Lee H. Hamilton

Lee Herbert Hamilton ( born April 20, 1931 in Daytona Beach, Florida) is an American politician. Between 1965 and 1999 he represented the State of Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Lee Hamilton attended the public schools in Evansville. Then he studied until 1952 at DePauw University in Greencastle. In the years 1952 and 1953 he continued his studies at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. After a subsequent law degree from Indiana University and his made ​​in 1956 admitted to the bar he began to work in this profession.

Politically, Hamilton joined the Democratic Party. Between 1960 and 1963 he was treasurer of the youth wing of his party in Bartholomew County. He then headed in the years 1963 and 1964 this organization. In the congressional elections of 1964, Hamilton was in the ninth constituency of Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Earl Wilson on January 3, 1965. After 16 re- election he was able to complete in Congress until January 3, 1999, a total 17 legislative periods. In this time were, among others, the end of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement and the Watergate scandal. At that time also the 25th, ratified the 26th and the 27th Amendment. From 1985 to 1987 Hamilton headed the Intelligence Committee; 1987 to 1989 he was chairman of the Special Committee, which investigated the illegal arms trade with Iran. He then took over between 1989 and 1991 the chair of the Joint Economic Committee. Between 1993 and 1995, Hamilton was chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. In 1998 he gave up another candidacy.

Between 2002 and 2004, Hamilton was vice chairman of the commission of inquiry into the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 and thus for the 9/11 Commission Report of 2004 partly responsible. For 2005, the Four Freedoms Award, he was awarded. Later he worked in the Baker Commission is also deputy chairman of which was used in 2006 by Congress to develop an independent assessment of the situation in Iraq and recommendations for future policies and actions. In 2008, Hamilton supported the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.