Lowell P. Weicker Jr.
| Lowell P. Weicker Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 85th Governor of Connecticut | |
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In office January 9, 1991 – January 4, 1995 |
|
| Lieutenant | Eunice Groark |
| Preceded by | William A. O'Neill |
| Succeeded by | John G. Rowland |
|
United States Senator from Connecticut |
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In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas J. Dodd |
| Succeeded by | Joe Lieberman |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 4th district |
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In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1971 |
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| Preceded by | Donald J. Irwin |
| Succeeded by | Stewart McKinney |
| Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives | |
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In office 1962–1966 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. May 16, 1931 Paris, France |
| Political party |
Republican (to 1990) A Connecticut Party (1990–95) Independent (since 1995) |
| Spouse(s) | Claudia Weicker |
| Alma mater |
Yale University (B.A.) University of Virginia (J.D.) |
| Profession | Politician |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1953–1955 |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (born May 16, 1931) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1980. Though a member of the Republican Party during his time in Congress, he later left the Republican Party and became one of the few third party candidates to be elected to a state governorship in the United States in recent years.
Weicker was born in Paris, the son of American parents Mary Hastings (née Bickford) and Lowell Palmer Weicker. His grandfather, Theodore Weicker, was a German immigrant who co-founded the E. R. Squibb corporation. Weicker graduated from the Lawrenceville School (class of 1949), Yale University (1953), and the University of Virginia School of Law (1958). He began his political career after serving in the United States Army (1953–55).
Weicker served in the Connecticut State House of Representatives from 1962 to 1966 and as First Selectman of Greenwich, Connecticut before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives, in 1968 as a Republican. Weicker only served one term in the House before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1970. He served in the U.S. Senate for three terms, from 1971 to 1989, before being defeated for a fourth term by Joe Lieberman. He gained national attention for his service on the Senate Watergate Committee. In 1980, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for President. Weicker was a liberal voice in an increasingly conservative Republican Party. "In its 1986 rankings, the venerable Americans for Democratic Action rated Weicker the most liberal Republican in the Senate, by far—and 20 percentage points more liberal than his fellow Connecticut senator, a Democrat named Chris Dodd."
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