97 Facts About Richard Lugar

Richard Green Lugar KBE was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013.

Richard Lugar served on the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners from 1964 to 1967 before he was elected to two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, serving from 1968 to 1976.

In 1974, Richard Lugar ran his first campaign for the US Senate.

Richard Lugar ran again in 1976, defeating Democratic incumbent Vance Hartke.

Richard Lugar was reelected in 1982,1988,1994,2000, and 2006.

Richard Lugar ran for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 1996 primaries but lack of success led to his withdrawal early in the campaign.

Richard Lugar twice served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, from 1995 to 2001 and briefly again in part of 2001.

Richard Lugar was born on April 4,1932, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Bertha and Marvin Lugar.

Richard Lugar graduated first in his class at Shortridge High School in 1950 and from Denison University in 1954, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi.

Richard Lugar went on to attend Pembroke College, Oxford, England, as a Rhodes Scholar and received a second bachelor's degree and a master's degree in 1956.

Richard Lugar served in the United States Navy from 1956 to 1960; one of his assignments was as an intelligence briefer for Admiral Arleigh Burke.

Richard Lugar managed his family's 604-acre Marion County corn, soybean and tree farm.

Richard Lugar served on the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners from 1964 to 1967.

In 1972, Richard Lugar was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention.

On March 14,1974, Lugar dismissed Police Chief Winston L Churchill following allegations of widespread corruption in the Indianapolis Police Department.

Richard Lugar stated the dismissal came following meetings with dozens of policemen and after having had the counsel of a seven member committee of citizens to aid in the investigation.

Richard Lugar first ran for the US Senate in the 1974 election and lost to incumbent Democratic US Senator Birch Bayh.

In 1982, he defeated Democratic US Congressman Floyd Fithian to win a second term, and six years later Richard Lugar won reelection to a third term, defeating Democrat Jack Wickes.

In 1994, Richard Lugar won a fourth term, defeating Democratic former US Congressman Jim Jontz.

Richard Lugar became the first US senator from Indiana elected to a fourth term.

Richard Lugar went on to serve a total of six terms in the Senate, defeating Democrat David Johnson in 2000 and defeating Libertarian Steve Osborn in 2006 in a contest in which the Democratic Party did not field a candidate.

Richard Lugar's was the highest-percentage win of the 2006 Senate elections despite a Democratic takeover of Washington.

In 2012, Richard Lugar ran for reelection to a seventh term.

Richard Lugar was the first six-term US senator to lose his seat in a primary election since Kenneth McKellar in 1952.

Richard Lugar attended the January 7,1980, signing ceremony of the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 in the Cabinet Room.

Richard Lugar addressed President Jimmy Carter during the ceremony by thanking him for signing what Richard Lugar called "very humane and compassionate legislation" that was important for the United States.

The measure was opposed by Richard Lugar who voted against the entirety of its conditions.

On October 15,1981, Richard Lugar voted against the recommendation of the disapproval toward the Reagan administration's intent to sell Awacs radar surveillance planes and other air-combat equipment to Saudi Arabia.

On December 2,1981, Richard Lugar voted in favor of an amendment to President Reagan's MX missiles proposal that would divert the silo system by $334 million as well as earmark further research for other methods that would allow giant missiles to be based.

In 1982, Richard Lugar cosponsored a housing bill that would provide middle-class purchasers of new homes with mortgage subsidies, which he referred to as "an emergency jobs program" that would provide 700,000 Americans with jobs in the housing and related industries while costing $5 billion over the following five years.

On December 23,1982, Richard Lugar voted in favor of a 5 cent a gallon increase on gasoline taxes across the US imposed to aid the financing of highway repairs and mass transit.

On July 13,1983, Richard Lugar voted in favor of an authorization to appropriate $130 million toward the development of nerve gas bombs and shells.

In March 1984, Richard Lugar voted in favor of a constitutional amendment authorizing periods in public school for silent prayer, and President Reagan's unsuccessful proposal for a constitutional amendment permitting organized school prayer in public schools.

Richard Lugar voted against the May 1984 budget freeze meant to reduce the budget deficit.

Richard Lugar was in attended the news conference and stated that Dole and himself had convinced President Reagan to change his mind through "the work of groups like MADD and the concern of hundreds of high school organizations called SADD ".

Richard Lugar noted his commitment to working on bipartisan support for the legislation.

Richard Lugar stressed that the president had not been damaged in his credibility.

Around this time, Richard Lugar conferred with John Poindexter, a key figure in the scandal.

In late 1984, Richard Lugar predicted that "a number of our people are not going to win in '86" unless there was economic growth.

Later that month, Richard Lugar met with German Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher to discuss the INF Treaty, Richard Lugar stating afterward that he was confident the treaty would eventually be ratified despite developments in the process.

Richard Lugar believed technical errors existed within the treaty, aligning him with Senate critics of the measure, but differed from them on when they should be improved.

Richard Lugar attended the July 11,1988, White House meeting on the subject of legislation to provide financial relief to farmers affected by the showers in the Midwestern and Southern United States, Richard Lugar during which he indicated that there was willingness on the part of his political party to support the measure.

On December 12,1988, Richard Lugar attended Vice President-elect Quayle's first news conference following the election, during which Quayle stated the Bush administration would be seeking his aid along with that of Dan Coats in pushing their agenda through Congress.

In February 1990, Richard Lugar announced that the congressional group President Bush named to observe Nicaragua elections the following month was disbanded following their being denied visas by the Nicaraguan government.

