Dick Thornburgh
Richard Lewis " Dick" Thornburgh (* July 16, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American Republican politician. He was the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania as well as Minister of Justice ( Attorney General ) under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Study and career
After a general education studies, he first completed a degree in engineering at Yale University, where he graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE ). After studying law at the Law School of the University of Pittsburgh, which he finished with a Bachelor of Laws ( LL.B. ) in 1957, he was admitted to the bar in 1958.
Political career
Activities for the Department of Justice
In 1966, he ran unsuccessfully as a candidate of the Republican Party for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was subsequently 1967-1968 Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania.
In 1969, he was then President Richard Nixon United States Attorney, and thus appointed federal prosecutor of Western Pennsylvania. In this office he soon earned a reputation for its relentless crackdown on organized crime. After six years as District Attorney President Gerald Ford appointed him Assistant to the Attorney-General and Head of the Criminal Investigation Department. This office he held until the end of the term of President Ford on January 20, 1977.
Ascent to the governor of Pennsylvania
After retiring from the Ministry of Justice, he was once again working as a lawyer before he announced his 1978 bid for the governorship of Pennsylvania. In the gubernatorial elections, he then sat down against the mayor of Pittsburgh, Peter F. Flaherty, by, by promising especially a crackdown on corruption in the state administration. He was re-elected in 1982 as governor, and retired after his renunciation of a re-election in 1986 after an eight- year term January 20, 1987 from office.
One of the main events in his governor activity occurred at the beginning of his term on March 28, 1979 the accident at the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Iceland near Harrisburg. He gained a reputation as a prudent crisis manager, who ordered an evacuation of the area around the power plant and subsequent extensive reconnaissance measures to avoid panic among the population.
After leaving the governorship, he was director of the 1987 John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Minister of Justice under Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr.
On August 15, 1988, he was appointed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan as his successor, who resigned in July Edwin Meese as Minister of Justice ( Attorney General ) in his cabinet. This office he retained even after the beginning of the presidency of George W. Bush on 20 January 1989.
As its main activities he considered this the fight against drug trafficking and economic crime. One of the most important events was the case against the oil company Exxon after the injury caused by the oil tanker Exxon Valdez oil spill in Canada's Prince William Sound.
On August 15, 1991, he resigned as Minister of Justice and was replaced by William Barr.
Unsuccessful Senate candidacy and withdrawal from politics
Prior to his resignation as Minister of Justice, he applied as a candidate for the Senate seat of a plane crash on 4 April 1991 who died Henry John Heinz. However, although widely considered a victory of Thornburgh as safe, he was defeated in the election, surprisingly, the former Democratic Labour and Minister of Industry of Pennsylvania, Harris Wofford.
Thornburgh was then between 1992 and 1993 nor the United Nations Under-Secretary General. Then he withdrew from political life and was returned to the bar at the firm, he began his career as a lawyer in 1958.
2002 him, the District Court of New York City -South appointed special prosecutor in the triggered by the telecommunications company WorldCom global stock market scandal. The report written by him charged not just WorldCom itself, but also the accounting firm Arthur Andersen and the Financial Services Citigroup.
Publications
- The Future of Puerto Rico. A Time for Change. 2007, ISBN 978-0-89206-494-6