Thornburgh, Dick

Following rather close on the heels of the unsuccessful 1966 campaign for U.S. Congress, yet another Thornburgh campaign got underway. Newly elected Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer made constitutional reform a priority for his administration and voters were asked in the May 1967 primary to call a limited Constitutional Convention. Thornburgh's long standing interest in judicial reform and his then developing concerns about local government tempted him to run in his own Forty-third District, although heavily Democratic. Thornburgh's successful campaign for delegate and subsequent participation at the Constitutional Convention are well documented here as well as the workings of the convention. There were four specific areas for which constitutional amendments were to be considered: finance and taxation, the judiciary, legislative reapportionment and local government. The Convention opened on December 1, 1967 and continued for three months during which time Thornburgh commuted back and forth between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Following the convention's closing on February 28, 1968, he participated in efforts to enact the resultant four proposals in the May 6 primary, particularly the judicial article, and embarked on a vigorous speaking tour to solicit voter support. Although all four were successfully passed in the primary, unfortunately the next year the watered-down judicial merit selection plan was defeated in a separate referendum. Home Rule is a topic somewhat surprisingly very well documented here, a topic with which Thornburgh has maintained continuous interest up to and including the passage in 1998 of Pittsburgh's home rule charter. His 1969 article "Blueprint for Modern Government: A Home Rule Charter for Pittsburgh" is a "package of recommendations - some of which, years, later, were actually included in the Pittsburgh charter.

When Dick Thornburgh resigned as Attorney General of the United States in early August 1991, only three months remained before Election Day. His opponent, Harris Wofford, had been appointed interim senator by Pennsylvania Governor Casey after the tragic death of U.S. Senator John Heinz. Thornburgh's announcement speech touched upon his ability to effectively represent Pennsylvania's interests in Washington. The Wofford campaign focused almost exclusively on the issue of health-care reform. Even with a successful gubernatorial record of which to remind voters, Thornburgh's messages were subsumed in larger national issues and Wofford handily won, his election seen as a wake-up call to Washington. The extent of voter discontent was seen in President Bush's subsequent defeat in the 1992 presidential election.

Dick Thornburgh had rejoined Kirkpatrick and Lockhart following his unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate. When President Bush called on February 3, 1992, asking him to serve as Under-Secretary-General for Administration at the United Nations, he agreed to stay for a year, as a point person on reform. A year later, February 26, 1993, Thornburgh's so-called "Thornburgh Report" was delivered to the Secretary-General, a major component of which was creation of an inspector general position to address fraud and abuse. Thornburgh made four trips abroad and each is well documented. Of particular note is the trip to the Vatican Conference on Religion and Disability in 1992.

Dick Thornburgh grew up in Rosslyn Farms, Pennsylvania, an upper middle-class suburb of Pittsburgh. He attended Rosslyn Farms Elementary School (1937-1945), a four-room schoolhouse for kindergarten through eighth grade and where eight to ten students to a class was the norm. In 1945, Thornburgh graduated from elementary school and subsequently enjoyed only one year at Carnegie High School. Thornburgh's parents recognized that he was not being challenged academically, thus he continued his high school education at Mercersburg Academy ('50). Thornburgh subsequently attended Yale University ('54), majoring in engineering, although admittedly not suited to the math and science required. However, he did develop a love for writing, politics and law, and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law ('57). Academically Thornburgh lived up to his potential there and was soon second in his class. He earned a place on the law review, and was selected for the moot court team.

Dick Thornburgh's re-election campaign for Governor of Pennsylvania was officially kicked off in March 1982. Thornburgh knew he still had goals to achieve, especially an economic development plan. Democrat three-term U.S. Congressman, Allen Ertel, of Williamsport, announced his candidacy for Governor in February 1982, and was joined by James Lloyd for Lieutenant Governor. Although the first statewide poll showed Thornburgh and Scranton with a 56-33 percent lead, Reagan's waning popularity in view of the economic recession was a danger sign for Republican candidates. After the election, the number of GOP Governors nationwide fell from twenty-three to sixteen and only three Republicans, in the largest states most affected by the recession, won. Of those Thornburgh's winning margin was by far the largest. The campaign files here document the Thornburgh administration's accomplishments during his first term of office (1978-1982), with related backup material and TV ads. The campaign news clippings monitor the progress of the campaign as do the Market Opinion Research polls.

