Bob Dornan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia | |
| In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Jerry M. Patterson |
| Succeeded by | Loretta Sanchez |
| Constituency | 38th district (1985–1993) 46th district (1993–1997) |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Alphonzo E. Bell Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Mel Levine |
| Constituency | 27th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Kenneth Dornan (1933-04-03)April 3, 1933 (age 92) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Loyola Marymount University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1953–1958 (active) 1958–1975 (reserve) |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | California Air National Guard |
Robert Kenneth Dornan (born April 3, 1933) is an American actor, radio talk show host, combat veteran, and Republican politician from California. Dornan represented twoSouthern California districts in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1997, where he became known as a "leading firebrand" on the party'sconservative wing. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the United States Senatein 1982 and for President of the United Statesin 1996.
A former actor and television and radio talk show host, Dornan had a flair for the dramatic that drew supporters and detractors well beyond his congressional district. Though never a major power in Washington, he became one of the most well-known members of the House of Representatives as a participant in televised "special orders" speeches and was described as "one of the leading firebrands among American politicians".[1] He has become well known for publiclyouting fellow Republican U.S. RepresentativeSteve Gunderson asgay on the House of Representatives floor in 1994.
Dornan was born in New York City, the son of Gertrude (McFadden) Dornan (1900–1967) and Harry Joseph Dornan (1892–1975).[2][3][4] In New York, Dornan's mother had been avaudeville performer as part of an act called the McFadden Sisters and aZiegfeld Follies showgirl, and had performed under the stage name Bara Wilkes; her sister was the wife of actorJack Haley.[5][6] Harry Dornan owned ahaberdashery. After moving to California, he became a real estate entrepreneur inWest Los Angeles. He was active inharness racing, a pastime in which many celebrities participated during the 1940s and 1950s.[7][8] Robert Dornan took advantage of his family's entertainment industry experience and connections after he embarked on his own acting and talk show career. He used celebrity endorsements and campaign contributions to launch his political career.[7][9]
Dornan attended Loyola University of Los Angeles (later renamedLoyola Marymount University) from 1950 to 1953. At age 19, Robert joined theUnited States Air Force. He became a fighter pilot, and during his time in the Air Force, he survived two emergencyparachute ejections and two"dead stick" forced landings (including one of anF-100). He was on active duty until 1958, and attained the rank of captain.[10] He served in theCalifornia Air National Guard andAir Force Reserve until retiring in 1975.[10] Dornan also served as a combat journalist and photographer on several missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during theVietnam War and flew relief flights intoBiafra.
Dornan was involved in the entertainment industry as an actor. He starred in the filmThe Starfighters, cast as Lt. Witkowski, an Air Force pilot who was the son of a U.S. congressman.The Starfighters aired onMystery Science Theater 3000 on October 29, 1994.[citation needed]
In 1962, he portrayed Air Force Lieutenant Alden in the episode "Dennis at Boot Camp" of theCBSsitcomDennis the Menace, starringJay North andGale Gordon, withRoy Roberts in this segment as Captain Stone.[11]
In 1966 he co-starred in and possibly co-wroteTo the Shores of Hell.
