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Claiborne Pell

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 216.68.88.53 (talk) at 18:09, 2 January 2009 (His daughter Julia Pell is now also listed as deceased. Previously only Herbert Pell III was listed as deceased). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Claiborne Pell
File:ClaibornePell.jpg
United States Senator
from Rhode Island
In office
January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1997
Preceded byTheodore Francis Green
Succeeded byJack Reed
Personal details
Born
Claiborne de Borda Pell
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseNuala O'Donnell
ChildrenChristopher Pell, Dallas Pell Yates, Julia Pell (deceased), Herbert Pell III (deceased)
ProfessionUnited States Senator, diplomat

Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22 1918–January 1 2009) was a former United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students.[1][2][3][4] A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.

Career

Pell enlisted in the United States Coast Guard four months before Pearl Harbor, serving as a ships cook. He eventually earned a commission. During the war he served on North Atlantic convoy duty and in Sicily and Italy. After the war he remained in the United States Coast Guard Reserve, and eventually retired with the rank of Captain. [5] From 1945 to 1952, he served in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer in Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Washington, D.C..

In 1960, Pell won the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Theodore Francis Green after defeating (as an unendorsed outside candidate) two former Governors, Dennis J. Roberts and former U.S. Senator J. Howard McGrath in the Democratic primary.

Pell was largely responsible for the creation of Pell Grants in 1973 (originally known as "Basic Educational Opportunity Grants"), which provide financial aid funds to U.S. college students. He was also the main sponsor of the bill that created the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was active as an advocate for mass transportation initiatives and domestic legislation facilitating and conforming to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In 1987 he was among those selected for the United Nations Environment Programme's Global 500 Roll of Honour, in the first year that award was established. He served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1987-1994.

Upon his retirement from the Senate, Rhode Island's Newport Bridge was redesignated the "Claiborne Pell Bridge" and the Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy was established at Salve Regina University, in Newport, Rhode Island, Pell's home town.

In 1993, during the bitter confirmation battle over Roberta Achtenberg, a lesbian, as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pell stated that his daughter was a lesbian, and that he hoped that it would not be a barrier to federal employment for her; Achtenberg became the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Personal life

Claiborne de Borda Pell was born in New York City, the son of former United States Representative Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr.. He was the great-great-grandson of former Congressman John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Vice President of the United States George Mifflin Dallas and great-great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Representative William Charles Cole Claiborne and of former Congressman Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne.[6] He was also a direct descendant of mathematician John Pell. Pell was one of the heirs to what started out as the Lorillard tobacco fortune, although the family has been out of the Lorillard firm for generations.

Pell attended St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, then received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Princeton University in 1940, and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1946. While in Princeton, he was a member of Colonial Club.

Pell was married to the former Nuala O'Donnell, a descendant of the Hartford family and, as such, one of the heirs to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company fortune.

In his later years, Pell suffered from Parkinson's Disease.[7] Pell died on January 1, 2009. He was 90 years old.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Claiborne Pell, senator behind college grants, dies". Reuters. 2009-01-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "RI Sen. Pell, creator of Pell Grants, dead at 90". The Associated Press. 2009-01-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Ex-Sen. Caliborne Pell, proponent of student grants, dies". CNN. 2009-01-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "R.I. Senator Claiborne Pell Dies at 90". Washington Post. 2009-01-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/Claiborne_Pell.asp
  6. ^ United States Congress. "Claiborne Pell (id: P000193)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  7. ^ Miller, G. Wayne (April 10 2005). ""A remarkable life"". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2007-06-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Claiborne Pell, Ex-Senator, Dies at 90". New York Times. January 1 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Rhode Island
1961 – 1997
Served alongside: John O. Pastore, John H. Chafee 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee
1978 – 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
1987 – 1995 		Succeeded by

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| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
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