Charles Mathias was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1959 to 1961, and of the United States House of Representatives, representing the of Maryland from 1961 to 1969.
71 Facts About Charles Mathias
2.
Charles Mathias was re-elected three times, serving in the House for eight years, where he aligned himself with the then-influential liberal wing of the Republican Party.
3.
Charles Mathias was elected to the Senate in 1968, unseating the incumbent Democrat, Daniel Brewster, who twenty years earlier had been his roommate while attending the University of Maryland School of Law.
4.
Charles Mathias continued his record as a liberal Republican in the Senate, and frequently clashed with the conservative wing of his party.
5.
Charles Mathias retired from the Senate in 1987, having served in Congress for twenty-six years.
6.
Charles Mathias's father was politically active, and he was a descendant of several Maryland legislators, including Charles Edward Trail.
7.
Charles Mathias went on to attend Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1949.
8.
In 1942, during World War II, Charles Mathias enlisted in the United States Navy and served at the rank of seaman apprentice.
9.
Charles Mathias was promoted to ensign in 1944 and served sea duty in the Pacific Ocean, including the recently devastated Hiroshima, from 1944 until he was released from active duty in 1946.
10.
Charles Mathias briefly served as assistant Attorney General of Maryland from 1953 to 1954.
11.
Charles Mathias played a role in desegregating the local Opera House movie theater, which restricted African American seating to the back of the theater.
12.
Charles Mathias worked to relocate the Frederick post office and helped protect a park in the city.
13.
In 1958, Charles Mathias married Ann Bradford, whom he met at a birthday party for his law school roommate Daniel Brewster.
14.
Charles Mathias previously accused Foley of voting "present" in the House too often, and argued Foley's inaction led to inflation and higher taxes.
15.
Charles Mathias prevailed over Foley on election day in November 1960, unseating the one-term incumbent and becoming the first representative from Frederick County since Milton Urner in 1883.
16.
Charles Mathias voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
17.
Charles Mathias was the author of the "Mathias Amendment" to the unsuccessful 1966 civil rights bill on open housing.
18.
Charles Mathias served on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on the District of Columbia.
19.
Charles Mathias' seat was more likely to stay in Republican hands.
20.
Charles Mathias officially declared his candidacy for the Senate on February 10,1968, calling for troop reductions in the Vietnam War, and identifying urban blight, racial discrimination, welfare reform, and improving public schools as major issues.
21.
Charles Mathias argued that the extensive bombing campaigns in North Vietnam should be reduced, while Brewster had argued for increasing bombardment.
22.
Brewster adopted a hard line stance on law and order, while Charles Mathias advocated addressing the precipitating causes of poverty and the low standard of living in urban ghettos.
23.
Charles Mathias began his first term in the Senate in January 1969 and laid out his legislative agenda soon thereafter.
24.
Charles Mathias was appointed to the District of Columbia committee, where he argued in favor of home rule in the district and providing DC residents full representation in both chambers of Congress.
25.
In June 1969, Charles Mathias joined with fellow liberal Republican Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania in threatening a "rebellion" unless the Nixon administration worked harder to protect African American civil rights.
26.
Charles Mathias warned against Republicans using the "Southern strategy" of attracting conservative George Wallace voters at the expense of moderate or liberal voters.
27.
Charles Mathias was an early advocate for setting a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, and was against the bombing campaigns Nixon launched into Laos.
28.
In October 1972, Charles Mathias became the first Republican on Ted Kennedy's Judiciary subcommittee and one of only a few in the nation to support investigation of the Watergate Scandal, which was still in its early stages.
29.
Charles Mathias was renominated by Republicans, fending off a primary election challenge from conservative doctor Ross Pierpont.
30.
Ideologically, Mikulski and Charles Mathias agreed on many issues, such as closing tax loopholes and easing taxes on the middle class.
31.
On two issues Charles Mathias argued to reform Congress and the US tax system to address inflation and corporate price fixing, contrary to Mikulski.
32.
In 1975, Charles Mathias co-introduced legislation with Illinois Senator Adlai Stevenson III that would prohibit foreign aid to South Vietnam after June 30,1975.
33.
Charles Mathias expressed concerns with the state of his party leading up to the 1976 presidential election, specifically its shift further to the right.
34.
Charles Mathias had been considering an independent bid, but said raising money would be too difficult under campaign finance laws.
35.
At one point, Charles Mathias was close to being denied attendance to the convention altogether as an at-large delegate, but a last minute compromise ensured all Republican congressional representatives seats as at-large delegates.
