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Dick Thornburgh, who as governor of Pennsylvania was applauded for his cold handling of the Three Mile Island crisis in 1979 and as United States Attorney General restored the credibility of a Justice Department injured by the Iran-Contra scandal, has passed away. He was 88 years old.
Thornburgh died Thursday morning at a retirement community facility outside Pittsburgh, his son David said. The cause is not yet known. He suffered a mild stroke in June 2014.
Thornburgh built his reputation as a federal anti-crime prosecutor in Pittsburgh and a moderate Republican governor. As the country’s primary law enforcement official, he continued the savings and loan scandal. He also led the Americans with Disabilities Act; one of his sons had suffered severe brain damage in a car accident.
After leaving public office, Thornburgh became a go-to convenience store who helped CBS investigate its news practices, dissected illegalities within telecommunications company WorldCom, and attempted to improve the efficiency of the United Nations.
“I’ve always had the opportunity to right a ship that was sort of listing and taking water,” he told The Associated Press in 1999. “I wouldn’t object. not to be called “Mr. Fix It”. I liked the daily challenges of governance. “
President Ronald Reagan appointed the attorney general of Thornburgh in the final months of his administration. Thornburgh succeeded the besieged Edwin Meese III, who was investigated by a special prosecutor for possible ethics violations, and his appointment in August 1988 was hailed to Capitol Hill as an opportunity to restore the morale and image of the agency.
He was asked to remain attorney general when George HW Bush became president in 1989.
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Thornburgh had trouble with the press and members of Congress who were put off by his imperious manners. He has also fought Liberals and Conservatives in Congress over Justice Department appointments.
Despite the difficulties, Thornburgh enjoyed continued support from President Bush and secured unprecedented Congressional increases in the Justice Department’s budget to fight crime.
Former Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh speaks in Middletown, Pa., March 28, 2014 (Associated Press)
Lawsuits against savings and loan operators and borrowers increased during his tenure as the country faced a growing crisis in the savings industry. He has set up securities fraud and S&L task forces in several major cities.
Also under Thornburgh, the Justice Department continued to prosecute ousted Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was brought to Miami to face drug trafficking charges after a US invasion.
Thornburgh tried to stop the unauthorized leaks of criminal investigation information, but ran into trouble in the spring of 1989 when CBS News ran an article that the FBI was investigating the Congressional office of Representative William Gray, D -Pa. The story sparked outrage among Democrats because it aired when Gray was seeking to be elected majority House whip.
An internal investigation later showed that Thornburgh’s chief spokesperson had played a role in confirming the story.
US Senator Pat Toomey said Thornburgh ran Pennsylvania and the Department of Justice “successfully and with integrity.”
“The steadfast nature in which he guided Pennsylvania through one of its most dangerous crises – the Three Mile Island nuclear accident – should serve as an example to all elected,” said the Republican senator.
“The steadfast nature in which he guided Pennsylvania through one of its most dangerous crises – the Three Mile Island nuclear accident – should serve as an example to all elected officials.”
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, shared Toomey’s sentiment, describing Thornburgh during the crash as “a necessary and steady voice of calm in the midst of a crisis.”
As governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, Thornburgh earned a reputation as an impeccable leader and reformer who slashed the state government’s payroll, but his defining moment came just two months in office.
In March 1979, it faced the worst nuclear accident in American history when a routine equipment failure at the Three Mile Island power plant turned into a partial meltdown, which released radioactive elements.
Thornburgh wondered whether to order an evacuation of the area around the factory. He recalled years later that “some people told us more than they knew and others told us less than they knew”.
He eventually ordered pregnant women and young children to leave an five-mile area around the factory, which scared thousands more near Harrisburg.
His cool handling of the 10-day crisis prevented panic.
He has been praised in recent years for recognizing that Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry was shrinking and pumping state money into the economic development of new businesses.
Thornburgh’s career in government service dates back to the 1960s. He was an American lawyer in western Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1975, prosecuting drug traffickers, organized crime figures and corrupt politicians.
From 1975 to 1977 he was Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, where he stepped up federal prosecutions for public corruption in the post-Watergate era.
He showed his sense of humor at events during his first gubernatorial campaign in 1978, mocking the generous compensation of the state legislature to the tune of “My Favorite Things.” “Nice big paychecks and liberal pensions / Fringes and benefits we won’t even mention …” As attorney general he called white collar crime a “crime in the aftermath”, as opposed to the street .
When Thornburgh stepped down as United States Attorney General in 1991, he ran for the United States Senate, losing to Harris Wofford in the general election.
The election led Thornburgh to a courtroom in Texas, where Karl Rove, one of George W. Bush’s closest advisers, sued him in an attempt to recover nearly $ 300,000 in debt from campaign. Thornburgh lost in court, appealed and ultimately settled the case.
In 1992, Thornburgh accepted a high-level administrative post at the United Nations to combat excess bureaucracy and corruption. He left his post after the end of his one-year contract, expressing his frustration at the inefficiency and saying that the UN “almost totally lacked effective means to tackle the waste, fraud and abuse committed by the United Nations. members of staff ”.
In recent years, Thornburgh has been called upon to investigate wrongdoing in the business world.
In 2002, the Justice Department called on Thornburgh to help them investigate WorldCom for mismanagement, irregularities and fraud. He described the company, which has filed for the largest bankruptcy in US history, as “the poster child for corporate governance failures.”
Thornburgh was the co-leader of an investigation by CBS when its “60 Minutes Wednesday” program used false documents to reinforce a 2004 story that questioned George W. Bush’s military service during the Vietnam War. The damning final report of the investigation led to the dismissal of three media officials.
Richard Lewis Thornburgh was born July 16, 1932 and raised on Rosslyn Farms, near Pittsburgh. He trained as an engineer at Yale, seeking to follow in his father’s footsteps as a civil engineer, but went to law school at the University of Pittsburgh.
After graduating, he worked as a corporate lawyer, before joining the Kirkpatrick and Lockhart law firm.
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Thornburgh married his childhood sweetheart, Virginia “Ginny” Hooton, in 1955. She was killed in a car crash in 1960 that left one of their three sons, Peter, severely brain damaged.
Three years later, Thornburgh married Ginny Judson, who raised her three sons and bore another, William. (He wrote in his memoir that “Ginny and my first wife shared not only one name but many characteristics that would no doubt have made them quick friends.”)
He said the accident was a defining moment that forced him to refocus his life on what his mission and legacy would be.
He and his second wife became active in disability programs. In 1985, the Thornburghs were named “Family of the Year” by the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens.
Five years later, the Americans With Disabilities Act was enacted after Thornburgh played a key role in negotiating compromises with Congress.
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