View source for Warren Rudman

{{short description|American politician (1930–2012)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Warren Rudman
|image        = Warren Bruce Rudman.jpg
|caption      = Rudman in 1980
|office       = [[Chair of the Intelligence Oversight Board]]
|president    = [[Bill Clinton]]<br />[[George W. Bush]]
|term_label   = Acting
|term_start   = February 8, 2000
|term_end     = October 5, 2001
|predecessor  = [[Anthony S. Harrington|Anthony Harrington]]
|successor    = [[Brent Scowcroft]]
|office1      = [[Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board]]
|president1   = [[Bill Clinton]]<br />[[George W. Bush]]
|term_start1  = February 18, 1998
|term_end1    = October 5, 2001<br />Acting: November 19, 1997 – February 18, 1998
|predecessor1 = [[Tom Foley]]
|successor1   = [[Brent Scowcroft]]
|president2   = [[Bill Clinton]]
|term_label2  = Acting
|term_start2  = May 21, 1995
|term_end2    = January 16, 1996
|predecessor2 = [[Les Aspin]]
|successor2   = [[Tom Foley]]
|jr/sr3       = United States Senator
|state3       = [[New Hampshire]]
|term_start3  = December 29, 1980
|term_end3    = January 3, 1993
|predecessor3 = [[John A. Durkin|John Durkin]]
|successor3   = [[Judd Gregg]]
|office4      = 19th [[Attorney General of New Hampshire]]
|governor4    = [[Walter R. Peterson, Jr.|Walter Peterson]]<br />[[Meldrim Thomson, Jr.|Meldrim Thomson]]
|term_start4  = December 3, 1970
|term_end4    = July 17, 1976
|predecessor4 = [[George S. Pappagianis]]
|successor4   = [[David Souter]]
|birth_name   = Warren Bruce Rudman
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1930|5|18}}
|birth_place  = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2012|11|19|1930|5|18}}}}
|death_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse       = Shirley Wahl (died 2010)<br />Margaret Shean<ref name="Clymer" />
|children     = 3
|education    = [[Syracuse University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Boston College Law School]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
|allegiance   = United States
|branch       = [[United States Army]]
|serviceyears = 1952–1954
|rank         = [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210010770293&view=1up&seq=222&q1=Warren%20Rudman 1991-1992 Official Congressional Directory]</ref>
|battles      = [[Korean War]]
|mawards      = [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]<ref name = Clymer/>
|module       = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Opening Statement of Sen. Warren Rudman on the 1st Day of the Iran-Contra Hearings.ogg|title=Warren Rudman's voice|type=speech|description=Rudman, as vice chairman of the [[Congressional committees investigating the Iran–Contra affair|Senate Iran–Contra Committee]], delivers his opening statement on the first day of [[Congressional committees investigating the Iran–Contra affair|joint hearings]]<br/>Recorded May 5, 1987}}
}}
'''Warren Bruce Rudman''' (May 18, 1930{{spaced ndash}}November 19, 2012) was an American attorney and politician who served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[New Hampshire]] from 1980 to 1993. A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he was known as a moderate [[Centrism|centrist]], to such an extent that [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] approached him in 1994 about replacing departing Treasury Secretary [[Lloyd Bentsen]] in Clinton's cabinet, an offer that Rudman declined.<ref name="time1994">{{cite magazine |first=Michael| last=Duffy| title= Getting Out the Wreckking Ball |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982008,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930055719/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982008,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |magazine=Time Magazine |date=December 19, 1994 |access-date=July 22, 2007 }}</ref>

After two terms in office, Rudman chose not to run for re-election in [[1992 United States Senate election in New Hampshire|1992]]. At the time of his death, he was a co-chair of [[Albright Stonebridge Group]], a retired partner in the international law firm [[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison]], as well as an advisory board member of [[Promontory Financial Group]]. He previously sat on the board of directors of [[Raytheon]], [[Collins & Aikman]], [[Allied Waste]], [[Boston Scientific]] and a number of funds in the [[Dreyfus Corporation|Dreyfus Family of Funds]].

==Early life and education==
Rudman was born in [[Boston]] on May 18, 1930, the son of Theresa (née Levenson) and Edward
G. Rudman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pMYAAAAIAAJ&q=Theresa+(Levenson)+and+Edward+rudman|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=November 25, 1990|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|access-date=November 25, 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> His family were Jewish immigrants from Germany, Poland, and Russia.<ref name = Clymer>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/us/politics/warren-b-rudman-new-hampshire-senator-dies-at-82.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | first=Adam | last=Clymer | title=Warren B. Rudman, Blunt Senator Who Led Budget Struggle, Dies at 82 | date=November 20, 2012}}</ref> He grew up in [[Nashua, New Hampshire]], and lived his entire life in the state, with few exceptions.<ref name = Clymer/> He attended the [[Valley Forge Military Academy]] boarding school in [[Wayne, Pennsylvania]]. He received his undergraduate degree from [[Syracuse University]], and served in the [[United States Army]] during the [[Korean War]]. He received his [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] degree from [[Boston College Law School]] in 1960, and was appointed [[Attorney General of New Hampshire]] in 1970; serving in that capacity until 1976.<ref name="rudmanCONG">{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000497|title=Rudman, Warren Bruce|publisher=United States Congress|access-date=April 26, 2009}}</ref>

==Career==
From 2004 to 2006, Rudman led a team of attorneys that investigated accounting practices at [[Federal National Mortgage Association|Fannie Mae]].

