Tony Hall | |
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| 7thUnited States Ambassador to United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture | |
| In office September 12, 2002 – April 5, 2006 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | George McGovern |
| Succeeded by | Gaddi Vasquez |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – September 9, 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Charles W. Whalen Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Mike Turner |
| Member of theOhio Senate from the6th district | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – January 1, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | David Holcomb |
| Succeeded by | Chuck Curran |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 87th district | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – December 31, 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Roderer |
| Succeeded by | Paul Leonard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tony Patrick Hall (1942-01-16)January 16, 1942 (age 84) Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Dave Hall (father) Sam Hall (brother) |
| Education | Denison University (BA) |
Tony Patrick Hall (born January 16, 1942) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as a member of theU.S. House of Representatives, representingOhio's 3rd congressional district from 1979 to 2002. Hall had previously served in both chambers of theOhio General Assembly during the years 1969 to 1979.
From 2002 to 2006, Hall served asUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and as chief of theUnited States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome, which includes theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), theWorld Food Programme, and theInternational Fund for Agricultural Development. Subsequently, Hall worked on aMiddle East peace initiative in collaboration with the Center for the Study of the Presidency.
Hall was born inDayton, Ohio. His father,Dave Hall, served as aRepublicanmayor of Dayton.[1]
Hall graduated fromFairmont High School inKettering, Ohio, in 1960. He received a bachelor's degree fromDenison University in 1964. While in college, Hall was named Little All-American football tailback and theOhio Conference's Most Valuable Player (1963).
After college, Hall served asPeace Corps Volunteer inThailand, teaching English in 1966 and 1967, an experience that contributed to his strong interest in world hunger issues. He also worked in the real estate business.[2]
Hall became active in politics, joining theDemocratic Party in a change from his father's affiliation. He was elected as a member of theOhio House of Representatives, serving from 1969 to 1973, and as anOhio state senator from 1973 to 1979.
In 1974, Hall ran forOhio Secretary of State and lost toRepublican incumbentTed W. Brown.
Hall was first elected to theU.S. House of Representatives in 1978, to succeed 12-year incumbentCharles W. Whalen Jr., amoderate Republican. He won election with 54 percent of the vote, but would never face another contest anywhere near that close. He would be reelected 11 more times, never dropping below 57 percent of the vote. As a measure of how popular he was in the Dayton area, he was unopposed for reelection in 1984 even asRonald Reagan carried the district in a landslide. He was unopposed again in 1990, and faced no major-party opposition in 1982 and 2000.
In the 1980s, Hall became anevangelical Christian, prompting him to change his position onabortion fromabortion rights toanti-abortion. Otherwise, his voting record was liberal.
During his tenure in Congress, Hall concentrated on seeking to alleviateworld hunger. He made frequent trips to more than 100 countries such asSierra Leone,Ethiopia,Sudan, andNorth Korea where hunger was widespread. He was chairman of the Select Committee on Hunger from 1989 to 1993. When the committee was abolished, Hall fasted for 22 days in protest.[3] He was founder of the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors and the Congressional Hunger Center. Hall served terms on the foreign affairs and small business committees before being appointed to the House Rules Committee in 1981.
Twice during his tenure as U.S. representative, Hall introduced legislation that would have apologized forslavery in the United States.[4]
Hall was an Ohio delegate to the2000 Democratic National Convention.
Hall served in the House into 2002, when PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominated him to succeedGeorge McGovern asUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. Hall's confirmation to the post was held up in the Senate for several months, but he was confirmed and sworn into the post in September 2002 byU.S. Secretary of StateColin Powell.
He served in this position until 2006, leading as chief of theUnited States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome, which includes theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), theWorld Food Programme, and theInternational Fund for Agricultural Development.
WithTom Price, Hall wroteChanging the Face of Hunger: One Man's Story of How Liberals, Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, and People of Faith Are Joining Forces to Help the Hungry, the Poor, and the Oppressed (2007).
In March 2007, Hall announced he was committed to fostering aMiddle East peace initiative, by working with theCenter for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and religious leaders of the Holy Land, principally among Muslims, Christians and Jews in the Middle East. Under a $1 million grant from U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice via theU.S. Agency for International Development, to be applied to both economics and faith-based efforts, Hall was to work with religious leaders to help prepare the way for peace in the Middle East. Hall received no salary for his work.[5]
He serves as executive director emeritus of The Alliance to End Hunger. Hall also serves on the Board of Advisors ofOpportunity International, a charity that seeks to end poverty throughmicrocredit lending to entrepreneurs.
Hall remains active fighting hunger in his hometown of Dayton.[6] In 2015, he created the Hall Hunger Initiative, a Dayton-based nonprofit working to “create a just and equitablefood system.[7]"He also served as the Capital Chair for the Gem City Market, a co-op grocery store, and led a successful effort to raise $5 million.[8]
Ambassador Hall was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 1998, 1999 and 2001 for his humanitarian and hunger-related work. For his hunger legislation and for his proposal for a Humanitarian Summit in the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Hall and the Hunger Committee received the 1992 Silver World Food Day Medal from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Ambassador Hall is a recipient of the United States Committee for UNICEF 1995 Children's Legislative Advocate Award, U.S. AID Presidential End Hunger Award, 1992 Oxfam America Partners Award, Bread for the World Distinguished Service Against Hunger Award, and NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. He received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Asbury College, Antioch College and Eastern College and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola College in Baltimore.[9]
Hall and his wife, Janet Sue Dick, were married in 1973. They had two children together, Jyl Hall and Matthew Hall. Matthew died in 1996, at age 15, ofleukemia.[10]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by John Kennedy | Democratic nominee forSecretary of State of Ohio 1974 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 3rd congressional district 1979–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture 2002–2006 | 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 |
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| International | |
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