James B. Pearson
Encyclopedia
James Blackwood Pearson (May 7, 1920 January 13, 2009) was a United States Senator
from Kansas
from 1962 to 1979.
in 1934 and attended public school. He went on to attend college at Duke University
in Durham, North Carolina
. During the Second World War he interrupted his schooling to serve as a pilot in the air transport service of the United States Navy
, flying DC3's across country (1943–1946), and was discharged as a lieutenant.
Stationed at the Olathe Naval Air Station
in Kansas, Pearson met and married the former Martha Mitchell. Pearson graduated from the law school of the University of Virginia
at Charlottesville
in 1950. He was admitted to the bar
and commenced the practice of law
in Mission, Kansas
. Pearson served as Assistant County Attorney of Johnson County, Kansas
from 1952 to 1954; County Probate Judge from 1954 to 1956; and was elected to the State Senate, where he served from 1956 to 1960. He did not seek reelection but returned to the practice of law. Pearson campaigned with Attorney General John Anderson for governor in 1960. Anderson was elected and Pearson became the state GOP chairman. On January 31, 1962, Anderson appointed Pearson to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew F. Schoeppel. Pearson was elected on November 6, 1962, in a special election for the term ending January 3, 1967; reelected in 1966 for a full six-year term; and reelected again in 1972.
Pearson initially voted regularly with the leadership of his party, opposing Lyndon B. Johnson
's Great Society
programs. However Pearson moderated his positions with time. Following the Kent State massacre in 1970, Pearson shifted his position to oppose the bombing of Laos
and Cambodia
during the Vietnam War
. In the Senate he became known for working with colleagues across the political asile.
When a group of senators led by Walter Mondale
of Minnesota
set out to change the filibuster rule, which had been used to block civil rights legislation, they asked Pearson to join them. Together they reduced the number of votes required to end debate from 67 to 60. Pearson's other legislative accomplishments came as a member of the Commerce Committee, where he was the ranking minority member of its aviation subcommittee. Those successes included the creation of the airport/airways trust fund, which allowed for the expansion of the nation's airports and air traffic system, and the deregulation of "new" natural gas, which brought increased production of that clean-burning fuel.
Pearson collaborated with Senator Howard Cannon
, D-Nevada, and others, on the former legislation and Senators Russell Long, D-Louisiana, and Lloyd Bentsen
, D-Texas, on the latter.
Pearson and Democrat Fred Harris
of Oklahoma introduced the first major legislation with economic incentives for rural development. With Democrat Phil Hart of Michigan, Pearson sponsored the first major campaign reform legislation following World War II. Pearson was an early supporter of consumer protection legislation.
Pearson was a member of the Wednesday Club, a group of moderate and liberal Republican senators who met for lunch to discuss issues. He opposed President Richard Nixon
on several Cold War
issues, but voted with the president on the Safeguard anti-missile program, which narrowly passed the Senate. The president and his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger
, took that program to Moscow and negotiated the abolition of such systems.
Back in Kansas, Pearson was considered by some conservatives not "Republican enough." He dealt with this criticism by providing strong constituent service and championing Kansas interests, especially the aviation, oil and gas, and cattle industries. Pearson braved this criticism by introducing his University of Virginia Law School classmate, Robert F. Kennedy
, at Kansas University and Kansas State University just days after Kennedy had announced he would run for president. On the podium, smiling, Pearson wished Kennedy a long, successful career in the Senate.
Following his reelection in 1972, Pearson was appointed by Nixon as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
. He retired from the Senate in 1978 and was again named by the Senate to the U. N. delegation. Pearson was succeeded by Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker.
After retiring from the Senate, Pearson and his second wife, the former Margaret Lynch, traveled frequently to Japan and Southeast Asia. Pearson served as a member of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center based in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1983 to 1991. He and former Senator Abraham Ribicoff co-chaired a commission to study the structure and procedures of the Senate. After leaving the Senate Pearson had a relationship with the Washington, D. C. office of the law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Lieby and MacRae.
A fellowship program named for Pearson allows foreign service officers to work temporarily in other branches of government, including state and local, to learn more about domestic politics. In Kansas, a Pearson Fellowship helps graduates of public universities study abroad. The U.S. Post Office in Prairie Village, Pearson's home town, was named the James B. Pearson Post Office in 2004.
Pearson's children include three sons, James, William and Thomas, and a daughter, Laura. He and his wife make their home in Baldwin City, Kansas
.
Pearson served from January 31, 1962 until his resignation on December 23, 1978. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1978.
Pearson died on January 13, 2009 at his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts at the age of 88.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
from 1962 to 1979.
Biography
Pearson was born in 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of a Methodist minister. With his parents, he moved to VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1934 and attended public school. He went on to attend college at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. During the Second World War he interrupted his schooling to serve as a pilot in the air transport service of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, flying DC3's across country (1943–1946), and was discharged as a lieutenant.
