Pete McCloskey — the environmentalist, anti-war California Republican who co-authored the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day — has died. He was 96 years old.
Fourth-generation Republicans are ‘conventional’ teddy roosevelt”, he used to say, McCloskey represented the 12th Congressional District for 15 years and ran for president against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972. He fought against party leaders during his seven terms in the House of Representatives, and continued to publicly repudiate the Republican Party in his later years.
On this day in history, August 8, 1974, President Nixon announced his resignation.
He died Wednesday at his home, said Lee Housekeeper, a family friend.
Years after leaving Washington, Mr. McCloskey made his final bid for elected office in 2006, running for Northern California’s 11th District in a primary that Mr. McCloskey described as “a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.” I challenged Mr. Richard Pombo. After losing to Mr. Pombo, who spent most of his term in Washington trying to repeal the Endangered Species Act, he supported the eventual winner, Democrat Jerry McNerney.
“It was stupid to go against him (Pombo), but we didn’t have anyone else to do it and I couldn’t bear for them to do this,” the outspoken former player said. Told. Marine Corps Colonel In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, he said of the modern Republican Party:
Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan (left) admires the bumper sticker on Congressman Pete McCloskey’s car as members of the House of Representatives look on, right, on September 25, 1980 in San Jose, California. He is leaving for further campaign work in Washington and Oregon. McCloskey, a former California congressman who ran as a Republican candidate against President Richard Nixon in 1972, passed away on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at the age of 96. (AP Photo/Harrity)
Mr. McCloskey cited disillusionment with influence propaganda and ethics scandals under George W. Bush as the reason he changed political parties in 2007 at age 79. “A pox on the party and its values,” he wrote in an open letter explaining his switch to the party. his supporters.
“Mr. McCloskey was a rare figure in American politics. His actions were based on a sense of justice, not political ideology,” Joe Cotchett, his law partner since 2004, said in a statement. Stated. “He hated injustice and did not hesitate to accept members of his own party.”
Born Paul Norton McCloskey Jr. on September 29, 1927 in Loma Linda, California, he graduated from South Pasadena High School, where he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a second baseman. He is the worst player on the baseball team. ”
McCloskey enlisted in the Marines as an officer and led a rifle platoon during some of the heaviest combat of the Korean War. He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism, the nation’s second highest honor, the Silver Star for bravery in combat, and his two Purple Hearts. Ta.
He earned a law degree from Stanford University and founded an environmental law firm in Palo Alto before entering public service. In 1967, he defeated fellow Republican Shirley Temple Black and Democrat Roy Archibald in a special election for San Mateo County Legislature.
McCloskey, a leftist, had a huge presence in Washington and attempted to take the floor at the 1972 Republican National Convention, attempting to unseat then-President Richard Nixon on an anti-Vietnam War platform. Ultimately, he was thwarted by a rule written by his friend and law school debate partner, John Ehrlichman, that said candidates could not take the floor if they had fewer than 25 delegates. Ta. McCloskey had it.
Still, McCloskey liked to say he finished second.
He will then visit Mr. Ehrlichman in prison, where President Nixon’s former lawyer was serving a year and a half for conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal that led to the president’s resignation.
During his time in office, McCloskey was known for his friendship with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and criticized Israel’s influence in American politics. He was the first to call for the impeachment of President Nixon, and the first to call for the revocation of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which authorized the Vietnam War.
But his enduring legacy is the Endangered Species Act, or the law that protects species listed as endangered and endangered and protects the ecosystems on which they depend. McCloskey was elected in 1973 after a youth movement inspired by Earth Day activities succeeded in unseating seven of 12 members of Congress, known as the “Dirty Dozen,” on anti-environmental votes. He co-authored this bill.
“The world changed that day,” McCloskey recalled in 2008. “Suddenly everyone was an environmental activist. My Republican colleagues started asking me for copies of old speeches I gave on water and air quality.”
“Pete, who was a strong advocate of endangered species, ironically became a champion of endangered species,” Earth Day co-host Dennis Hayes said of the rarity of “green anti-war Republicans.” .
After serving 15 years in the House of Representatives, he lost his election to the U.S. Senate to Republican Pete Wilson, who later became Governor of California. He returned to rural Yolo County and enjoyed the life of a farmer and part-time attorney.
“When people call you ‘Congressman’ all the time, you think you’re smarter than you actually are,” he said.
But Mr. McCloskey could not remain silent forever.
In 2006, after an unsuccessful campaign against Pombo, he helped form the Elder Rebel Coalition, a group of former Republican politicians. The group called for more college tuition for soldiers, rescinded measures that tightened investigations into ethics violations, and promoted mobilization against ethics violations. They were funded by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, including Pombo.
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“If you can still make a positive impact on this country when you’re 80, you should be proud of it. Otherwise, there’s no value in getting older,” he said.
Mr. McCloskey is survived by his wife, Helen, a longtime press secretary whom he married in 1978, and four children by his first wife, Nancy, Peter, John, and Kathleen.