On October 2,1990, Richard Lugar voted in favor of the nomination of David Souter for Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.

In June 1991, Richard Lugar joined fellow Senators William Cohen and John Warner in revealing their dissent with space-based weapons, a central component of the Bush administration's version of the Strategic Defense Initiative, in a letter and speeches.

Richard Lugar attended the April 28,1993, meeting between President Clinton and lawmakers over American involvement in Bosnia.

Richard Lugar was of the view that the United States wanted a full partnership with Europeans that could only arise from "recognition on their side that our men and women in the armed forces are taking risks right now".

On November 20,1993, Richard Lugar voted in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

On February 12,1999, Richard Lugar voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against President Clinton, calling his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky "shameless, reckless and indefensible", and criticizing him for creating a negative environment.

In October 1999, Richard Lugar voted against the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Richard Lugar was detained for three hours at an airport in the city of Perm, near the Ural Mountains, where they were scheduled to depart for a meeting with the President and the Speaker of the House of Ukraine.

Richard Lugar was released after a brief dialogue between US and Russian officials and the Russians later apologized for the incident.

On January 13,2009, Richard Lugar participated in the confirmation hearing for Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, raising questions on the potential conflict of interest between her husband Bill's charitable activities and her new position.

Richard Lugar offered praise to Clinton as "the epitome of a big leaguer".

On March 18,2009, Richard Lugar cast his 12,000th Senate vote, putting him in 13th place for most votes.

Richard Lugar ran for the Republican nomination for President in 1996.

Richard Lugar declared his candidacy on April 19,1995, in Indianapolis.

Richard Lugar ran on a campaign slogan of "nuclear security and fiscal sanity", but his campaign failed to gain traction.

Since its inception in January 2013, the Richard Lugar Center has served as a source of education and awareness on these pertinent issues.

Richard Lugar worked to initiate a biofuels research program to help increase US utilization of ethanol and combustion fuels, and led initiatives to streamline the US Department of Agriculture, reform the food stamp program, and preserve the federal school lunch program.

Richard Lugar continued to support bipartisan solutions and initiatives as one of the policy focus areas of The Richard Lugar Center.

Richard Lugar was a firm believer in pragmatic, scientific solutions to climate change issues.

Richard Lugar voted for the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

Richard Lugar voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Richard Lugar was a supporter of gun control and backed a number of gun legislations and weapons bans.

Richard Lugar had an F rating from the National Rifle Association of America.

Richard Lugar opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation, voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Richard Lugar believed that judicial confirmation decisions should not be purely partisan.

Richard Lugar's view was if an appointee is properly qualified for the position, that the Senate should show deference to the president and confirm their nomination.

Richard Lugar was one of only nine senators to vote against Bill Clinton's nomination of Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court.

Richard Lugar voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, limiting the definition of marriage to one man and one woman.

On May 6,1986, Richard Lugar was among 22 senators to vote in favor of the Reagan administration-backed proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, warning other senators prior to voting that they "were taking a headlong plunge in opposition to the President of the United States".

Richard Lugar noted that the proposal had been turned down by Russian officials, who noted Syria had not previously supported the Chemical Weapons Convention, and that other countries saw the stockpile of Syrian weapons as "influencing very adversely the potential for peace and stability in the Middle East".

Richard Lugar was influential in gaining Senate ratification of treaties to reduce the world's use, production and stockpiling of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and spearheaded many bipartisan nonproliferation initiatives.

Richard Lugar was an integral figure in the passing of the New START Treaty.

Senator Richard Lugar supported Nelson Mandela's fight against South African apartheid.

When President Reagan vetoed economic sanctions against South African leaders as a punitive measure for apartheid, Richard Lugar turned against his own party and led the charge to overrule the veto successfully with bipartisan support.

Richard Lugar was instrumental to the fall of the dictatorial Marcos regime in the Philippines and overseeing the 1985 presidential election there, urging intervention from the Reagan administration.

Richard Lugar received numerous awards, including Guardian of Small Business, the Spirit of Enterprise, Watchdog of the Treasury, and 46 honorary doctorate degrees.

In 2001, Richard Lugar received the Democracy Service Medal of the National Endowment for Democracy.

In 2010, Richard Lugar received the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site Advancing American Democracy Award.

Richard Lugar currently serves as President of the Lugar Center.

Richard Lugar was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his efforts to reduce Weapons of Mass Destruction and supporting NATO.

Richard Lugar was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, from Germany, in 2013, for his work on fostering transatlantic cooperation.

In 2014, Richard Lugar received the Golden Laurel Branch award, the highest honor given by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Richard Lugar was recognized for his contributions to Bulgaria's accession to NATO.

In 2005, Richard Lugar was presented the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award by the American Foreign Service Association.

Richard Lugar was a member the Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, as well as a member of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, based on his descent from very early settlers in the state.

Richard Lugar joined the Rotary Club of Indianapolis in 1957 and spoke at the club annually during his time in the US Senate.

On February 16,2013, Richard Lugar was named the Rotarian of the Century.

Richard Lugar served on the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy from 1992 to 2001.

Richard Lugar was a member of the board of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an organization involved in international elections.

Richard Lugar was a member of the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Richard Lugar was on the Board of Selectors of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

The Richard G Lugar Center for Public Health Research is a biological research facility funded by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency to contain and house dangerous pathogens and support international research efforts.

Richard Lugar was a member of the United Methodist Church.