Stationed at the Olathe Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station Olathe
Naval Air Station Olathe is a former United States Navy base located in Gardner, Kansas. On its grounds at one point was Olathe Air Force Station...
in Kansas, Pearson met and married the former Martha Mitchell. Pearson graduated from the law school of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
at Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
in 1950. He was admitted to the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
and commenced the practice of law
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
in Mission, Kansas
Mission, Kansas
Mission is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. The population was 9,727 at the 2000 census. The city is a first-tier suburb in the Kansas City Metro. In 2003, Mission absorbed the neighboring city of Countryside.- History :...
. Pearson served as Assistant County Attorney of Johnson County, Kansas
Johnson County, Kansas
Johnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
from 1952 to 1954; County Probate Judge from 1954 to 1956; and was elected to the State Senate, where he served from 1956 to 1960. He did not seek reelection but returned to the practice of law. Pearson campaigned with Attorney General John Anderson for governor in 1960. Anderson was elected and Pearson became the state GOP chairman. On January 31, 1962, Anderson appointed Pearson to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew F. Schoeppel. Pearson was elected on November 6, 1962, in a special election for the term ending January 3, 1967; reelected in 1966 for a full six-year term; and reelected again in 1972.
Pearson initially voted regularly with the leadership of his party, opposing Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
's Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
programs. However Pearson moderated his positions with time. Following the Kent State massacre in 1970, Pearson shifted his position to oppose the bombing of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In the Senate he became known for working with colleagues across the political asile.
When a group of senators led by Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
set out to change the filibuster rule, which had been used to block civil rights legislation, they asked Pearson to join them. Together they reduced the number of votes required to end debate from 67 to 60. Pearson's other legislative accomplishments came as a member of the Commerce Committee, where he was the ranking minority member of its aviation subcommittee. Those successes included the creation of the airport/airways trust fund, which allowed for the expansion of the nation's airports and air traffic system, and the deregulation of "new" natural gas, which brought increased production of that clean-burning fuel.
Pearson collaborated with Senator Howard Cannon
Howard Cannon
Howard Walter Cannon was an American politician. He served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1959 until 1983 as a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:...
, D-Nevada, and others, on the former legislation and Senators Russell Long, D-Louisiana, and Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
, D-Texas, on the latter.
Pearson and Democrat Fred Harris
Fred R. Harris
Fred Roy Harris is a former Democratic United States Senator from the state of Oklahoma. He served from 1964 until 1973.-Biography:...
of Oklahoma introduced the first major legislation with economic incentives for rural development. With Democrat Phil Hart of Michigan, Pearson sponsored the first major campaign reform legislation following World War II. Pearson was an early supporter of consumer protection legislation.
Pearson was a member of the Wednesday Club, a group of moderate and liberal Republican senators who met for lunch to discuss issues. He opposed President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
on several Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
issues, but voted with the president on the Safeguard anti-missile program, which narrowly passed the Senate. The president and his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, took that program to Moscow and negotiated the abolition of such systems.
Back in Kansas, Pearson was considered by some conservatives not "Republican enough." He dealt with this criticism by providing strong constituent service and championing Kansas interests, especially the aviation, oil and gas, and cattle industries. Pearson braved this criticism by introducing his University of Virginia Law School classmate, Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, at Kansas University and Kansas State University just days after Kennedy had announced he would run for president. On the podium, smiling, Pearson wished Kennedy a long, successful career in the Senate.
Following his reelection in 1972, Pearson was appointed by Nixon as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
. He retired from the Senate in 1978 and was again named by the Senate to the U. N. delegation. Pearson was succeeded by Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker.
After retiring from the Senate, Pearson and his second wife, the former Margaret Lynch, traveled frequently to Japan and Southeast Asia. Pearson served as a member of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center based in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1983 to 1991. He and former Senator Abraham Ribicoff co-chaired a commission to study the structure and procedures of the Senate. After leaving the Senate Pearson had a relationship with the Washington, D. C. office of the law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Lieby and MacRae.
A fellowship program named for Pearson allows foreign service officers to work temporarily in other branches of government, including state and local, to learn more about domestic politics. In Kansas, a Pearson Fellowship helps graduates of public universities study abroad. The U.S. Post Office in Prairie Village, Pearson's home town, was named the James B. Pearson Post Office in 2004.
Pearson's children include three sons, James, William and Thomas, and a daughter, Laura. He and his wife make their home in Baldwin City, Kansas
Baldwin City, Kansas
Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States about south of Lawrence and west of Gardner. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,515. It is part of the Lawrence, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
.
Pearson served from January 31, 1962 until his resignation on December 23, 1978. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1978.
Pearson died on January 13, 2009 at his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts at the age of 88.