Prior to the [[September 11 attacks]], Rudman had served on a now oft-cited national panel investigating the threat of international terrorism. He, along with fellow former Senator [[Gary Hart]] (D-CO), chaired the panel, and both Rudman and Hart have been lauded since September 11 for their prescient conclusions.

Rudman was an Advisory Board member and Co-Chair of the [[Partnership for a Secure America]], a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.

Rudman was one of the few Jewish politicians elected in New Hampshire. He spent his final years as a resident of [[Hollis, New Hampshire]], a suburb of [[Nashua, New Hampshire|Nashua]].

He was the author of a memoir called ''Combat''.

===Senate career===
[[File:Warren B. Rudman.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Rudman on the Senate floor, 1986]]
Rudman defeated incumbent [[John A. Durkin|John Durkin]] in the [[United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 1980|1980 election]], riding the wave of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[1980 United States presidential election|landslide victory]]. Durkin resigned and Governor [[Hugh Gallen]] appointed Rudman to fill the vacancy in late December 1980.<ref name="rudmanCONG"/> Rudman served on the [[United States Senate Committee on Appropriations|Senate Appropriations Committee]] and the Ethics Committee. His best-known legislative effort was the [[Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act]].

A [[Rockefeller Republican|moderate Republican]], Rudman was conservative on matters of fiscal and defense policy—favoring [[tax cut]]s, reduced domestic spending, and higher military spending, but liberal on social issues—supporting [[pro-choice movement|a woman's right to choose to have an abortion]], [[gay rights]], and opposing [[School Prayer Amendment|a constitutional amendment mandating voluntary school prayer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.emkinstitute.org/resources/warren-rudman|title=Interview with Warren Rudman|website=www.emkinstitute.org|access-date=November 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19840321&id=f4ZKAAAAIBAJ&pg=5112,3551048&hl=en|title=The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=November 25, 2017}}</ref>  Rudman, along with [[John H. Sununu]], was a key player in the appointment of Rudman's personal friend, [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] Justice [[David Souter]], to both the [[First Circuit Court of Appeals]] and the Supreme Court. ''The Wall Street Journal'' later editorialized about the appointment, saying: "Rudman, the man who helped put liberal jurist David Souter on the high court" and who in his "Yankee Republican liberalism" took "pride in recounting how he sold Mr. Souter to gullible White House chief of staff John Sununu as a confirmable conservative. Then they both sold the judge to President Bush, who wanted above all else to avoid a confirmation battle."<ref name="wallstjournal">{{cite news
  | title = Chief Justice Souter?
  | newspaper = [[Wall Street Journal]]
  | date = February 29, 2000
  }}</ref> Rudman wrote in his memoir that he had "suspected all along" that Souter would not "overturn activist liberal precedents."<ref name="souter biography">{{cite news
  | title = David Hackett Souter: Traditional Republican on the Rehnquist Court
  | author = Tinsley E. Yarbrough
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | year = 2005
  | isbn = 9780195347906
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mvV0cVeWVmUC&q=david+souter+%22home+run%22
  | access-date = June 27, 2008 }}</ref> Sununu later said of Rudman, "In spite of it all, he's a good friend. But I've always known that he was more liberal than he liked the world to think he was."<ref name="souter biography"/>

===Post-Senate years===
After leaving the Senate, Rudman continued to practice law and be an active member in national politics. Senator [[John McCain]] asked Rudman to serve as his campaign chair during McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.<ref name="souter biography" /> On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the [[Presidential Citizens Medal]] by President [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clinton6.nara.gov/2001/01/2001-01-05-president-clinton-recipients-of-presidential-citizens-medal.html|title=The White House – Office of the Press Secretary|access-date=November 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805211909/http://clinton6.nara.gov/2001/01/2001-01-05-president-clinton-recipients-of-presidential-citizens-medal.html|archive-date=August 5, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was twice considered as a possible vice presidential candidate on the ticket of two parties other than the GOP. In 1996, [[Ross Perot]] offered Rudman the slot to be his vice presidential running mate on the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]] ticket, but Rudman refused (as did former Democratic Senator [[David Boren]] of [[Oklahoma]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/reform/choate/|work=CNN and TIME – All Politics|title=Pat Choate|access-date=September 30, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911045931/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/reform/choate/|archive-date=September 11, 2010}}</ref> Perot eventually selected [[Pat Choate]]. In 2004, Rudman was mentioned as possible running mate for [[US Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee [[John Kerry]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/05/kerry-s-long-shortlist-for-vice-president.html|title=Kerry's long shortlist for vice president|work=Slate Magazine|first=Michael|last=Crowley|date=May 28, 2004|access-date=June 15, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508114705/http://slate.msn.com/id/2101383/|archive-date=May 8, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Kerry eventually selected [[John Edwards]].

