Birch Bayh

Birch Evans Bayh II ( born January 22, 1928 in Terre Haute, Indiana ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. From 1963 to 1981 he was a U.S. Senator from Indiana, and in 1976 nominated for the Democratic Party for president. The election against Jimmy Carter, however, he lost. Birch Bayh, the father of former Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.

After his military service, he attended Purdue University School of Agriculture, where he became a member of Alpha Tau Omega and in 1951 received his doctorate. One of his classmates was then Wayne Townsend, who served in both chambers of the legislature of Indiana and in 1984 stood as governor for election. Later Bayh attended Indiana State University and the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington.

From 1954 to 1962 he was a deputy in the Indiana House of Representatives, where he rose to the office of the Speaker. In 1962 he won the election to the U.S. Senate in Indiana. In 1964, he fell with his wife, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy and the politician Edward Moss with a small plane in heavy fog off. Bayh and his wife came with no major injuries, while Kennedy had to be saved by him from the plane and was seriously injured. Moss and the pilot were killed.

The Senator from Indiana fought for equal rights for women; he was instrumental in the law Title IX, which guaranteed them equal opportunities, for example in sports. He also initiated two amendments to the Constitution: The 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States regulated the case of disability and inheritance of the President, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States lowered the voting age to 18 years. Furthermore, he was the initiator of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was rejected.

In recent years, as a senator, he dealt primarily with the abolition of the traditional selection method ( the Electoral College ) and their replacement by a referendum. Also proposals in this direction have been rejected by the Senate. 2006 Bayh was a member of the National Popular Vote Inc. Community, which works under the motto Every Vote Equal for the absolute equality of voters.

1972 Bayh should be nominated for the office of the President, but the plan failed, his wife was diagnosed as cancer. This was until her death in 1979, one of the leading, popular fighters against this disease. In 1976, Bayh made ​​then still the election, but because of the late decision had an organizational disadvantage. After several third places in primaries, he ended his candidacy after a disappointing seventh place in Massachusetts. In 1980, he applied for but for re-election, which he lost to personal attacks on the part of his opponent Dan Quayle with 46 % of votes.

Currently Bayh is a partner of the Washington law firm Venable.

126254
de