John LeBoutillier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's6th district | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Lester L. Wolff |
| Succeeded by | Joseph P. Addabbo (redistricted) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1953-05-26)May 26, 1953 (age 72) Glen Cove, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,MBA) |
John LeBoutillier (born May 26, 1953) is an Americanpolitical columnist,pundit, and formerRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromNew York.
LeBoutillier graduated from theBrooks School inNorth Andover, Massachusetts, in 1971. He graduatedmagna cum laude fromHarvard University in 1976, and earned aMaster of Business Administration fromHarvard Business School in 1979.[1]
LeBoutillier first rose to national prominence in 1974. While still a college student at Harvard, he raised over a quarter million dollars for the campaign of formerVietnam Warprisoner of warLeo K. Thorsness, aSouth Dakota Republican campaigning to unseatliberalsenatorGeorge McGovern.[2]
LeBoutillier's efforts on behalf of Thorsness caught the attention ofPresident Ford's election campaign and in 1976 he was appointed regional coordinator, responsible for all field activities inNew Jersey.[2]
LeBoutillier was elected to Congress in1980, representingNew York's 6th District. He defeated 16-year incumbentLester L. Wolff to become the youngest member of the97th Congress.[3] He served on theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee and as a member of Special HousePOW/MIA Task Force. After redistricting in 1982, LeBoutillier ran unsuccessfully for re-election versusRobert J. Mrazek inNew York's 3rd congressional district.
In 1983, LeBoutillier was fined $7,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating federal election laws during the course of his 1980 congressional campaign. With contributions by individuals limited to $1,000 per person, LeBoutillier accepted a $200,500 contribution from his mother. LeBoutillier's mother was also fined $7,000.[4]
Upon leaving Congress, LeBoutillier continued to be active on theVietnam War POW/MIA issue. He founded the Sky Hook II Project, dedicated to recovering living American POWs inSoutheast Asia. He has made trips toLaos andVietnam and also met with Lao and Vietnamese leaders inHanoi,Ho Chi Minh City,Jakarta, New York City,Vientiane, and Paris.[citation needed]
LeBoutillier was a frequent guest on radio and television and had hostedradio talk show programs onWMCA radio andWABC radio. He conducted an exclusive televisioninterview withAleksandr Solzhenitsyn forNBC'sTomorrow Show in 1981, and interviewedRichard Nixon forABC Radio in 1984. The interview was Nixon's first live network radio appearance sinceleaving the White House.[citation needed] He has been a frequent guest commentator onThe Today Show,20/20,Nightline,Crossfire, andImus in the Morning.[2] In 2004, he appeared onThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his plans to build a "Counter-Clinton Library" inLittle Rock near theClinton Presidential Library.[5]
He joined with noted Canadian broadcasterArlene Bynon in December 2010, to launchBynon/LeBoutillier, atalk radio show simultaneously airing onWABC in New York City andAM640 inToronto while also airing in theUnited Kingdom.[6]
In January 2021, LeBoutillier signed a letter calling on Republicans to impeach PresidentDonald Trump after the2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[7][8]
LeBoutillier has written books, most notably the 1978 best-sellerHarvard Hates America. In 1989 he wroteVietnam Now; The Case for Normalization and in 1979 co-authored a novel,Primary. He is the co-author, withEdward Klein, ofThe Obama Identity.[9]
He has been a contributor toThe New York Times, theNew York Post andThe Wall Street Journal, among others.[2]
LeBoutillier grew up onLong Island’sNorth Shore. His father was Thomas LeBoutillier, a member of a prominent family and onetimeGrummantest pilot.[3] His mother, Pamela LeBoutillier (née Tower), was the daughter of Roderick Tower andFlora Payne Whitney, a member of theVanderbilt family andWhitney family. Mrs. LeBoutillier was a distant cousin of the late SenatorJohn Tower ofTexas.[10] LeBoutillier's great great grandfather wasWilliam Collins Whitney,Secretary of the Navy under PresidentGrover Cleveland.[3] Another great great grandfather wasCharlemagne Tower. LeBoutillier is a great grandson ofGertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of theWhitney Museum of American Art, and he is also a descendant of railroad tycoonCornelius Vanderbilt.
He is a resident ofOld Westbury, New York.[citation needed]
In 2022, LeBoutillier was referenced in theNetflix television seriesRussian Doll, when the time-traveling protagonist reads a 1982 newspaper on theNew York subway titled “The Two Faces of John LeBoutillier.”[11]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 6th congressional district 1981–1983 | 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 | |
