Larry Pressler

Larry Lee Pressler ( born March 29, 1942 in Humboldt, Minnehaha County, South Dakota ) is a former American politician of the Republican Party, who represented the state of South Dakota for many years in both the House and the Senate of the United States.

Life

Study, Vietnam War and professional activities

Pressler studied post-school first at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA ) from. After receiving a Rhodes scholarship, he began in 1965 a one-year study at the University of Oxford, before his military service in the U.S. Army ableistete after his return from 1966 to 1968 and for a time was also used in the Vietnam War. For his military services he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Upon completion of military service Pressler completed a postgraduate course in law at the Law School of Harvard University and graduated in 1971 with a Juris Doctor ( JD ) from. At the same time he finished in 1971 a program of study at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He then entered the civil service of South Dakota and was an employee in the Legal Adviser of the Secretary of State of South Dakota office, where he worked until 1974. During this time, received in 1972 his legal approval in the District of Columbia and began a career as a lawyer.

Congressman and U.S. Senator

In 1974 he was elected as a Republican candidate in the 94th Congress of the United States of South Dakota and represented by his re-election in 1976 of 3 January 1975 to 3 January 1979, the first congressional district of the state. In the election, he was able to prevail against the Democratic constituency owner Frank E. Denholm.

After he had opted not to run again, he was elected in 1978 as the successor to James Abourezk senator for South Dakota ( Senator Class 2 ) in the U.S. Senate and was this after his re- election in 1984 and 1990, from 3 January 1979 to 3 January. 1997. In 1980 he contributed to the elucidation of the Abscam corruption affair in which he rejected not only the acceptance of bribes, but the offering of cash payments shortly thereafter reported to the FBI.

In the Senate elections of 1996 he suffered a defeat against his Democratic challenger and former Congressman Tim Johnson and had to retire from the Senate. During his long Senate membership he was last January 1995 to January 1997 Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Besides his work as a senator, he was also a member of the governing bodies ( Board of Visitors ) of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1979 and 1989 to 1990, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and in 1993 the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Lawyer and activities in the private sector

After retiring from the Senate in 1997, he received a lawyer approval for the state of New York and then founded the law firm Pressler International, LLC. At the same time he took on activities in the private sector and became a member of the boards of directors of several companies, such as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Since 2001, Pressler is also a lecturer and senior fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA ) where he also partner of the law firm Brock Law Firm in New York City.

Pressler, who is also a member of the Advisory Board of the National Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial since 2004, was an official in the December 2004 election observers in the presidential elections in Ukraine.