John Danforth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 24thUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
| In office July 23, 2004 – January 20, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John Negroponte |
| Succeeded by | John Bolton |
| Special Counsel for theUnited States Department of Justice | |
| In office September 9, 1999 – c. July 23, 2000 | |
| Appointed by | Janet Reno |
| Deputy | Edward L. Dowd Jr. |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position not in use |
| Chair of theSenate Commerce Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Packwood |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Hollings |
| United States Senator fromMissouri | |
| In office December 27, 1976 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Stuart Symington |
| Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
| 37thAttorney General of Missouri | |
| In office January 13, 1969 – December 27, 1976 | |
| Governor | Warren E. Hearnes Kit Bond |
| Preceded by | Norman H. Anderson |
| Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Claggett Danforth (1936-09-05)September 5, 1936 (age 88) St. Louis,Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Sally Dobson (m. 1957) |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | William Danforth (brother) William H. Danforth (grandfather) |
| Education | Princeton University (AB) Yale University (JD,MDiv) |
| Profession | Politician, priest, lawyer |
John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, andEpiscopal priest who served as theAttorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as aUnited States Senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of theRepublican Party, he later served asSpecial Counsel for theU.S. Department of Justice from 1999 to 2000 and as theUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2004 to 2005.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Danforth graduated fromPrinceton University andYale University.George W. Bush consideredselecting him as a vice-presidential running mate in 2000.[1]
Danforth was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dorothy (Claggett) and Donald Danforth.[2] He is the grandson ofWilliam H. Danforth, founder ofRalston Purina. Danforth's brother,William Henry Danforth, was former chancellor ofWashington University in St. Louis.
Danforth attendedSt. Louis Country Day School andPrinceton University, where he graduated with an A.B. in religion in 1958 after completing a 111-page senior thesis titled "Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology."[3] He received degrees fromYale Law School andYale Divinity School in 1963.
Danforth practiced law at the New York law firmDavis Polk & Wardwell from 1964 to 1966. He was a partner at the law firm of Bryan, Cave, McPheeters and McRoberts in St. Louis from 1966 to 1968.[4]
Before Danforth entered Republican politics, Missouri was a reliably Democratic state with itsU.S. senators andgovernors usually being Democrats. Danforth's seat in the Senate was previously held by DemocratsThomas Hart Benton,[5]Harry S. Truman,[6] andStuart Symington.[7]
In 1968, Danforth was electedMissouri Attorney General, the first Republican elected to the office in 40 years,[8] and the first from his party elected to statewide office in 22 years.[9] On his staff of assistant attorneys general were future Missouri Governor and U.S. SenatorKit Bond,[10] future Missouri Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft,[11] future Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas,[12] and future federal judgeD. Brook Bartlett.[13] Danforth was reelected in 1972.[14]
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In 1970, Danforth ran for theUnited States Senate for the first time, against Democratic incumbentStuart Symington. He lost in a close race.[15]
In 1976, Danforthran to succeed Symington, who was retiring.[16] He had little opposition in the Republican primary.[17] The Democrats had a three-way battle among Symington's sonJames W. Symington, former Missouri GovernorWarren Hearnes, and rising political star CongressmanJerry Litton.[16] Litton won the primary, but he and his family were killed when the plane taking them to their victory party in Kansas City crashed on takeoff inChillicothe, Missouri.[18] Hearnes, who had finished second in the primary, was chosen to replace Litton as the Democratic nominee.[16][18] In the general election, Danforth defeated Hearnes with nearly 57% of the vote.[19]
In 1982, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate wasHarriett Woods, a relatively unknown state senator from the St. Louis suburb ofUniversity City. She was active in women's rights organizations and collected union support and was a cousin of Democratic SenatorHoward Metzenbaum ofOhio. Her speeches denouncedRonald Reagan's policies so vigorously that she ran on the nickname "Give 'em Hell, Harriett" (a play on the famousTruman phrase). Danforth defeated Woods 51% to 49%, with Woods's pro-choice stance said to be the reason for her loss.[20]
In 1988, Danforth defeated DemocratJay Nixon, 68%–32%. He chose not to run for a fourth term and retired from the Senate in 1995. He was succeeded by former Missouri governorJohn Ashcroft. Nixon was later elected Missouri Attorney General, and, in2008, governor of Missouri.[21]
In January 2001, when Missouri Democrats opposed Ashcroft's nomination for U.S. Attorney General, Danforth's name was invoked. Former U.S. SenatorTom Eagleton reacted to the nomination by saying: "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."[22]
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During the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings forU.S. Supreme Court nomineeClarence Thomas, Danforth used his clout to support Thomas, who had served Danforth during his state attorney general years and later as an aide in the Senate.[4]
Danforth portrayed himself as a political moderate, but voted like his right-wing Republican colleagues, including sustaining filibusters. He was once quoted as saying he joined the Republican Party for "the same reason you sometimes choose which movie to see—[it's] the one with the shortest line."[23]
Danforth is a longtime opponent ofcapital punishment, as he made clear on the Senate floor in 1994.[24]
In 1988,George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign vetted Danforth as a potential running mate. Bush selected SenatorDan Quayle (whose middle name is "Danforth") instead.[25]
On July 1, 2004, Danforth was sworn in as theUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations, succeedingJohn Negroponte, who left the post after becoming theU.S. Ambassador to Iraq in June. He is best remembered for attempts to bring peace to the Sudan but stayed at the UN for just six months. Danforth was mentioned as a successor to Secretary of StateColin Powell. Six days after the announcement thatCondoleezza Rice was going to take the position, Danforth submitted his resignation on November 22, 2004, effective January 20, 2005. His resignation letter[26] said, "Forty-seven years ago, I married the girl of my dreams, and, at this point in my life, what is most important to me is to spend more time with her."[27]
