20 Facts About Paul Findley

Paul Findley served as United States Representative from Illinois, representing its 20th District.

Paul Findley co-authored the War Powers Act in 1973, which is supposed to limit the ability of the president to go to war without Congressional authorization.

Paul Findley was a cofounder of the Council for the National Interest, a Washington, DC advocacy group, and was a vocal critic of American policy towards Israel.

Paul Findley received his bachelor's degree from Illinois College, which is currently home to The Paul Findley Congressional Office Museum.

Paul Findley served in the United States Navy during World War II and was commissioned a lieutenant.

Paul Findley was known in Congress as an advocate for the farmers of his district, as an early opponent of the US war in Vietnam, and as a strong proponent of the Palestinians and of opening up communication with the Palestine Liberation Organization since they were the strongest and most organized representatives of Palestinian people at the time.

Paul Findley famously helped Springfield, Illinois teenager Frank Mitchell get appointed as the first African-American page in the US House of Representatives since Reconstruction in 1965 after consulting with then-House GOP leader Gerald Ford to get more African-American people involved in the Republican Party.

Mitchell and Paul Findley remained friends until Paul Findley's death in 2019.

Paul Findley was later quoted as saying it was one of his proudest accomplishments.

Paul Findley got the Congressional Record to publish the names of all Americans who had died in the Vietnam War, which then numbered over 31,000.

Paul Findley co-authored the War Powers Act of 1973 which was passed by the House and Senate over President Nixon's veto.

Paul Findley claimed that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was launched primarily to benefit Israel, at the behest of the Israel lobby in the United States.

Paul Findley was a frequent critic of US foreign policy regarding Israel.

Paul Findley was the author of They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby in which he stated that the pro-Israel lobby, notably AIPAC, has undue influence over the United States Congress.

Paul Findley referred to the lobby as "the 700-pound gorilla in Washington".

Paul Findley listed the Israeli lobby as one of the factors contributing to his defeat in 1982, alongside the national recession of 1982 and the change of his district's boundaries after the 1980 census.

Paul Findley has authored several articles in support of Liberty survivors.

Paul Findley was a board member of If Americans Knew and the Streit Council.

Paul Findley endorsed the proposal for the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, one of only six persons who served in the United States Congress ever to do so.

Paul Findley died on August 9,2019, at Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, at the age of 98.