Javits, Jacob K. (Jacob Koppel), 1904-1986

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JAVITS, Jacob Koppel, a Representative and a Senator from New York; born in New York City, May 18, 1904; attended the public schools; traveling salesman; attended night classes at Columbia University; graduated from the New York University Law School in 1926; admitted to the bar in 1927 and commenced practice in New York City; lecturer and author of articles on political and economic problems; during the Second World War, served with the Chemical Warfare Service 1941-1944, with overseas service in the European and Pacific Theaters; discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1945; resumed the practice of law; elected as a Republican to the Eightieth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1947, until his resignation December 31, 1954; had been renominated in 1954 to the Eighty-fourth Congress but withdrew; attorney general of New York 1954-1957; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1956 for the term commencing January 3, 1957, but did not assume his duties until January 9, 1957; reelected in 1962, 1968, and again in 1974, and served from January 9, 1957, to January 3, 1981; unsuccessful Republican candidate for renomination in 1980; unsuccessful Liberal candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1980; resumed the practice of law; adjunct professor of public affairs at Columbia University's School of International Affairs; author; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on February 23, 1983; died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 7, 1986; interment in Linden Hill Cemetery, Queens, New York City.

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<p>Jacob Koppel Javits (May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician who represented New York in both houses of Congress and served as Attorney General of New York.</p>

<p>After graduating from New York University School of Law, he established a law practice in New York City. During World War II, he served in the United States Army's Chemical Warfare Department. Outraged by the corruption of Tammany Hall, Javits joined the Republican Party and supported New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1946 and served in that body until 1954. In the House, Javits supported President Harry S. Truman's Cold War foreign policy and voted to fund the Marshall Plan. He defeated Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. in the 1954 election for Attorney General of New York, and defeated Democrat Robert F. Wagner Jr. in the 1956 United States Senate elections. Javits won re-election to the Senate in 1962, 1968, and 1974.</p>

<p>In the House and Senate, Javits established himself as a liberal Republican. He opposed the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 and supported much of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs and civil rights legislation. He voted for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution but came to question Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War. To rein in presidential war powers, Javits sponsored the War Powers Resolution. Javits also sponsored the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which regulated defined-benefit private pensions.</p>

<p>Javits lost the 1980 Republican Senate primary to Al D'Amato, who campaigned to Javits's right. Javits nonetheless ran in the election as the nominee of the Liberal Party, and D'Amato defeated Javits and Democratic nominee Elizabeth Holtzman. Javits died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1986.</p>