Ben Nighthorse Campbell
| Ben Campbell | |
|---|---|
 |
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United States Senator from Colorado |
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In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Tim Wirth |
| Succeeded by | Ken Salazar |
| Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee | |
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In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Dan Inouye |
| Succeeded by | John McCain |
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In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | John McCain |
| Succeeded by | Dan Inouye |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 3rd district |
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In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Strang |
| Succeeded by | Scott McInnis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 13, 1933 Auburn, California, U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic (Before 1995) Republican (1995–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Price |
| Children | 2 |
| Education |
San Jose State University (BA) Meiji University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
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| Service/branch |
 United States Air Force
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| Years of service | 1951–1953 |
| Rank |
 Airman Second Class
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| Battles/wars | Korean War |
| Awards |
 Korean Service Medal Air Medal
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Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born April 13, 1933) is an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 until 2005. Campbell was a three-term U.S. Representative from 1987 to 1993, when he was sworn into office as a Senator following his election on November 3, 1992. Campbell also serves as one of forty-four members of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe.
Originally a member of the Democratic Party, Campbell switched to the Republican Party on March 3, 1995. Reelected in 1998, Campbell announced in March 2004 that he would not run for reelection to a third term in November of that year. He expressed interest in running for Governor of Colorado in 2006. However, on January 4, 2006, he announced that he would not enter the race. His Senate seat was won by Democrat Ken Salazar in the November 2004 election. He later became a lobbyist for the law and lobbying firm Holland & Knight, and afterward co-founded his own lobbying firm, Ben Nighthorse Consultants.
Campbell was born Benny Campbell in Auburn, California. His mother, Mary Vierra (Vieira), was a Portuguese immigrant who had come with her mother to the U.S. at age six through Ellis Island, (according to Campbell, his maternal grandfather had entered the United States some time before.) The Vierra family settled in the large Portuguese community near Sacramento. When Mary Vierra contracted tuberculosis in her youth, she was forced to convalesce at a nearby hospital, often for months at a time during treatment. It was there that she met an American Indian patient Albert Campbell, who was at the hospital for alcoholism treatment. Albert Campbell was of predominantly Northern Cheyenne descent but, according to Nighthorse Campbell biographer Herman Viola, Albert Campbell spent much of his youth in Crow Agency boarding school and may have had some Pueblo Indian and Apache Indian blood in his background as well. The couple married in 1929, and Campbell was born in 1933.
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