36.
Charles Mathias maintained a low profile during the convention, and received harsh criticism from some of the conservative delegates from Maryland who attended.
37.
At the beginning of the new Congress in 1977, Charles Mathias was in line for several potential committee promotions to ranking member.
38.
Only one ranking membership was allowed per senator, so Thurmond resigned his ranking membership on the Armed Services Committee to circumvent Charles Mathias serving as ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.
39.
Charles Mathias was prevented from assuming leadership positions on the Government Operations Committee following a power struggle, and on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights.
40.
However, Charles Mathias chose to remain as a Republican, and teamed up with eight other Republican senators to express their dissatisfaction with the hard-line wing of the party.
41.
Charles Mathias later stated that he had never seriously considered switching parties.
42.
The 1980 nomination contest lacked the "fierce ideological bickering that marked the 1976 state convention", in which Charles Mathias was nearly excluded as a delegate.
43.
Conroy made national defense the primary issue of his campaign, where he accused Charles Mathias of being weak.
44.
Charles Mathias countered, stating he had voted for over $1.1 trillion in defense spending during his career in the Senate.
45.
Charles Mathias secured support from several precincts of Baltimore's Democratic political machine, and several labor unions.
46.
Charles Mathias was appointed chairman of the Government Operations Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and the District of Columbia, and accepted a seat on the influential Foreign Relations Committee, though he had to sacrifice his seat on the Appropriations Committee to do so.
47.
In 1982, Charles Mathias chaired a bipartisan Senate inquiry into the methods used by the FBI in the Abscam corruption investigation, which found that dozens of officials had been named for accepting bribes without basis.
48.
Charles Mathias served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Printing from 1981 to 1983 and 1985 to 1987, and as a member of the Joint Committee on the Library from 1983 to 1987.
49.
However, Charles Mathias was showing signs of seeking re-election in 1985, and dismissed any claims of ineffectiveness.
50.
At the national level, Charles Mathias' announcement came shortly after news that Republican Paul Laxalt of Nevada would be retiring as well.
51.
Charles Mathias's views exemplified those who believed the United States had more pressing needs for its money than chasing the stars.
52.
In 1979, when President Carter considered terminating the Space Shuttle program, given its technical and scheduling problems, Charles Mathias, who was in his second term played a major role in saving it.
53.
Between 1981 and 1985 Charles Mathias had a close relationship with NASA Administrator Jim Beggs.
54.
Charles Mathias accepted to be the Chairman of the United States Organizing Committee of the 1983 Air and Space Bicentennial.
55.
Charles Mathias had a private lunch with Le Grelle and his friend Daniel Jouve, during which they suggested the possibility to have a Space Shuttle at the 1983 Paris Air Show.
56.
That is how Charles Mathias originated the Teacher in Space Project.
57.
Charles Mathias planned to teach two 15-minute lessons from the Space Shuttle.
58.
Charles Mathias held a retirement party at the Baltimore Convention Center on July 14,1986, which had over 1,200 attendees.
59.
Charles Mathias planned to teach at Johns Hopkins following his departure from the Senate.
60.
Charles Mathias established a record on civil rights, having played an important role in passing a fair housing bill while he was in the House, and in establishing a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.
61.
Charles Mathias held liberal views on abortion, defense spending, and the Equal Rights Amendment, and, along with Senator John Warner of Virginia, was one of the sponsors of a bill to authorize the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
62.
Charles Mathias was a member of the US Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities.
63.
On environmental issues, Charles Mathias established a record as a strong advocate of the Chesapeake Bay.
64.
In 1990, the Charles Mathias Medal was established by Maryland Sea Grant at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science as further acknowledgment of Charles Mathias' environmental record.
65.
In 2003, thirty years after he launched a study of the Chesapeake, Charles Mathias was recognized by the Army Corps of Engineers for the influential role he played initiating restoration efforts.
66.
From 1987 to 1993, Charles Mathias was a partner at the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue.
67.
In 1991, Charles Mathias was chosen by the US Federal Reserve Board to lead a committee to supervise the operations of First American Bankshares, Inc Prior to his arrival, First American had been secretly acquired by Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which resulted in a major banking scandal.
68.
Charles Mathias was appointed chairman of the board of First American in November 1992, replacing former US Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.
69.
Charles Mathias continued as chairman of First American until 1999.
70.
Additionally, Charles Mathias served on the Board of Trustees of Enterprise Foundation from 1980 through 2001.
71.
Charles Mathias died from complications of Parkinson's disease at his home on January 25,2010, at age 87.