43 Facts About Frank Lautenberg

Frank Raleigh Lautenberg was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013.

Frank Lautenberg first took office in December 1982 and served three terms, retiring from the Senate in 2001.

Frank Lautenberg died during his fifth term and remains New Jersey's longest serving senator, with a total of 28 years, 5 months and 8 days in office.

Frank Lautenberg has been called "the last of the New Deal liberals" and was known for his legislative efforts against drunk driving, and his support of spending for Amtrak and urban public transportation, for stronger environmental regulations, greater consumer protections, and investigations of wrongdoing by Wall Street.

Frank Lautenberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Mollie and Sam Frank Lautenberg, Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia, who had arrived in the United States as infants.

Frank Lautenberg was named after his maternal grandfather, Frank Bergen, and close family friend and Paterson community activist, Raleigh Weintrob.

When Frank Lautenberg was 19, his father who worked in silk mills, sold coal, farmed and once ran a tavern, died of cancer.

Frank Lautenberg worked as a salesman for Prudential Insurance and was the first salesman at Automatic Data Processing, a payroll-management company.

Frank Lautenberg was the executive commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 1978 to 1982.

Frank Lautenberg donated $90,000 to George McGovern's campaign for president in 1972, earning himself a place on one of Richard Nixon's enemies lists.

Maguire was the favorite but Boggs' entry took votes away from him and Frank Lautenberg spent a considerable amount of his own money.

Frank Lautenberg ran on a very progressive platform and polls in the Summer of 1982 put her ahead by 18 points.

Frank Lautenberg emphasised President Reagan's unpopularity, reminded the voters that she would be a vote for a Republican majority in the Senate and called Fenwick, who was 72, "eccentric" and "erratic" but denied that he was referring to her age.

Frank Lautenberg did however point out that she would be almost 80 at the end of her first term and was therefore unlikely to gain much seniority in the Senate.

Brady, who had just a few days left in his appointed term, resigned on December 27,1982, allowing Frank Lautenberg to take office several days before the traditional swearing-in of senators, which gave him an edge in seniority over the other freshman senators.

Frank Lautenberg did not get along with his New Jersey Senate colleague Robert Torricelli, and suspected that he was encouraging Whitman to run against him.

Torricelli's relationship with Frank Lautenberg had been very rocky, especially when Frank Lautenberg directly accused Torricelli of encouraging Whitman to challenge him for his Senate seat.

Almost immediately, Lautenberg regretted his decision, especially after neither Whitman nor Kean ran against Corzine in the general election.

Frank Lautenberg was said to be missing his days working in the Senate.

Frank Lautenberg had considered reversing his decision and running for re-election, but since his rival, Senator Torricelli, had encouraged Corzine to run in the first place, Lautenberg would likely have had trouble restarting his campaign.

Frank Lautenberg was reported to have been upset with his treatment and commented that "when you come down from a relatively lofty position of seniority, the atmosphere is different", having been given one of the least prestigious office spaces behind a fire exit door.

Back in the Senate, Frank Lautenberg was considered one of the chamber's most liberal members.

Frank Lautenberg was pro-choice, supported gun control, introduced many bills increasing penalties for carjacking and car theft, and criticized the Bush administration on national security issues.

Frank Lautenberg was heavily involved in various anti-smoking and airline safety legislation.

Frank Lautenberg was probably best known as the author of the legislation that banned smoking from most commercial airline flights.

Frank Lautenberg is known for authoring the Ryan White Care Act, which provides services to AIDS patients.

When Jon Corzine resigned from the Senate to become Governor of New Jersey, Frank Lautenberg became the senior senator again in 2006.

Frank Lautenberg received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.

In 2007, Frank Lautenberg proposed the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2007, designed to deny weapons purchases by persons that the government has placed on the terrorist watchlist.

On June 21,2007, Frank Lautenberg passed Clifford Case for the most votes on the Senate floor of any United States Senator in New Jersey history.

On February 14,2013, Frank Lautenberg announced he would not seek re-election.

At the time of his death from viral pneumonia at age 89, Frank Lautenberg was the oldest serving senator and the last remaining World War II veteran in the Senate.

Frank Lautenberg married Lois Levenson in 1956, with whom he had four children: Ellen, Nan, Lisa, and Joshua.

Frank Lautenberg had two stepdaughters, Danielle Englebardt and Lara Englebardt Metz with Bonnie; and 13 grandchildren.

Frank Lautenberg resided in Montclair, New Jersey for much of his Senate career and last resided in nearby Cliffside Park.

On February 19,2010, his office announced that Frank Lautenberg had been diagnosed with a diffuse large b-cell lymphoma at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Frank Lautenberg had been hospitalized with profuse gastric bleeding following a fall in his Cliffside Park, New Jersey, home shortly after returning from a Haiti trip with a 12-member Congressional delegation.

Frank Lautenberg was released from the hospital on February 25,2010.

In 2010, Frank Lautenberg's wealth was estimated to be between $55 million and $116.1 million, making him the fifth-wealthiest Senator.

Frank Lautenberg began collecting modern art after his election to the Senate, much of which was sold after his death.

Frank Lautenberg was returned to Washington by an Amtrak funeral train.

Frank Lautenberg was buried on June 7,2013, with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Frank R Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area is an offshore marine protected area for deep-sea corals off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic states of the United States, established in 2016 and named after Lautenberg.