In 1966, Thornburgh made his first run for public office as a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Pittsburgh's Fourteenth Congressional District, wholly contained within the City of Pittsburgh, and where Democrat registered voters outnumbered Republicans by over 3:1. Thornburgh faced running against William S. Moorhead, Jr., who was the four-year Democrat incumbent who had won election easily twice before. By Primary Day the campaign, now chaired by John Heinz, had come together quite well. Finances were handled smoothly and a group of volunteer supporters provided a strong research team. Briefing books were prepared on issues of importance, and ultimately a compendium of positions was put together including topics such as: hard line against organized crime and official corruption, concern for the elderly, urban problems, strong civil rights position, support for United Nations, conservative fiscal policies, transportation issues, job training, improved public education, and concern about Vietnam. It is notable that most of these topics of concern in 1966 recurred in Thornburgh's continued career. The General Election campaign included attending a three-day candidates' conference sponsored by the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington. Of interest is that another "rookie" challenging a Democrat incumbent and attending this conference was President George H.W. Bush. The fall was busy with events and campaign appearances. Travel around the district was by what became known at the "Star Car," a clunker Rambler station wagon. There were three debates between Moorhead and Thornburgh, and Ginny Thornburgh energetically master-minded a dedicated volunteer organization. These were the times of door-to-door canvassing of voters, handing out emery boards and calorie counters with "Thornburgh for Congress," and billboards picturing Thornburgh holding a large wooden spoon entitled "Thornburgh Will Stir Things Up in Congress." Despite all the hard work, solid research, and dedicated volunteer activity, ultimately Thornburgh lost to William Moorhead on Election Day, 82,732 to 38,528.

Dick Thornburgh officially kicked off his campaign for Pennsylvania Governor on January 10, 1978. After a Primary victory, William W. Scranton III held the number two spot on the Republican ticket. On the Democrat side the victors were Pete Flaherty, popular former Pittsburgh Mayor, and a school teacher, Robert P. Casey. A masterful campaign strategy was successful, and early evening on election night the Thornburgh/Scranton ticket was seen to win handily. This campaign matched two highly regarded Western Pennsylvanian candidates against each other with full documentation here of both political and issue components. Opposition research includes much information about Pittsburgh during Flaherty's years as mayor. Debate issue and response materials are extensive. All endorsements, for both tickets, are included as well as Thornburgh's ensuing inaugural plans, related photos, and videos. The post-election transition study team reports provide significant insight into priority areas for the new administration.

Dick Thornburgh's eight years as Governor of Pennsylvania included the handling of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident only seventy-one days after his inauguration on January 16, 1979. Other topics of interest: eight years of budgets holding spending increases to less than the rate of inflation, new code of conduct for state officials, welfare reform, anti-crime legislation and mandatory sentencing, economic and job growth, Ben Franklin Partnership, reduction of the state's bureaucracy, improving state's educational system, and cutting personal and business taxes. "Weekly Reports" by the cabinet to the Governor provide insight to departmental goals and accomplishments. The successful tourism campaign, "You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania," is included in files and in audio visual items. Thornburgh's fellow Governors elected him to the Executive Committee of the National Governors' Association and to chair the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) and the Republican Governors Association (RGA). President Reagan appointed Governor Thornburgh to the Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR). Of particular note regarding all issues are the extensive files from the Office of Policy Development (OPD).

In May 1993 Dick Thornburgh returned to Washington, rejoining Kirkpatrick & Lockhart as counsel in their Washington Office. That role has enabled Thornburgh to devote over half his time to clients, and yet retain the opportunity to pursue other outside interests developed over the years. These interests have been many and varied. His foreign trips include visits to Taiwan, Russia, and several to Hong Kong, all regarding the rule of law. Trips to Guatemala (regarding governmental corruption), to Nigeria (regarding federalism, interstate relations and other governance issues), to Buenos Aires (on fighting corruption), are well documented. Other trips abroad concern his continued dedication to the rights of persons with disabilities. Other challenges include his appointment as Examiner in the WorldCom bankruptcy proceedings, the largest ever filed, and his choice in 2004 by CBS to conduct an investigation into the "60 Minutes Wednesday" segment on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. During the 1990s, he embarked upon a new mini-career on television as a legal commentator for CNN. Appearances related to the O.J. Simpson case, murders of JonBenet Ramsey and Chandra Levy, President Clinton issues, and others.

