87 Facts About Lincoln Chafee

Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician.

Lincoln Chafee was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015.

Lincoln Chafee was a member of the Democratic Party from 2013 to 2019; in June 2019, The Boston Globe reported that he had become a registered Libertarian, having previously been a Republican until September 2007 and an independent and then a Democrat in the interim.

The son of Republican politician John Chafee, who was the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, the United States Secretary of the Navy, and a US Senator from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee's first elected office was as a member of the Warwick City Council in 1985.

Lincoln Chafee is the most recent Republican to serve as a US Senator from Rhode Island.

Lincoln Chafee was defeated in his 2006 reelection bid by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

Lincoln Chafee subsequently shifted his affiliation towards the Democratic Party by first endorsing Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, running as an independent for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010, serving as the co-chair of Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, and then finally officially switching his registration to the Democratic Party in May 2013.

In January 2020, Lincoln Chafee filed to run again for president, this time seeking the Libertarian nomination.

Lincoln Davenport Chafee was born on March 26,1953, in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Virginia and John Chafee.

Lincoln Chafee's great-uncle Zechariah Chafee was a Harvard law professor and a notable civil libertarian.

The Lincoln Chafee family was among the earliest settlers of Hingham, Massachusetts, before moving south to Rhode Island.

Lincoln Chafee attended public schools in Warwick, Rhode Island, Providence Country Day School, as well as later, Phillips Academy.

At Brown University, Lincoln Chafee captained the wrestling team, and in 1975 earned a Bachelor of Arts in classics.

Lincoln Chafee then attended Montana State University's non-degree Farrier School in Bozeman.

Lincoln Chafee entered politics in 1985, when he was elected over eight other candidates to become delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention.

Lincoln Chafee ran for Warwick Mayor in 1990, losing by 5 percent in a three-way race.

Lincoln Chafee was praised for his fair-minded and sensible approach to government, including his ability to work with seven Democrats on the Warwick City Council.

Lincoln Chafee conservatively managed the city's finances, strengthening the city's bond rating and paying down the outstanding pension liability.

Lincoln Chafee worked effectively and cooperatively with the municipal unions, especially in settling a difficult and prolonged teacher labor dispute that he inherited from the previous administration.

Lincoln Chafee purchased 130 acres of open space, planted hundreds of street trees, and created new historic districts and a new economic development "intermodal" district at the state airport.

Lincoln Chafee's municipal composting and recycling initiatives dramatically decreased landfill waste.

When John Chafee died suddenly in October 1999, Governor Lincoln Almond appointed the younger Chafee to serve out the term.

Lincoln Chafee frequently criticized the younger Bush's record on the environment, and expressed concern about the 2004 Republican platform and overall philosophical direction of the party.

Lincoln Chafee asserted that tax cuts reduce revenue to the federal government, thereby worsening the federal budget deficit and increasing the amount of money it has to borrow in order to operate.

In 2004, Lincoln Chafee broke with his party again to oppose the acceleration of the Bush tax cuts.

In 2003, Lincoln Chafee voted against the Medicare Part D prescription drug expansion.

However, Lincoln Chafee cast a crucial procedural vote against a Democratic attempt to kill that bill, which failed by only two votes.

Lincoln Chafee co-sponsored the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, which expanded federal jurisdiction over class-action lawsuits, and voted against a wholesale ban on gifts from employees of lobbying companies.

Lincoln Chafee was one of the few Republicans to vote against allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and was a member of the Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Lincoln Chafee has been endorsed throughout his career by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservative Voters as a strong leader for environmental causes, despite criticisms from other progressive activist groups decrying the endorsement of a Republican.

Lincoln Chafee sponsored the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, enabling the clean up and redevelopment of thousands of abandoned urban buildings throughout the United States.

Lincoln Chafee was a member of the Republican Majority for Choice and Republicans for Choice.

Lincoln Chafee was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

In 2003, Lincoln Chafee was one of the three Republican Senators to oppose the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Lincoln Chafee supported federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

In 2004, Lincoln Chafee was one of six Republicans to vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment, an amendment intended to ban gay marriage; in 2006, he voted against banning gay marriage a second time.

Lincoln Chafee supported affirmative action and gun control, and was one of only two Republicans to vote against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

On June 27,2006, Lincoln Chafee was one of only three Republicans to vote against the proposed Flag Desecration Amendment.

Lincoln Chafee opposes the death penalty, and has consistently voted against limiting death penalty appeals in federal cases.

Lincoln Chafee has favored including racial statistics in death penalty appeals, and making DNA analysis a prerequisite for any federal-level, criminal executions.

On May 23,2005, Lincoln Chafee was one of 14 bipartisan senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, forestalling the Republican leadership's implementation of the so-called "nuclear option".

Lincoln Chafee did not announce his opposition to the nomination until a majority of Senators had already publicly said they would support Alito.

Lincoln Chafee was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against authorization of the use of force in Iraq in the lead-up to the Iraq War.

Lincoln Chafee voted against the Kerry-Feingold amendment calling for a binding timetable.

In November 2006, immediately following the midterm elections, Lincoln Chafee joined key Democrats in opposing President Bush's renomination of John Bolton as United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

In December 2006, Chafee announced he was accepting a fellowship to serve as a "distinguished visiting fellow" at Brown University's Thomas J Watson Jr.