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In 1999,DemocraticU.S. Attorney GeneralJanet Reno appointed Danforth to lead an investigation into theFBI's role in the 1993Waco Siege.[28] Danforth appointed DemocraticU.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. for the Eastern District of Missouri as his deputy special counsel.[29] He also hired Bryan Cave partnerThomas A. Schweich as his chief of staff.[30]Assistant U.S. AttorneyJames G. Martin served as Danforth's director of investigative operations for what became known as the "Waco Investigation" and its resulting "Danforth Report".[31][32]
InJuly 2000, Danforth's name was leaked as being on the short list of potential vice presidential nominees for Republican nomineeGeorge W. Bush, along with Michigan GovernorJohn Engler, New York GovernorGeorge Pataki, Pennsylvania GovernorTom Ridge, and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Secretary of Labor and formerAmerican Red Cross PresidentElizabeth Dole. One week before the2000 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, campaign sources said thatDick Cheney, the man charged with leading the selection process for the nominee, had recommended Danforth,[33] but Bush selected Cheney himself.[34] Bush wrote in his bookDecision Points that Danforth would have been his choice if Cheney had not accepted.[35][additional citation(s) needed] In September 2001, Bush appointed Danforth a special envoy to Sudan.[36] He brokered a peace deal[37] that officially ended the civil war in the South between Sudan's Islamic government and the U.S.-backed Christian rebels, but elements of that conflict still remain unresolved (as has the separateDarfur conflict). Known as theSecond Sudanese Civil War, the conflict ended in January 2005 with the signing of a peace agreement.[38]
On June 11, 2004, Danforth presided over the funeral ofRonald Reagan, held atWashington National Cathedral.[39] Danforth also officiated at the funerals ofWashington Post executiveKatharine Graham,[40] former United States SenatorHarry Flood Byrd Jr. of Virginia,[41] and Missouri State AuditorTom Schweich.[30]
On March 30, 2005, Danforth wrote anop-ed inThe New York Times critical of the Republican party. The article began: "By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians".[42] He also penned a June 17, 2005, piece headlined "Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers".[43] In 2015, Danforth joined 299 other Republicans in signing anamicus brief calling on theSupreme Court to legalizesame-sex marriage.[44]
Contributing to the anthologyOur American Story (2019), Danforth addressed the possibility of a shared American narrative and focused on the "great American purpose" of "hold[ing] together in one nation a diverse and often contentious people." He encouraged continued work "to demand a functioning government where compromise is the norm, to integrate all our people into one indivisible nation, and to incorporate separated individuals into the wholeness of the community."[45] Danforth is a member of the Reformers Caucus ofIssue One.[46]
Since the mid-2000s, Danforth was a mentor and political supporter ofJosh Hawley, who becameAttorney General of Missouri in 2017 and U.S. Senator in 2019 with Danforth's encouragement; Danforth also supported Hawley's presidential ambitions.[47] In the wake of theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack and Hawley's efforts to challenge the2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Danforth said that supporting Hawley in the2018 election "was the worst mistake I ever made in my life".[48] During the2022 United States Senate election in Missouri, Danforth headed a PAC supporting independent candidate John Wood, considered a long shot to win.[49] Wood collected enough signatures to get on the ballot but dropped out after 50 days whenEric Schmitt won the Republican primary. Danforth spent $6 million on the effort.[50]
In 1995, following his departure from the Senate, Danforth again became a partner at theBryan Cave law firm.[4] As of 2021 Danforth is a partner at Dowd Bennett, a Clayton law firm just outside Saint Louis.[51]
In May 2012,a group led by Danforth's son-in-law and Summitt Distributing CEO Tom Stillman,[52] in which Danforth is a minority investor, took controlling ownership of theSt. Louis Blues of theNational Hockey League.[53] The group acquired full ownership of the team in June 2019.[54] Danforth has a star on theSt. Louis Walk of Fame.[55] He is an honorary board member of the humanitarian organizationWings of Hope.[56]
Danforth married the former Sally Dobson in 1957.[39] They have five children and 15 grandchildren.[57]
Danforth, a Republican, is retiring after three terms from the seat once held by Harry Truman
Danforth succeeded retiring Senator Stuart Symington
Bond became an assistant attorney general under former U.S. Senator John Danforth
He won re-election as attorney general in 1972.
When Danforth was appointed special counsel to investigate the FBI's 1993 raid ..., Dowd assisted the former senator as deputy special counsel
Danforth ..., who Bush later concurred would have been his selection for the post if Cheney refused it
Stillman, owner of Summit Distributing, ... and the son-in-law for former U.S. Sen. John Danforth
Media related toJohn Danforth at Wikimedia Commons
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Missouri 1969–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Daniel Bartlett, Jr. | Republican nominee forMissouri Attorney General 1968, 1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMissouri (Class 1) 1970,1976,1982,1988 | |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 1) from Missouri 1976–1995 Served alongside:Thomas Eagleton,Kit Bond | Succeeded by John Ashcroft |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Commerce Committee 1985–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Commerce Committee 1987–1995 | |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the United Nations 2004–2005 | Succeeded by Anne Patterson Acting |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former US Senator | Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Senator | Succeeded byas Former US Senator |
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| Commerce (1825–1947) | ||
| Interstate Commerce (1887–1947) | ||
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce/Commerce (1947–1977) | ||
| Commerce, Science, and Transportation (1977–present) | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
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