18 Facts About Robert Daniel

Robert Daniel was first elected in 1972 and served until 1983.

Robert Daniel was the son of Robert Williams Daniel, a bank executive who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and later served in the Senate of Virginia, and his third wife Charlotte Randolph Christian.

Robert Daniel's father died when he was four years old.

Robert Daniel was a descendant of Peter V Daniel, an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and Edmund Randolph, who was the seventh Governor of Virginia, the first Attorney General of the United States, and the second Secretary of State.

Robert Daniel graduated from the Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Woodberry Forest School, in Woodberry Forest, Virginia.

Robert Daniel earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi.

Robert Daniel then received a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University.

Robert Daniel served in the United States Army and Central Intelligence Agency from 1964 to 1968, when he returned home to take over the management of Brandon Plantation after the death of his mother.

Robert Daniel had grown up as a Conservative Democrat like his father, but became a Republican sometime in the 1960s, a time when many Southern Democrats, dissatisfied with the policies of desegregation, left the Democratic Party.

In 1972, Robert Daniel, who was then serving on the Prince George County Planning Commission, ran for the open seat in after a redistricting controversy and the retirement of longtime incumbent Watkins Abbitt.

Robert Daniel won in the five-candidate general election, becoming the first Republican to represent this district since the end of the Reconstruction Era.

Robert Daniel was defeated in his bid for a sixth term by Norman Sisisky in 1982.

Robert Daniel served as deputy assistant Secretary of Defense from 1984 to 1986, and director of intelligence for the Department of Energy from 1990 to 1993.

Robert Daniel was a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.

Robert Daniel was the owner and operator of Brandon Plantation, in Prince George, Virginia, a US National Historic Landmark and one of the oldest continuous agricultural operations in the United States.

Robert Daniel was a member of The Commonwealth Club in Richmond and the Knickerbocker Club in New York City.

Robert Daniel died of a heart attack at his Jupiter Island, Florida, vacation home on February 4,2012, and was buried with military honors at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

Robert Daniel was survived by his second wife, Linda, and his two daughters.