In 1999, a leaked report by the U.S. [[National Drug Intelligence Center]] (NDIC) stated that [[Carlos Hank González (politician)|Carlos Hank González]], a Mexican criminal, politician and influential businessman, and his two sons are so involved in drug trafficking and [[money laundering]] that they "pose a significant criminal threat to the United States."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Washingtonpost.com: Prominent Mexican Family Viewed As Threat to U.S.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/mexico/stories/hank060299.htm|access-date=November 17, 2021|website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> After the report was disclosed, the Hank family mobilized to rebut the allegations, hiring high-profile lawyers including Rudman.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Oppel|first=Richard A. Jr.|date=August 16, 2000|title=Suit Filed Over Leak Of Report On Mexican|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/16/world/suit-filed-over-leak-of-report-on-mexican.html|access-date=November 17, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rudman was an attorney with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and represented Hank Gonzalez's oldest son, [[Carlos Hank Rhon]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Street Journal|first=Michael AllenStaff Reporter of The Wall|date=April 11, 2000|title=U.S. Disavows Report Claiming Mexico's Hank Family Is a Threat|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB955404906767719341|access-date=November 17, 2021|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

Rudman lobbied the government to disavow the report and in March 2000 Attorney General [[Janet Reno]] wrote a letter that said the report "was beyond the substantive expertise and area of responsibility of the NDIC.″ At Rudman's request, a copy of Reno's letter was sent to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan because of the Hank family's banking interests in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|last=BRISCOE|first=DAVID|date=April 11, 2000|title=Reno: US Had No Right in Case|work=The Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/52dd19231e3406a387ff048945cf4b66|access-date=November 17, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Special Reports - The Hank Family Of Mexico {{!}} Drug Wars {{!}} FRONTLINE|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/hankfam.html|access-date=November 17, 2021|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref> Carlos Hank Rhon was later fined $40 million to settle charges that he violated banking laws when he bought Laredo National Bancshares in Texas and failed to disclose the sale of a $20 million share in Laredo National to his father.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weiner|first=Tim|date=June 1, 2001|title=Big U.S. Fine For Mexican In Bank Case|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/01/business/big-us-fine-for-mexican-in-bank-case.html|access-date=November 17, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He was a co-chair, along with former Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]]<ref>[http://www.albrightstonebridge.com/team/madeleine-k-albright/ Madeleine Albright], Albright Stonebridge Group</ref> and former National Security Advisor [[Sandy Berger]],<ref>[http://www.albrightstonebridge.com/team/samuel-r-berger/ Sandy Berger], Albright Stonebridge Group</ref> of [[Albright Stonebridge Group]], a global business consulting and strategy firm based in Washington, D.C.

He died of lymphoma in Washington on November 19, 2012, only a month after Durkin.<ref name = Clymer/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/former-us-sen-warren-rudman-dies-at/article_10d2942a-b765-50a1-b068-70355236790b.html |title=Former US Sen. Warren Rudman dies at 82 : Stltoday |website=www.stltoday.com |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121123153507/http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/former-us-sen-warren-rudman-dies-at/article_10d2942a-b765-50a1-b068-70355236790b.html |archive-date=November 23, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In a statement, President [[Barack Obama]] memorialized Rudman as "an early advocate for fiscal responsibility".<ref name = Clymer/>

== See also ==
* [[U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century]] (Hart-Rudman Commission)
* [[List of Jewish American jurists]]
* [[List of Jewish members of the United States Congress]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|R000497}}
* {{C-SPAN|1298}}
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/obituaries/obituary-warren-b-rudman-budget-conscious-senator-663057/ Obituary] from [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]

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{{s-ttl|title=[[New Hampshire Attorney General|Attorney General of New Hampshire]]|years=1970–1976}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics|Senate Ethics Committee]]|years=1985–1987}}
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[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish American military personnel]]
[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American prosecutors]]
[[Category:Boston College Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American people in New Hampshire politics]]
[[Category:Jewish United States senators]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Boston]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:New Hampshire attorneys general]]
[[Category:New Hampshire Republicans]]
[[Category:Politicians from Manchester, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Politicians from Boston]]
[[Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Syracuse University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people]]
[[Category:Valley Forge Military Academy and College alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War]]
[[Category:21st-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century New Hampshire politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Members of Congress who became lobbyists]]
[[Category:Deaths from lymphoma in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]