38 Facts About Paul Tsongas

Paul Efthemios Tsongas was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 1979.

Paul Tsongas won eight contests during the presidential primaries, but lost the nomination to Bill Clinton, who later won the general election.

In Congress, Paul Tsongas established a reputation as a social liberal and fiscal conservative.

Paul Tsongas was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1983 and declined to seek re-election in 1984.

Paul Tsongas returned to politics after undergoing a successful bone marrow transplant.

Paul Tsongas experienced early success in the 1992 Democratic presidential primaries, winning the New Hampshire primary, but withdrew from the race in March 1992 and endorsed Clinton.

An opponent of deficit spending, Paul Tsongas co-founded the Concord Coalition.

Paul Tsongas died in 1997 of complications from pneumonia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Paul Tsongas was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, along with a twin sister, Thaleia, to a once working-class family who came to own a very successful dry cleaning business in Lowell.

Paul Tsongas's father, Efthemios George Tsongas, was a Greek immigrant, and his mother, Katina, was of Greek descent.

Paul Tsongas picked up the sport again, 27 years later, in 1986, after doctors suggested swimming as a way to rebuild his lung capacity while he was recovering from lymphoma.

Paul Tsongas served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1962 to 1964, and as Peace Corps Country Director in the West Indies from 1967 to 1968.

Niki Paul Tsongas was a US Representative from Massachusetts from 2007 to 2019.

When Paul Tsongas ran for office, out of concern that people would pronounce the silent T in his last name, the campaign distributed bumper stickers saying "Tsenator Paul Tsongas".

Paul Tsongas first entered politics as a city councilor, elected to the Lowell City Council in 1969 where he served two consecutive terms.

Paul Tsongas went on to serve as a county commissioner of Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Paul Tsongas was reelected in 1976, becoming the first Democrat to hold the district for more than one term.

Paul Tsongas's seat went to fellow Democrat, 2004 presidential nominee and United States Secretary of State John Kerry.

Until the 1992 campaign, Paul Tsongas had never lost an election.

Paul Tsongas was the first former Peace Corps volunteer elected to the US Senate.

In May 1982, Paul Tsongas was one of eight senators to vote against a $177.9 billion military authorization bill for 1983 that provided money for chemical weapons.

In July 1982, Paul Tsongas met with Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin, questioning Begin over where negotiations would fit in the event that Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat concede Israel's right to exist along with reneging the Palestinian National Covenant over calls for Israel's abolition and replacement by a secular state.

Paul Tsongas delivered an opening statement and replied "That issue will be decided in the courts" in response to most questions by Hatch.

Paul Tsongas was generally viewed as socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

Paul Tsongas was especially known for his efforts in Congress in support of historic preservation and environmental conservation on one hand, and for his pro-business economic policies on the other.

Paul Tsongas played a major role while in the House in the creation of Lowell National Historical Park, as well as in the establishment or expansion of a number of other National Park System areas.

Paul Tsongas played an equally key role later in the Senate, working closely with then Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus, in successful passage of the massive Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which had been hopelessly deadlocked in the Senate since its original passed by the House in 1978.

Relative to business and economic matters, Paul Tsongas focused in particular on the federal budget deficit, a cause he continued to champion even after his presidential primary campaign ended, by co-founding the Concord Coalition.

Paul Tsongas was criticized on occasion by opponents as a Reaganomics-style politician, and as being closer to Republicans with regard to such issues.

Paul Tsongas campaign was banking heavily on early success in New Hampshire.

Paul Tsongas hoped that his New England independence and fiscal conservatism from neighboring Massachusetts would appeal to Granite Staters.

Paul Tsongas achieved recognition for the bluntness and clarity of his plan, distributing a short book titled A Call to Economic Arms, which focused on such issues as the growing federal deficit.

Paul Tsongas won the primaries in Delaware, Maryland, Arizona, Washington, Utah and Massachusetts, but his campaign never recovered from Clinton's comeback.

However, a number of the Paul Tsongas delegates continued to support the former Senator, and voted for Paul Tsongas on the first ballot at the Convention.

The roll call yielded 289 votes for Paul Tsongas, placing him in 3rd place behind Clinton and then-former California Governor, Jerry Brown.

In late 1994, Paul Tsongas briefly led an effort to establish a third party, to be led by someone with "national authority", suggesting General Colin Powell for that role.

Paul Tsongas died on January 18,1997, at age 55 of complications from pneumonia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Mr Tsongas made his survival from cancer an issue in his Presidential campaign when he and two of his doctors, Dr Tak Takvorian and Dr George P Canellos, said he had been cancer-free since a bone-marrow transplant in 1986.