist Workers | 5,292 | 1% | ||||||
| 1998 | Scott Leckman | 163,172 | 33% | Robert F. Bennett | 316,652 | 64% | Gary R. Van Horn | Independent American | 15,073 | 3% | * | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | Paul Van Dam | 258,955 | 28% | Robert F. Bennett | 626,640 | 69% | Gary R.Van Horn | Constitution | 17,289 | 2% | Joe LaBonte | Personal Choice | 8,824 | 1% | * |
* Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1998, write-ins received 12 votes. In 2004, write-ins received 18 votes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Lee | 982 | 28.75 | |
| Republican | Tim Bridgewater | 917 | 26.84 | |
| Republican | Bob Bennett | 885 | 25.91 | |
| Republican | Cherilyn Eagar | 541 | 15.84 | |
| Republican | Merrill Cook | 49 | 1.43 | |
| Republican | Leonard Fabiano | 22 | 0.64 | |
| Republican | Jeremy Friedbaum | 16 | 0.47 | |
| Republican | David Chiu | 4 | 0.12 | |
| Total votes | 3,416 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Bridgewater | 1,274 | 37.42 | |
| Republican | Mike Lee | 1,225 | 35.99 | |
| Republican | Bob Bennett | 905 | 26.99 | |
| Total votes | 3,404 | 100.00 | ||
...in his two terms in the U.S. Senate, Bennett has cast 45 votes in defense of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and has an "A" rating from NRA-PVF.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromUtah (Class 3) 1992,1998,2004 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Senate Republican Chief Deputy Whip 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Rules Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 3) from Utah 1993–2011 Served alongside:Orrin Hatch | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
