Mike Synar
| Michael Lynn Synar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 2nd district |
|
|
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Ted Risenhoover |
| Succeeded by | Tom Coburn |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 17, 1950 Vinita, Oklahoma |
| Died | January 9, 1996 (aged 45) Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
University of Oklahoma Northwestern University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
Michael Lynn "Mike" Synar (October 17, 1950 – January 9, 1996) was an American Democratic politician who represented Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district in Congress for eight terms.
Synar was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, Father Ed Synar World War II B24 Tail Gunner in Europe, father line from Poland and Catholic, and was graduated from Muskogee High School in 1968. He attended the University of Oklahoma (OU) and graduated in 1972 with a B.S.; later Synar also earned his law degree from OU in 1977. Synar was also a Rotary International Scholar and attended the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh (in Scotland) in 1973, and earned an M.A. from Northwestern University in 1974.
While Synar's primary profession was the practice of law, he also worked as a rancher and a real estate broker/agent in the Muskogee area.
He was first elected to Congress in 1978 at the age of 28, by defeating incumbent Ted Risenhoover. Synar's campaign pulled off an upset victory as they circulated copies of a Washington D.C. media report that said Risenhoover slept on a "heart-shaped waterbed," which did not play well with the voters back home in Oklahoma.
In the Congress, he may be best known for his successful constitutional challenge to the Gramm-Rudman Act. In the 1986 Supreme Court decision Bowsher v. Synar, the Court struck down the law stating, in part, that the provision granting executive power to Comptroller General Charles Arthur Bowsher, a legislative branch officer, did "violate the Constitution's command that Congress play no direct role in the execution of the laws." Synar was also an ardent and persistent foe of the tobacco industry.
...
Wikipedia