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| McCloskey said Friday that he has never questioned the existence of the Holocaust, and the 2000 quote referred to a debate over the number of people killed.</blockquote> | McCloskey said Friday that he has never questioned the existence of the Holocaust, and the 2000 quote referred to a debate over the number of people killed.</blockquote> | ||
| McCloskey told the '']'' on ], ] that the IHR transcript of his speech was inaccurate.<ref>Lisa Vorderbrueggen, , ''Contra Costa Times'', ], ]. Accessed online ] ].</ref> | McCloskey told the '']'' on ], ] that the IHR transcript of his speech was inaccurate.<ref>Lisa Vorderbrueggen, , ''Contra Costa Times'', ], ]. Accessed online ] ].</ref> | ||
| This has been corroborated by Mark Hertsgaard of '']''.<ref>Mark Hertsgaard, , '']'', ], ]. Accessed ] ].</ref> | This has been corroborated by Mark Hertsgaard of '']''.<ref>Mark Hertsgaard, , '']'', ], ]. Accessed ] ].</ref> This has not silenced questions and criticisms about McCloskey's decision to attend and be a keynote speaker for a Holocaust denial conference. There also is no dispute of the charge and critique that McCloskey did not speak up against the group's agenda. | ||
| ==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 21:15, 4 December 2006
Paul Norton "Pete" McCloskey Jr. (born September 29, 1927) is a Republican politician from California, USA. He served in the U.S. Congress House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983. He ran on an anti-war platform for the Republican nomination for President in 1972, but was defeated by incumbent President Richard Nixon. Also in 1972, his book Truth and Untruth: Political Deceit in America was published. One of Pete McCloskey's enduring legacies is his co-authorship of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
Biography
He was born in Loma Linda, California, and attended public schools in South Pasadena and San Marino. He attended Occidental College and California Institute of Technology under the U.S. Navy's V-5 Pilot Program. He graduated from Stanford University in 1950 and Stanford University Law School in 1953.
He served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1947, the U.S. Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from 1952 to 1960 and the Ready Reserve from 1960 to 1967. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1974, having attained the rank of Colonel. Pete McCloskey won both the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for outstanding service during the Korean War. In 1992, he wrote his fourth book, "The Taking of Hill 610", describing some of his exploits in Korea.
He was Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County, California, from 1953 to 1954 and practiced law in Palo Alto, California, from 1955 to 1967. He was a lecturer on legal ethics at the Santa Clara and Stanford Law Schools from 1964 to 1967. He was elected as a Republican to the 90th Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of U.S. Rep. J. Arthur Younger and was reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses, serving from December 12, 1967 to January 3, 1983. McCloskey was not a candidate for reelection in 1982, but was instead an unsuccessful Republican candidate for nomination to the United States Senate.
He taught political science at Santa Clara University in the early 1990s. For many years, he practiced law in Redwood City, California and resided in Woodside, Calif. He recently moved to San Joaquin County in order (as stated on his official campaign site) to run for Congress against incumbent Congressman Richard Pombo of Tracy.
McCloskey was the first Republican Congressman to call for the Impeachment of Former President Richard Nixon after the Watergate Scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. An opponent of the Iraq War, McCloskey broke party ranks in 2004 to endorse John Kerry in his bid to unseat George W. Bush as President of the United States.
In the late 1980s, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson sued Congressman McCloskey and Representative Andy Jacobs for libel. McCloskey, who served with Robertson in Korea, made claims that Robertson was spared combat duty when his powerful father, U.S. Senator Absalom Willis Robertson, intervened on his behalf. Jacobs repeated these statements publicly. During pre-trial depositions, another veteran who had served with Robertson, Paul Brosman, Jr., spoke of rumors during the war that Robertson had been carousing with prostitutes and hassling Korean women. Brosman stated that Robertson himself talked about his exploits with prostitutes. Eventually, Robertson dropped his lawsuit because of scheduling conflicts between court dates and his 1988 presidential campaign, and he was ordered to pay part of McCloskey's court costs.
In 1989, McCloskey co-founded the Council for the National Interest along with former Congressmen Paul Findley (R-IL).
A return to politics
On January 23, 2006, Pete McCloskey announced at a press conference in Lodi, California, that he would return to the political arena by running against Representative Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) in the Republican Party's Primary election for California's Eleventh Congressional district (map). Pombo, 45, a six-term lawmaker who heads the House Resources Committee, is considered one of the key lawmakers behind efforts to weaken McCloskey's original 1973 Endangered Species Act. Pombo is also one of the politicians currently under investigation regarding political donations from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
In the June 6, 2006 primary, McCloskey was defeated by Pombo. McCloskey received 32% of the vote.
On July 24, 2006, McCloskey endorsed Jerry McNerney, a Democrat who would go on to unseat Pombo in the 2006 midterm elections. McCloskey even spent most of Election Night at McNerney's victory party.
IHR controversy
Pete McCloskey gave a featured address to the Holocaust denial group Institute for Historical Review (IHR) in 2000. According to the San Jose Mercury News, February 20, 2006
Campaign charges are exploding over a 2000 speech McCloskey gave to the controversial Institute for Historical Review, some of whose members question the severity of the Holocaust. McCloskey said at the time, I don't know whether you are right or wrong about the Holocaust, and referred to the so-called Holocaust. McCloskey said Friday that he has never questioned the existence of the Holocaust, and the 2000 quote referred to a debate over the number of people killed.
McCloskey told the Contra Costa Times on January 18, 2006 that the IHR transcript of his speech was inaccurate. This has been corroborated by Mark Hertsgaard of The Nation. This has not silenced questions and criticisms about McCloskey's decision to attend and be a keynote speaker for a Holocaust denial conference. There also is no dispute of the charge and critique that McCloskey did not speak up against the group's agenda.
Notes
- Mark Hertsgaard, A Dragon Slayer Returns, The Nation, posted March 9, 2006 (March 27, 2006 issue). Accessed 20 June 2006.
- Brian Foley, Pombo to face McNerney in November; Zone 7 candidates tight, Tri-Valley Herald, June 8, 2006. Accessed 20 June 2006.
- McCloskey Bucks GOP, Backs Democrat , Washington Post, July 24, 2006
- McNerney, enviros take down Richard Pombo , Capitol Weekly, Novembey 9, 2006
- 13th IHR Conference: A Resounding Success, The Journal of Historical Review, May-June 2000 (Vol. 19, No. 3), pages 2-11. Accessed online 20 June 2006.
- Paul N. McCloskey, Jr., Machinations of the Anti-Defamation League, The Journal for Historical Review, September/December 2001, Volume 20 number 5/6, page 13, ISSN 0195-6752. Accessed online 20 June 2006.
- Mary Anne Ostrom, At 78, Spoiling for One Last Fight, San Jose Mercury News, February 20, 2006, reprinted on McCloskey's web site. Accessed online 20 June 2006.
- Lisa Vorderbrueggen, McCloskey takes challenge to run against Pombo, Contra Costa Times, January 19, 2006. Accessed online 20 June 2006.
- Mark Hertsgaard, 'Dragon Slayer' No Saint George? Hertsgaard Replies, The Nation, May 1, 2006. Accessed 20 June 2006.
External links
- Pete McCloskey's official campaign site
- Pete McCloskey biography
- 2006 Candidates for CD-11 from Election Volunteer.com (Nonpartisan)
- McCloskey's letter endorsing McNerney, July 27, 2006