1. Leonard Leroy Boswell was an American politician who served as the US representative for from 1997 to 2013, a district based in Des Moines.
31 Facts About Leonard Boswell
1. 2.
Leonard Boswell was raised on a farm and educated at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa.
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Leonard Boswell was first drafted in the Army in 1956 as a private.
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Leonard Boswell later graduated from Artillery Officers Candidate School, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
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Leonard Boswell served two one-year tours of duty as an assault helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
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Leonard Boswell served two NATO tours of duty in Europe, first for four years in Germany, and later three years in Portugal.
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Leonard Boswell was elected to the Iowa Senate in 1984 and served three terms in that body.
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Leonard Boswell was President of the Iowa Senate from 1993 to 1996.
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Leonard Boswell was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa in 1994, as Bonnie Campbell's running mate.
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Leonard Boswell criticized his opponent for signing a pledge not to raise taxes.
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Leonard Boswell voted to expand funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program and voted twice to override the President's veto of SCHIP legislation.
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Leonard Boswell has voted to double Pell Grants and supported the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, providing the largest increase in college aid since the GI bill.
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Leonard Boswell voted for the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001.
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On October 10,2002, Leonard Boswell voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
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In 2001 Leonard Boswell voted for the USA PATRIOT Act, and for its reauthorization in 2005.
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Leonard Boswell sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi encouraging her not to fight the bill.
17.
Leonard Boswell voted for the final House version of the bill once he was convinced it provided adequate protection for telecom companies.
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Leonard Boswell has supported the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the 2009 stimulus bill.
19.
The Iowa Independent reported that the conservative group Crossroads GPS criticized Leonard Boswell's vote approving the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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Leonard Boswell won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd District after 12-year Republican incumbent Jim Ross Lightfoot made an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate.
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Leonard Boswell defeated Poweshiek County Attorney Mike Mahaffey by just over 4,000 votes.
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Leonard Boswell was likely helped by Bill Clinton carrying the district, as well as the endorsement of the normally Republican-leaning Iowa Farm Bureau.
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Leonard Boswell's home was shifted to the heavily Republican 5th District.
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Leonard Boswell had a non-cancerous tumor removed from his stomach in 2005.
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Leonard Boswell was reelected to his 7th term on November 4,2008.
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Leonard Boswell faced 4th District congressman Tom Latham in the 2012 election; Latham had been drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Steve King and opted to move to the 3rd.
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Leonard Boswell has been married to Dody Boswell since 1956; they have three children.
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Leonard Boswell operated a farm in Davis City that has been in his family for several generations.
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Leonard Boswell was a member of the board of directors for the Decatur County farmer's cooperative from 1979 to 1993, serving for most of that time as president.
30.
Leonard Boswell died in Des Moines, Iowa on August 17,2018, after suffering from complications of pseudomyxoma peritonei, a rare form of cancer, for over 13 years.
31.
Leonard Boswell's family said she died after suffering from a "prolonged illness".