48 Facts About Frank Church

Frank Forrester Church III was an American politician and lawyer.

Frank Church was the longest serving Democratic senator from the state and the only Democrat from the state who served more than two terms in the Senate.

Frank Church was a prominent figure in American foreign policy, and established a reputation as a member of the party's liberal wing.

In 1960, Frank Church received national exposure when he gave the keynote speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

In 1975, he chaired the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, better known as the Frank Church Committee, laying the groundwork for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

In 1976, Frank Church belatedly sought the Democratic nomination for president, and announced his candidacy on March 18,1976.

Frank Church was re-elected continuously to the senate, defeating his Republican opponents in 1962,1968, and 1974, until his defeat during the Republican wave of 1980.

Frank Church was hospitalized for a pancreatic tumor on January 12,1984, and he died less than three months later at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 7,1984.

Frank Forrester Church III was born on July 25,1924, in Boise, Idaho.

Frank Church traced his ancestry from the East Coast of the United States, with his grandfather, Frank Forrester Church I, moving to Idaho during the height of the gold rush that followed the end of the Civil War.

Frank Church's father co-owned a sporting goods store and took the sons on fishing, hunting, and hiking outings in the Idaho mountains.

When Borah died in 1940, Frank Church walked by the open coffin in the rotunda of the state capitol.

Frank Church left university in 1942, at the age of 18, and enlisted in the Army following the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Frank Church was called up the following year and attended officer candidate training at Fort Benning in Georgia.

Frank Church trained at Camp Ritchie, as one of the Ritchie Boys, and was commissioned a lieutenant on his 20th birthday.

Frank Church was inducted to the Infantry Hall of Fame at Fort Benning.

Frank Church entered Harvard Law School that fall and after one year, Church transferred to Stanford Law School, when he thought the cold Massachusetts winter was the cause of a pain in his lower back.

In 1956, Church ran for the Class-3 senate seat held by senator Herman Welker, who had alienated many Republicans for his opposition to president Dwight D Eisenhower's programs and his alleged affiliation with McCarthyism.

Frank Church entered the primary race, which was described as "the most colorful primary in the history of the state".

Frank Church faced against a number of opponents, including Ricks College professor Claude Burtenshaw, bureaucrat Alvin McCormack, and former senator Glen H Taylor.

Frank Church shook around 75,000 hands over the entire course of the campaign.

Frank Church conducted an astute campaign, by contrasting his fitness with that of Welker's.

Frank Church's slogan, "Idaho Will Be Proud of Frank Church", was a major asset to his campaign.

Frank Church campaigned on an internationalist plank, gave mild support to a high Hell's dam, and was conservative on money matters.

Frank Church won the race, defeating both Welker and Taylor, with a plurality of 46,315 voters.

However, Frank Church managed to find his way into Johnson's good graces by providing key assistance in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed.

LBJ was so grateful he made the young Idahoan a veritable protege, rewarding him with plum assignments, such as a seat on the prestigious Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position which allowed Frank Church to follow in the footsteps of his idol, William Borah.

Frank Church was reelected in 1962, defeating former state representative Jack Hawley.

Frank Church was a key figure in American foreign policy during the 1970s, and served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1979 to 1981.

Frank Church argued that the opponents of the Vietnam War needed to prevent the corruption of the nation and its institutions.

Frank Church gained national prominence during his service in the Senate through his chairmanship of the US Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities from 1975 through 1976, more commonly known as the Frank Church Committee, which conducted extensive hearings investigating extra-legal FBI and CIA intelligence-gathering and covert operations.

Frank Church is remembered for his voting record as a strong progressive and environmental legislator, and he played a major role in the creation of the nation's system of protected wilderness areas in the 1960s.

In 1964, Frank Church was the floor sponsor of the national Wilderness Act.

Frank Church was the primary proponent in the establishment of the Sawtooth Wilderness and National Recreation Area in central Idaho in 1972.

Frank Church was instrumental in the creation of Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness in 1980, his final year in the Senate.

Frank Church was considered a progressive, though he was a strong opponent of gun control.

In late 1975 and early 1976, a sub-committee of the US Senate led by Frank Church concluded that members of the Lockheed board had paid members of friendly governments to guarantee contracts for military aircraft in a series of illegal bribes and contributions made by Lockheed officials from the late 1950s to the 1970s.

Frank Church sponsored, along with Pennsylvania Republican John Heinz, the "conscience clause," which prohibited the government from requiring church-affiliated hospitals to perform abortions.

In 1976, Frank Church belatedly sought the Democratic nomination for president and announced his candidacy on March 18 from rustic Idaho City, his father's birthplace.

The pundits predicted that Frank Church would be tapped to provide balance as an experienced senator with strong liberal credentials.

Frank Church promoted himself, persuading friends to intervene with Carter in his behalf.

The scheme proved to be widely unpopular in Idaho, and led to the formation of the "Anybody But Frank Church" committee, created by the National Conservative Political Action Committee, based in Washington, DC ABC and NCPAC had no formal connection with the 1980 Senate campaign of conservative Republican congressman Steve Symms, which permitted them, under former Federal election law, to spend as much as they could raise to defeat Frank Church.

Frank Church lost his bid for a fifth term to Symms by less than one percent of the vote.

Frank Church's defeat was blamed on the activities of the Anybody But Church Committee and the national media's early announcement in Idaho of Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's overwhelming win.

Frank Church was buried at Morris Hill Cemetery near his boyhood hero, Senator William Borah.

Frank Church received an honorary doctorate from Pennsylvania's Elizabethtown College in 1983 to honor his work for the American people during his career in public office.

Frank Church was stunned by what the Frank Church Committee learned about the immense operations and electronic monitoring capabilities of the National Security Agency, an agency whose existence was unknown to most Americans at the time.

Frank Church is widely quoted as stating regarding the NSA:.