Campbell, Ben Nighthorse, 1933-

<p>Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born April 13, 1933) is an American Cheyenne politician who served as a U.S. Representative from 1987 to 1993, and a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 to 2005. He serves as one of forty-four members of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. During his time in office, he was the only Native American serving in the U.S. Congress. As of 2021, he is the last Native American elected to the U.S. Senate, and the last Republican to be elected to the Class 3 Senate seat from Colorado.</p>

<p>Originally a member of the Democratic Party, Campbell switched to the Republican Party on March 3, 1995. Reelected to the U.S. Senate in 1998, Campbell announced in March 2004 that he would not run for reelection to a third term in November of that year. His Senate seat was then won by Democrat Ken Salazar in the November 2004 election. He later expressed interest in running for Governor of Colorado in 2006; however, on January 4, 2006, he announced that he would not enter the race. He later became a lobbyist for the law and lobbying firm Holland & Knight and afterward co-founded his own lobbying firm, Ben Nighthorse Consultants.</p>

<p>Campbell was born Benny Campbell[5] in Auburn, California. His mother, Mary Vierra (Vieira), was a Portuguese immigrant who had come with her mother to the U.S. at age six through Ellis Island. (According to Campbell, his maternal grandfather had entered the United States some time before.) The Vierra family settled in the large Portuguese community near Sacramento. When Mary Vierra contracted tuberculosis in her youth, she was forced to convalesce at a nearby hospital, often for months at a time during treatment. It was there that she met an American Indian patient Albert Campbell, who was at the hospital for alcoholism treatment. Albert Campbell was of predominantly Northern Cheyenne descent but, according to Campbell biographer Herman Viola, Albert Campbell spent much of his youth in Crow Agency boarding school and may have had some Pueblo Indian and Apache Indian ancestry as well. The couple married in 1929, and Campbell was born in 1933.</p>

CAMPBELL, Ben Nighthorse, a Representative and a Senator from Colorado; born in Auburn, Calif., April 13, 1933; attended public schools; B.A., California State University at San Jose 1957; attended Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan 1960-1964; served in U.S. Air Force in Korea 1951-1954; member of the United States Olympic Team in 1964; jewelry designer; rancher; served in Colorado State Legislature 1983-1986; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundredth and to the two succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1987-January 3, 1993); was not a candidate for reelection to the House of Representatives in 1992, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1992; reelected in 1998 and served from January 3, 1993, to January 3, 2005; changed from the Democratic to the Republican party in 1995; chair, Committee on Indian Affairs (One Hundred Fifth and One Hundred Sixth Congresses, One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001] One Hundred Eighth Congress); was not a candidate for reelection in 2004.

<p>Former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell served 12 years (two terms) in the United States Senate. Prior to his service in the senate, Campbell served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, preceded by two terms in the Colorado Legislature.</p>

<p>During his time in the U.S. Senate, Ben Nighthorse Campbell was a prolific legislator. In the 106th Congress, Senator Campbell ranked #1, out of 535 combined members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, passing the most freestanding legislation into public law. In the course of his career, he was pivotal in the creation of two National Parks, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Great Sand Dunes. Ben Nighthorse Campbell is also the only member in congressional history to have authorized the creation of two National Museums, National Museum of the American Indian and National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum. Such accomplishments could only be achieved due to his thorough understanding of the legislative process and his ability to work effectively on both sides of the aisle to achieve results.</p>

<p>Senator Campbell served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (the only American Indian in history to chair the committee), and during his tenure, the committee passed more bipartisan, pro-Indian legislation that in any similar period in American history. Republican Campbell and his Democrat Vice-Chair Daniel Inouye worked hand-in-hand to ensure that every major piece of legislation that moved in congress had an Indian component included in it. Indian Country benefitted in areas such as health care, education, transportation, energy and water through their efforts. He is also well versed in Federal Recognition issues, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and Economic Development issues in Indian Country.</p>

<p>When Ben Nighthorse Campbell served as one of Colorado’s U.S. Senators from 1993 to 2005, he was the only Native American serving in Congress and the first American Indian to serve in the U.S. Senate in more than 60 years.</p>

<p>Benny Campbell was born in Auburn, California, the son of a Portuguese immigrant mother and a father of Northern Cheyenne descent. Campbell dropped out of his California high school in 1951 so he could join the Air Force and serve in the Korean War. After serving in Korea and winning several medals, Campbell earned his GED and then attended San Jose State University, graduating in 1957 with a B.A. in Physical Education and Fine Arts. After college, Campbell took the middle name Nighthorse as a reflection of his American Indian heritage, receiving the name through a traditional Northern Cheyenne naming ceremony.</p>

<p>Campbell competed in the sport of judo, a type of martial arts that originated in Japan. After training in judo at Meiji University in Tokyo, Campbell competed in the 1964 Olympic Games but was injured and did not win a medal. After returning to California, Campbell coached the U.S. National Judo Team and taught high school physical education and art. As a jewelry designer, Campbell combined his American Indian ancestry and his experience in Japan to create unique multicultural designs.</p>