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Ike Skelton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theHouse Armed Services Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Duncan Hunter |
| Succeeded by | Buck McKeon |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Armed Services Committee | |
| In office February 6, 1998 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Ron Dellums |
| Succeeded by | Duncan Hunter |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | William Randall |
| Succeeded by | Vicky Hartzler |
| Member of theMissouri Senate from the 28th district | |
| In office 1971–1977 | |
| Preceded by | John Ryan |
| Succeeded by | David Doctorian |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Isaac Newton Skelton IV (1931-12-20)December 20, 1931 Lexington, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | October 28, 2013(2013-10-28) (aged 81) Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Education | Wentworth Military Academy and College (AA) University of Missouri (AB,LLB) |
Skelton explains his support for the2002 AUMF Against Iraq Recorded October 8, 2002 | |
Isaac Newton Skelton IV (December 20, 1931 – October 28, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who served as theU.S. representative forMissouri's 4th congressional district from 1977 to 2011. During his tenure, he served as the chairman of theHouse Armed Services Committee. He was a member of theDemocratic Party. On November 2, 2010, he unexpectedly lost his seat toRepublicanVicky Hartzler amid a Republican landslide. Notably, he was one of three Democratic committee chairmen to lose reelection in the 2010 midterm cycle, alongsideHouse Budget Committee chairmanJohn Spratt ofSouth Carolina andHouse Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairmanJim Oberstar ofMinnesota.
Skelton was born inLexington, Missouri, a rural town with extensiveCivil War history. He was the son of Carolyn Marie (Boone) and Isaac Newton Skelton III.[1]
In 1928, Skelton's father metHarry S. Truman, then aJackson Countyjudge, and the men became good friends. When he was 17, Skelton attended Truman's1949 inauguration.[2]
Skelton was anEagle Scout.[3] He earned anassociate of arts degree fromWentworth Military Academy and College in 1951, followed by anA.B. in 1953 and anLL.B. in 1956 from theUniversity of Missouri. He is a brother ofSigma Chi andAlpha Phi Omega at the University of Missouri. He also attended theUniversity of Edinburgh inScotland in 1953.
Skelton became a lawyer and entered private practice inLafayette County, Missouri. He was aprosecuting attorney from 1957 until 1960 and a special assistant attorney general in the office of theMissouri Attorney General.
Skelton served as a member of theMissouri Senate, representing Lafayette County, from 1971 until 1977.[4]
As chairman of the full committee, Skelton served as anex officio member of all subcommittees.
Skelton served as chair of theHouse Armed Services Committee, having previously served as ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee since 1998 but was promoted to chairman following the 2006 midterm elections when Democrats regained control of Congress.
Skelton voted with Democratic leadership 94.6% of the time during the 111th Congress, meaning he broke with his party more frequently than 82% of the Democratic Caucus.[5] Vicky Hartzler, Skelton's 2010 Congressional opponent, stated on the campaign trail that Skelton has voted in line with House SpeakerNancy Pelosi 95% of the time during his tenure in the House.[6]
Before the 2006 election, Skelton told columnistGeorge Will that if the Democrats won control of Congress, his main priority would be "oversight, oversight, oversight!" While he voted for theWar in Iraq, he expressed serious misgivings about troop readiness. In 2006, he favored reducing the number of troops inIraq and supported redeploying a brigade from Iraq toKuwait. Will suggested that under Skelton, the Armed Services Committee would resemble aU.S. Senate committee created to examine defense spending duringWorld War II. This committee was chaired by Skelton's hero,Harry S. Truman.[7]
Skelton voted against the2001 Bush Tax cuts.[8] In 1981, he voted against Reagan's tax cuts.[9] He was supportive oflabor.[10] TheLeague of Conservation Voters rated Skelton at 53 percent on environmental issues. He was one of the few Congressional Democrats to vote in favor ofCAFTA and mostly supportedfree trade deals. He was a supporter of TRiO programs.
Skelton was fairly conservative on social issues. He opposedabortion andgun control. He helped craft theDon't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and voted against its repeal in 2010.
Skelton was a long-time proponent of the Missouri National Guard, in recognition for which the National Guard Training Center in Jefferson City is named in his honor. However, at times he has disagreed with other members of Missouri's congressional delegation over the state's defense installations. In 2005, for instance, he opposed SenatorKit Bond's efforts to keep open the 131st Air National Guard Fighter Wing in St. Louis County.