Dornan had a frequent role as Captain Fowler onABC's12 O'Clock High television series and smaller roles on ABC'sBewitched andNBC'sI Dream of Jeannie. Dornan was anEmmy-award-winning televisiontalk show host onTempo andThe Robert K. Dornan Show broadcast fromLos Angeles from 1967 to 1973.[citation needed]
Dornan has said he took an active role in thecivil rights movement.[12] He did attend the historic 1963March on Washington led byMartin Luther King Jr.; when this claim was questioned in 1994, he circulated a photo of himself in his Air Force uniform seated in the audience for King's speech.[12] News accounts also indicate he participated in voter registration drives forAfrican Americans inMississippi.[12] However, a 1998Washington Post article indicated there is no corroborating information (such as news clippings from the era) to confirm this claim.[13][14][15]
Dornan moved into politics in 1973 as national spokesman for theCitizens for Decency Through Law advocacy group. He made an unsuccessful run formayor of Los Angeles the same year. In 1976, Dornan was elected to the House of Representatives, representing the 27th congressional district in westernLos Angeles County. He was re-elected twice. He was such an unswerving advocate for the development of theB-1 bomber, that he was soon nicknamed "B-1 Bob".[16]
In November 1977, he was an opposition speaker at the1977 National Women's Conference with Lottie Beth Hobbs, Dr.Mildred Jefferson,Phyllis Schlafly andNellie Gray.[17]
After the 1980 census, California's congressional map was redrawn. Dornan's district, previously a Republican-leaning swing district, was made significantly more Democratic. Believing he had no chance of winning this new district, he opted to run for the United States Senatein 1982. He finished fourth in the Republican primary behindSan Diego mayor and futureGovernorPete Wilson, who won in November.[citation needed]
Dornan moved toGarden Grove, in the more RepublicanOrange County. In 1984, he was elected to Congress from the 38th district in central Orange County, defeating 10-year Democratic incumbentJerry M. Patterson by a 53% to 45% margin amidRonald Reagan's massive landslide that year. In 1986, he won a tough race against Democratic state Assemblyman Richard Robinson, winning by a 55% to 43% margin. He was re-elected four more times and served on theIntelligence Committee.[citation needed]
Dornan made headlines in March 1985 for a confrontation with RepresentativeThomas Downey (a Democrat from New York) on the House floor.[18] Downey asked Dornan about comments he had made calling Downey "a draft-dodging wimp".[18] (Downey was exempt from theVietnam War draft because of a perforated eardrum.[18]) According to Downey, Dornan, grabbing him by collar and tie, said, "It's good you're being protected by thesergeant-at-arms. If I saw you outside, it would be a different story" and threatened him "with some form of bodily harm".[18] Dornan claimed he was merely straightening Downey's tie and refused to apologize for the incident or the derogatory comment.[18] A Dornan aide said, "It will be a cold day in hell before he gets an apology from Bob Dornan".[19]
Dornan's record was staunchly conservative. However, he did hold some positions that some might call liberal, including sponsoring animal protection acts, earning him the recognition ofPETA in 1988.[20][21] During the summers of 1991 and 1992, future U.S. representativeRandy Fine was an assistant for Dornan.[22][23]
In 1994, during his final successful run for Congress, it was reported that Dornan's wife, Sallie, had made multiple allegations of domestic violence against him earlier in their marriage. In 1966, Dornan had been convicted of a domestic violence offense and sentenced to jail time; however, it was unclear whether his sentence had ever been served. After the allegations were made public, Sallie Dornan retracted them, stating that she had made false claims about her husband during a period when she was struggling with prescription drug addiction. The Dornans' five children asserted that their father had not been physically abusive.[24][25] During the same campaign, Dornan had signs posted at polling places that warned voters inSpanish that they should be prepared to prove their citizenship in order to vote. The signs suggested that immigration officials would be present at the polls. The success of this action was believed to have kept enough Latino voters away from the polls to eke out a victory for Dornan against Mike Farber.[25]
In 1995, Dornan received a minor reprimand from the House for stating in a floor speech that PresidentBill Clinton had "given aid and comfort to the enemy" during the Vietnam War.[26]
Dornan was adark horse candidate forpresident of the United States in 1996.[27] In a GOP debate in Iowa on January 13, Dornan called Clinton a "criminal" and a "pathological liar".[28] Dornan later dropped out of the presidential race and ran for reelection to his seat in the House; he was defeated by DemocratLoretta Sanchez by less than 1,000 votes.[29]