Dick Thornburgh was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1932. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress from Pittsburgh's 14th Congressional District in 1966, he was elected delegate to Pennsylvania's Constitutional Convention (1967-1968). He also served on the Home Rule Charter Advisory Committee of the City of Pittsburgh (1969), as Chairman of the Allegheny County Regional Planning Council (1969-1973) and Chairman of a special Allegheny County Task Force on Youth Problems (1971-1972). As U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania (1969-1975), he dealt with cases involving organized crime, official corruption, white collar crime, narcotics trafficking and industrial pollution. He was a charter member of theAttorney General's Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys. From 1975-77, he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, where he created the Public Integrity Section to combat official corruption. As governor of Pennsylvania (1979-1987), he handled the Three Mile Island nuclear crisis and worked to restore integrity and efficiency to state government, while fighting to expand and diversify Pennsylvania's economy. He won passage of a welfare reform law, acted to crack down on violent crime, introduced a comprehensive blueprint for educational reform and fought for judicial reform and merit selection. Thornburgh was active in both the National and Republican Governors' Associations. In 1987, he was Director of the Institute of Politics, at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As the 76th Attorney General of the United States (1988-1991), he successfully lobbied for U.S. Senate ratification of the UN Drug Convention. He oversaw stepped-up initiatives against drug traffickers, organized crime and white collar criminals, as well as stronger enforcement of civil rights, anti-trust and environmental protection laws. He played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management (1992-1993), he was in charge of personnel, budget and finance matters and supervision of long-overdue reform and restructuring. Thornburgh's recent activities include resuming his law practice with Kirkpatrick and Lockhart and holding positions on the Board of the Urban Institute, as Chairman of the State Science and Technology Institute and as Vice-Chairman of the World Committee on Disability. He also travels widely, and has served as an observer to Russia's legislative (1993) and presidential (1996) elections and is chairman of the U.S. Committee for Hong Kong. Currently, Thornburgh continues his career serving as chairman of the State Science & Technology Institute and vice-chairman of the World Committee on Disability. He is a member of the board of advisors of the Russian American Institute for Law and Economics, and chairs the Legal Policy Advisory Board of the Washington Legal Foundation.

Dick Thornburgh was sworn in as the United States Attorney for Western Pennsylvania on June 4, 1969. Coincidentally the Pennsylvania Crime Commission released a major report on organized crime in the Commonwealth the very day Thornburgh's appointment was announced, thus making fighting organized crime Thornburgh's top priority from the outset. Organized crime was deeply entrenched in many facets of Western Pennsylvania business and politics including $4-6 million said to be paid illegally to Allegheny County law enforcement officials. Thornburgh set forth plans for stepped-up antiracketeering efforts, including better coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local agencies, as well as the use of a special strike force to concentrate federal efforts. Among the high profile cases handled under Thornburgh's tenure was the case of official corruption of Pittsburgh District Attorney Robert Duggan, who ultimately took his own life rather than face prosecution. Other major cases included names such as Grosso, Mazzei, Hilton, Ferraro, Iannelli, Ferrone, La Rocca, Torquato and Bruno. In addition to racketeering and public corruption, the illegal drug traffic issue was a major target as were civil rights/police brutality cases and environmental litigation. Public recognition of Thornburgh's success as U.S. Attorney was evidenced by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette's article entitled "Silver Knight of Area Law Enforcement." This and other such favorable publicity about Thornburgh's prosecution of corruption and racketeering cases, in particular, led to his appointment in March 1975, as Assistant Attorney General and head of the Criminal Division in Washington.

While advancing his career in law, Thornburgh also became a recognized civic leader by involving himself in various Pittsburgh and Allegheny County organizations and community groups. In 1969, Thornburgh was appointed Chairman of the Allegheny County Regional Planning Council for the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, which later was named the Governor's Justice Commission.

On July 12, 1988, President Reagan formally requested that Dick Thornburgh serve as his Attorney General, following the resignation of Edwin Meese, with only five months remaining in his presidency. On November 19, then President-elect Bush asked Thornburgh to stay on. Three years later, on April 4, 1991, the news of Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz's tragic death in a plane crash ultimately resulted in Thornburgh's resignation in August 1991 to run for the U.S. Senate. During his tenure, Thornburgh's priorities concentrated on drug trafficking, organized and white-collar crime, civil rights, antitrust and environmental fields. Major topics include: savings and loans scandals, Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) money laundering scandal, and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL). Thornburgh signed the United Nations Drug Convention in Vienna, December 1989, and participated in major TREVI (Terrorism, Radicalism, Extremism, Violence International) meetings. The war on drugs extended to South and Central America and topics include the apprehension of Noriega. Other topics are, for example: Project Triggerlock (regarding violent career criminals), the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103, the bombing and death of Judge Robert Vance, Operation Weed and Seed, Superfund hazardous waste cleanup actions, and the Exxon Valdez case. During glasnost Soviet Justice Minister Veniamin F. Yakovlev invited Thornburgh to visit Moscow to discuss democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, the first visit ever by a sitting Attorney General of the United States to the Soviet Union. Thornburgh served as the Bush administration's "point man" for efforts to enact the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990. Other matters on the domestic front include Thornburgh's participation in the Council on Competitiveness (CC), the Domestic Policy Council (DPC), Economic Policy Council (EPC), judicial appointment issues, and the so-called Thornburgh Memorandum.