The wing was considered an "alert site" by theDefense Department, responsible for maintaining sovereignty over United States air space. In its final report, the9/11 Commission found that the lack of alert sites, and with their positions primarily on the nation's periphery, reduced the capability of the military to respond effectively to the 9/11 attacks.[11] Senator Bond testified in theBase Realignment and Closure (BRAC) hearings against the closure of the 131st, which was based atLambert International Airport. He noted that this wing, which was located in a strategically important location, had protected critical assets on 09-11-01. He warned that the loss of the wing would compromise security over a vast area of the Midwestern United States.[12] Representative Skelton, as the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee,[13] voted in favor of closure.[14] The House passed the BRAC recommendations, and the base was subsequently closed, with its components deployed elsewhere.[15]
On October 8, 2009, Skelton, after addressing fellow Missouri CongressmanTodd Akin, aRepublican, on the House floor, said to Akin, "stick it up your ass." The comment was picked up by the microphone and could be heard on theC-SPAN broadcast. Skelton's spokeswoman, Jennifer Kohl, said the comment was not intended to be broadcast and was "said out of frustration in the heat of debate." Akin's spokesman, Steve Taylor, said the remark was "shocking and not characteristic of Skelton's behavior."[16]
WhenWilliam J. Randall retired after 17 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Skelton won the Democratic nomination to succeed him with 40% of the vote in a crowded primary field of nine Democratic candidates.[17] He ran with the endorsement of Truman's widow,Bess, which he attributes to his own father's support for Harry S. Truman in the1940 U.S. Senate primary.[18] He was reelected 16 times, usually by well over 60 percent of the vote. Before 2010, he only faced one truly serious challenge, in 1982. That year, Missouri lost a district, and Skelton's district was merged with the neighboring 8th District, represented by freshman RepublicanWendell Bailey. Although Skelton retained almost 60 percent of his former territory, Bailey held him to 55 percent of the vote.
Skelton seemed to have a fairly secure hold on his district, even though it had been trending Republican for some time. Historically, it had had a character similar toYellow Dog Democrat districts in the South. However, the rural areas of the district, once solidly Democratic, had swung hard to the GOP since the turn of the century. Indeed, in 2000, Republicans captured most of the area's legislative seats and have held them ever since. Even before then, the district had been shedding more of the strongly Democratic areas near Kansas City due to that city's dwindling population. As late as 1983, during Skelton's third term, the 4th stretched as far west asIndependence on Kansas City's eastern border. As a result, it had been pushed further into heavily RepublicanSouthwest Missouri.Al Gore,John Kerry andBarack Obama all won less than 40 percent of the vote in the district even as Skelton skated to reelection. It was considered very likely that Skelton would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
In 2010, Skelton faced former Republicanstate RepresentativeVicky Hartzler ofHarrisonville, who had been out of politics for more than a decade. Polls consistently showed a very competitive race, easily the most competitive the district had seen in decades. Many pundits rated it as a toss-up.
It was still a surprise when Skelton lost to Hartzler, 50% to 45%.[19] While Skelton ran evenly with Hartzler in the areas closer to Kansas City, he lost badly in the rural areas, including some that had supported him for many years. No Democrat has managed as much as 40 percent of the vote since Skelton left office.
In 2005 the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation awarded Skelton its Naval Heritage award for his support of the U S Navy and military during his years in Congress. In 2010, Skelton was recognized by then,Commandant of the Marine Corps, GeneralJames F. Amos, as anHonorary Marine, the first U.S. congressman to be awarded the title.[20] In 2012, theUnited States Military Academy recognized Skelton with theSylvanus Thayer Award. In the same year, the USAF Air University presented Skelton with an honorary Doctor of Law degree for his work in the advancement of military education.
His wife of 44 years, Susan Anding Skelton, died on August 23, 2005. Later that year, on November 26, Skelton was injured when a van carrying him and fellowU.S. RepresentativesTim Murphy andJim Marshall overturned nearBaghdad Airport while on an official visit toIraq. Skelton and Murphy were airlifted to a U.S. Military hospital inGermany after complaining of neck pain. Both made a full recovery.
On August 29, 2009, Skelton married Patty Martin, a longtime friend and widowedmiddle schoolcounselor from his home town.[21]
Skelton was a member of theChristian Church and an honorary chieftain in Scouting'sTribe of Mic-O-Say. He was also of distant relation toDaniel Boone as well as toU.S. RepresentativeLouise Slaughter ofNew York.[22]
Skelton died of pneumonia at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia on October 28, 2013, at the age of 81.[23] According to Skelton's colleague, Russell Orban, Skelton had been admitted to the hospital a week earlier with a bad cough.[24]
Skelton's memoir,Achieve the Honorable, had been published just two weeks before his death.
Hartzler has repeatedly criticized Skelton for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) 95 percent of the time and is trying to make in-roads on issues such as climate change, which Skelton supported in 2009.
Today some people say more—perhaps 50,000 more—troops should be sent to Iraq. Skelton says: "Oh, we have the troops. But are they ready? No." Two months ago he wrote to the president that "two thirds of the [Army's] brigade combat teams in our operating force are unready." He says 40 percent of the Army and Marine Corps ground equipment is in Afghanistan or Iraq; so, many troops outside those theaters cannot train properly.[dead link]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 4th congressional district 1977–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Armed Services Committee 1998–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Armed Services Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
Chairs of theUnited States House Committee on Armed Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| Military Affairs Committee (1822–1947) |  | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1822–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee* (from 1947) | ||
*Alternately namedNational Security in 104th and 105th Congresses. | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