Following the narrow defeat, Dornan alleged that Sanchez's winning margin was provided by illegal voting from non-U.S. citizens. A thirteen-month House of Representatives investigation ensued, during which Sanchez was seated provisionally, pending the inquiry.[30] A task force found 748 votes that had been cast illegally—624 from non-citizens in addition to 124 that had already been thrown out by California officials. This was not enough to overturn Sanchez's margin of victory and she was allowed to keep her seat.[31] However, in consultation with theINS, the House committee identified 4,762 questionable registration affidavits.[32]
In September 1997, while his 1996 bid against Sanchez was still being contested, Dornan confronted then-RepresentativeBob Menendez on the House floor, using profanity and calling Menendez an "anti-Catholic coward". This encounter led to Menendez filing a resolution to bar Dornan from the House floor until the election was resolved, which passed by a vote of 289–65.[33][34]
During his political career, Dornan became known for his controversial or offensive statements. Among his remarks:
In 1994, a 120-page book of quotations of Dornan was compiled by Nathan Callahan and William Payton and published asShut Up, Fag! The quotation that gives the book the title was actually shouted by Dornan's wife, Sallie, at anAIDS activist during an Orange County town forum. Dornan claimed the book was backed by directorOliver Stone, whom Dornan labeled "aBolshevik enemy".[41]
Dornan's comments and behavior led his political opponents to question hismental health. Mike Kaspar of the Orange County Democratic Party said, "The primary issue is Bob Dornan, himself. I think his character and his ownsanity are an issue here."[42] At aWhite House Correspondents Dinner,Al Franken, who had worked once onPolitically Incorrect with Dornan, joked "havingAl D'Amato leading anethics investigation is like getting Bob Dornan to head up a mental health task force."[43]Michael Moore devoted an entire chapter of his bookDownsize This! to his efforts to get Dornan involuntarily committed for psychiatric examination.[44]
Dornan ran againstLoretta Sanchez again in 1998, but was defeated.[45]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dornan hostedThe Bob Dornan Show, a radio talk show syndicated nationally byTalk Radio Network.[46][47]
In 2004, Dornan challenged CongressmanDana Rohrabacher, a fellow Republican, in the primary. Dornan charged Rohrabacher with being soft on terrorism and being too close to Islamic extremists.[48] However, he lost by 84% to 16%.[49]
During the summer of 2005, Dornan briefly expressed interest in the48th congressional district seat that became vacant when then U.S. CongressmanChristopher Cox resigned to becomechairman of theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[50] He was interested in running as the nominee of theAmerican Independent Party but did not, allegedly rebuffed by party officials.[51]
In 1955, Dornan married Sallie Hansen.[52] They have five children.[53][54]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | The Great Impostor | Reporter | Uncredited |
| 1961 | X-15 | Test Engineer | |
| 1963 | A Gathering of Eagles | Non-Com | |
| 1964 | The Starfighters | Lt. John Witkowski | |
| 1965 | Harlow | Photographer | Uncredited |
| 1966 | To the Shores of Hell | Dr. Gary Donahue | |
| 1967 | Hell on Wheels | Steve Robbins | |
| 2005 | Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America's POWs | Himself | Documentary |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Men into Space | Radio Operator | Episode: "Verdict in Orbit" |
| 1962 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Dandy | Episode: "Darwin's Man" |
| 1962 | Dennis the Menace | Lt. Alden | Episode: "Dennis at Boot Camp" |
| 1965 | Bewitched | Policeman | Episode: "Red Light, Green Light" |
| 1965 | I Dream of Jeannie | Carson | Episode: "The Yacht Murder Case" |
| 1965–1967 | 12 O'Clock High | Bob Fowler | 25 episodes |
| 1966 | The Fugitive | Doctor | Episode: "Shadow of the Swan" |
| 1968 | The Rat Patrol | German Sergeant | Episode: "The Touch and Go Raid" |
| 1971 | Ironside | Paul (The Body) | Episode: "If a Body See a Body" |
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Each time, Sallie Dornan and the couple's five children have braced for the day when Dornan's role as a controversial public figure would lead to exposure of the darkest period of their lives.
Bob Dornan's confirmed offspring (Robin, Kate, Theresa, Mark and Bob Jr.)
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 27th congressional district 1977–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 38th congressional district 1985–1993 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 46th congressional district 1993–1997 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