In September 2007, Lincoln Chafee officially left the Republican Party, changing his affiliation to Independent.

Lincoln Chafee said that he did so because of the Republican Party's drifting away from its core values, such as its abandoning fiscal conservatism.

On February 14,2008, with the Rhode Island Democratic primary approaching in three weeks, Lincoln Chafee officially endorsed Obama.

In 2008, Lincoln Chafee joined the advisory board of J Street, a lobbying group that promotes diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors, and supports an independent Palestinian state.

On January 4,2010, Lincoln Chafee formally declared his intention to run for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010 as an independent, as the incumbent Governor Donald Carcieri was term-limited at the time.

Lincoln Chafee easily won the endorsements of all major public school teachers unions, including the Rhode Island affiliates of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Lincoln Chafee had previously indicated that he might run for re-election as an Independent or a Democrat.

Lincoln Chafee came to office in the depths of the worst recession in decades.

Lincoln Chafee inherited a crisis with impending bankruptcies of a number of municipalities including Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, West Warwick and Woonsocket.

Lincoln Chafee increased state aid and intervened to protect these distressed communities.

Lincoln Chafee appointed a special master to run the city on an interim basis, negotiate concessions with labor and retirees, and pass a budget with tax increases.

In May 2012, Lincoln Chafee refused on principle to release a prisoner charged with murder to federal custody because Rhode Island hadn't had an execution since 1842 and the US Attorney refused to guarantee the prisoner, if convicted would receive a maximum life imprisonment without parole.

Lincoln Chafee championed a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, signing it into law on May 2,2013.

Lincoln Chafee has shown some willingness to deviate from strict "War on Drugs" policies, in favor of alternative approaches to America's drug-crime problem.

Lincoln Chafee was the only public figure in Rhode Island to vigorously oppose an ill-fated deal in which the previous governor committed an unsecured $75 million loan to a former baseball star, Curt Schilling, to develop a new video game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Governor Lincoln Chafee said he called the towering fir, decorated with lights, tinsel and toys, a "holiday tree," because that had been the accepted practice of the two previous governors, both Republicans.

Lincoln Chafee had previously indicated that he might run for re-election as an Independent or a Democrat.

Lincoln Chafee formally declared candidacy on June 3,2015, with the campaign focused on ten stated issues with "Prosperity Through Peace" being his slogan.

Lincoln Chafee considered challenging Sheldon Whitehouse for his former Senate seat in 2018, but ultimately decided against doing so.

In 2020, Lincoln Chafee joined the Libertarians for National Popular Vote advisory board.

In February 2017, Lincoln Chafee had made it known that he was not ruling out another run for the presidency.

On January 5,2020, Lincoln Chafee formally filed to run for the Libertarian Party nomination.

Lincoln Chafee has received a 90-percent rating from NARAL and previously served on that organization's national board.

Lincoln Chafee is the only governor to have vetoed a bill proposing the availability of Choose Life license plates to Rhode Islanders, citing an inappropriateness of using state license plates to fund politically divisive initiatives and as a violation of the separation of Church and State.

In 2011, as governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee challenged an order of a federal court to transfer a prisoner in state custody to the United States government, because the prisoner in question might be subject to capital punishment, which Rhode Island had abolished.

Lincoln Chafee has indicated he is receptive to the idea of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and in 2006 supported Rhode Island's legalization of medical marijuana.

Lincoln Chafee has said he supports requiring voters to present photo identification at polling places.

In 2013, five years after his Providence Journal commentary urging passage of the plan, Lincoln Chafee signed legislation entering Rhode Island into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Lincoln Chafee has stated his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Lincoln Chafee has argued that granite is objectively the best rock as it is vital to Rhode Island's economy.

Lincoln Chafee opposes a constitutional amendment intended to ban gay marriage.

In 2011, Governor Lincoln Chafee signed a bill into law legalizing civil unions.

In 2013, as governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee signed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in that state, declaring that "we are living up to the ideal of our founders".

Also as Governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee received grades of D in 2012 and B in 2014 from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, in their biennial Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors.

In 2001 and 2003, while in the US Senate, Lincoln Chafee voted against the Bush tax cuts arguing he was concerned they favored the highest income brackets and about unchecked growth in the federal deficit.

Lincoln Chafee has criticized what he has characterized as a Biblical influence on US policy with respect to Israel.

Lincoln Chafee has said he opposes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but described Hamas as a "violent organization with a genocidal charter" In 2007, Chafee stated that Israel's security was a paramount consideration in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Lincoln Chafee serves on the advisory council of J Street and has voted to continue foreign aid to the Israeli government, among others.

Lincoln Chafee has said one of the US' highest priorities should be improving relations with the Russian Federation and has called for rapprochement, including the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Lincoln Chafee has said the US "must make international decisions with brains and not biceps", and at the first 2016 Democratic primary debate, stated that the US must end its use of "perpetual wars", referring in part to the War on Terror.

In 2008 Lincoln Chafee endorsed Barack Obama for US president during the Democratic Party presidential primaries, and went on to serve as national co-chair of Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.