Dick Thornburgh became Director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP) in June 1987 and held this position until he was unexpectedly named Attorney General of the United States by President Reagan in July 1988. Thornburgh was the first IOP director who had been an elected public official and enjoyed the opportunity to encourage students to consider careers in politics and government. During his time with IOP, Thornburgh served as an advisor to students, selected and arranged for Institute Fellows, initiated fundraising for programs, wrote articles, in addition to planning IOP workshops, programs and conferences. Also here are other materials relating to Thornburgh's board of trustees positions and concurrently his association with his law firm, Kirkpatrick and Lockhart. Within this series are Ginny Thornburgh's files as Harvard University's Coordinator of Programs for Persons with Disabilities.

While interested in politics generally, it was after the 1964 presidential election when Lyndon Johnson (D) defeated Barry Goldwater (R) that Thornburgh's participation in rebuilding the Republican Party became pronounced. Subsequently Thornburgh was appointed to the GOP Platform Committee, became increasingly involved in political organizations, wrote other articles, and participated in many campaigns at the local and state levels. At the national level, Thornburgh was active with the John Lindsay campaigns for Congress and Mayor of New York, and Nelson Rockefeller's team recruited Thornburgh as their Western Pennsylvania chairman in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. These varying campaign files provide an excellent look at politics of the time, particularly in Allegheny County.

After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Law ('57), Thornburgh began his law career as staff counsel at the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). In 1959, he joined Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart and Johnson (K & L) as the nineteenth lawyer of the firm and has remained associated with the firm intermittently ongoing, when not holding a public service position. Thornburgh was elected to the Junior Bar Association of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1960 and became chairman in 1963. Throughout his association with this organization, Thornburgh worked to modernize the Pennsylvania judicial system. The conference for this purpose, held in January of 1964, "marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to judicial reform and introduced [Thornburgh] to many leaders who shared this concern". In 1962, Thornburgh was elected Secretary of the Junior Bar Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association and served on the Public Service Committee and chaired the Public Defender Committee from 1966-1969. Thornburgh's paper on the 1963 case of Gideon v. Wainwright, "Indigents in the Pennsylvania Criminal Courts: The Impact of Gideon v. Wainwright," "led naturally to a concern for meeting the legal needs of poor people in civil matters". Thornburgh was a member of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association of Pittsburgh and served as one of its original board members, resigning in 1969 when appointed U.S. Attorney.

Dick Thornburgh was sworn in as Assistant Attorney General on July 8, 1975, to head the Criminal Division. The Criminal Division was made up of sections that dealt with organized crime and racketeering, fraud, government regulation, narcotics, internal security, management and labor, and general crimes. Jim Seif and Jay Waldman, two men who worked in Thornburgh's U.S. Attorney's Office and continued later to work with Thornburgh during his governorship, joined Thornburgh as special assistants. An ongoing project to which Thornburgh attached himself was the recodification of federal criminal law. Thornburgh resigned as Assistant Attorney General effective March 12, 1977, and returned to Pittsburgh where he campaigned for the Pennsylvania governor's office in the 1978 election.

Dick Thornburgh was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1932. As governor of Pennsylvania (1979-1987), he handled the Three Mile Island nuclear crisis and worked to restore integrity and efficiency to state government, while fighting to expand and diversify Pennsylvania's economy. He won passage of a welfare reform law, acted to crack down on violent crime, introduced a comprehensive blueprint for educational reform and fought for judicial reform and merit selection. Thornburgh was active in both the National and Republican Governors' Associations. In 1987, he was Director of the Institute of Politics, at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As the 76th Attorney General of the United States (1988-1991), he successfully lobbied for U.S. Senate ratification of the UN Drug Convention. He oversaw stepped-up initiatives against drug traffickers, organized crime and white collar criminals, as well as stronger enforcement of civil rights, anti-trust and environmental protection laws. He played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thornburgh's recent activities include resuming his law practice with Kirkpatrick and Lockhart and holding positions on the Board of the Urban Institute, as Chairman of the State Science and Technology Institute and as Vice-Chairman of the World Committee on Disability. He also travels widely, and has served as an observer to Russia's legislative (1993) and presidential (1996) elections and is chairman of the U.S. Committee for Hong Kong. Currently, Thornburgh continues his career serving as chairman of the State Science & Technology Institute and vice-chairman of the World Committee on Disability. He is a member of the board of advisors of the Russian American Institute for Law and Economics, and chairs the Legal Policy Advisory Board of the Washington Legal Foundation.