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Subscribe to RSSArlen Specter, viewed as resilient, smart and aggressive, was a former prosecutor who often riled both conservatives and liberals. Pennsylvanians elected him as a Republican to five, six-year terms starting in 1980. He became a Democrat in 2009.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who died Sunday of cancer at age 82, leaves a complex political legacy behind – one that has flummoxed both parties in a career that spanned nearly 50 years.
A fixture in some of the most divisive and closely-watched events of his time, Specter perhaps had the biggest and longest-lasting impact on the Supreme Court. By shaping the court's membership, Specter indirectly influenced issues from abortion to racial preferences to the death penalty.
Tom Williams / Roll Call
The Republican-turned-Democrat, who played a key role in many Supreme Court nominations, was 82.
But Specter’s unique place along the political spectrum frustrated both political parties over the decades.
In 1987, Specter helped keep one pioneering conservative, Robert Bork, off the high court. In subsequent years, he helped shepherd three others to confirmation, including the controversial appointment of Justice Clarence Thomas.
Related: Andrea Mitchell remembers Arlen Specter
In 1991, his tenacious questioning of Anita Hill, who had accused conservative nominee Thomas of sexual harassment, helped blunt the impact of Hill’s testimony and played a role in Thomas’s eventual confirmation.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell talks to Msnbc's Alex Witt about former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter who died from complications of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
And, in his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter smoothed the path for confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005 and Justice Samuel Alito in 2006.
But in 1987, Specter’s vote against the Bork nomination infuriated Republicans and conservatives, setting off an uncomfortable relationship between the senator and his party that lasted until the end of his career.
Originally a Democrat who turned Republican in the 1960s, when he served as district attorney of Philadelphia, Specter was elected five times to the Senate – a remarkable accomplishment for a Republican in that Democratic-leaning state.
Despite his support for Thomas, Alito and Roberts, Specter supported abortion rights and broke with his party not only on social issues but in his support for organized labor. He was one of only three Republican senators to vote for President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan in 2009.
Former Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak talks with Msnbc's Craig Melvin about Arlen Specter.
Facing a tough primary challenge from conservative Pat Toomey in 2010, Specter left the GOP to run for re-election as a Democrat.
"I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate - not prepared to have that record decided by that jury," Specter said, explaining his exit from the GOP.
In his appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on May 3, 2009, after he’d switched parties, Specter told David Gregory, “My core views are freedom, a woman's right to choose, (I) consistently voted for increasing the minimum wage, for expanding unemployment compensation, for the nuclear test ban treaty, where I broke with Republicans.”
He added that he got into politics because of his father, a Russian immigrant, who was a veteran of World War I.
April 28: Saying he found himself more and more at odds with the GOP philosophy, and that he didn't want his record decided by the Pennsylvania Republicans, Sen. Arlen Specter announces he will run for re-election as a Democrat.
“The government broke the promise to pay World War I veterans a bonus. And Harry Specter was a little guy,” he said. “And you take a look at my record in the Senate, or my record in public life generally, I've always been for the little guy. I say in a sense that I, I'm on my way--I was on my way to Washington to get my father's bonus. I haven't gotten it yet, so I'm running for re-election.”
He also criticized his Republican critics for singling out one or two votes that they disagreed with.
NBC's Brian Williams recounts a conversation with Sen. Arlen Specter from 2005. The former Pennsylvania senator died at 82 after battling multiple health problems.
“I voted 10,000 times. I don't expect people to agree with all my votes,” he said. “I don't agree with all of them at this time. But can you imagine picking one vote out of 10,000 and having the party say to me, in effect, ‘We don't want you as our candidate’? So there has to be room for people who are, who are moderates. It has to be Reagan's big tent again.”
He was backed by Obama but Specter lost the 2010 Democratic primary to Rep. Joe Sestak, who in turn lost to Toomey.
Fmr. Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., joins Morning Joe to discuss his new book "Life Among the Cannibals," recent criticisms against him by Rick Santorum, why he feels Santorum isn't fit to be president, why compromise in D.C. is essential, why he believes in the country's two-party system, and the GOP's sharp turn to the right.
In a statement Sunday, Toomey called Specter, “a man of sharp intelligence and dogged determination, Sen. Specter dedicated his life to public service and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His impact on our state and public policy will not be forgotten.”
Conservatives with long memories resented Specter for his vote against Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nominee Bork in 1987. “There is nothing Arlen Specter could say that we would trust,” said Jan LaRue, general counsel of Concerned Women for America, a conservative advocacy group, said in 2004 when Specter took the helm of the Judiciary Committee.
But he compensated for his vote against Bork by his role in aiding Thomas, Roberts and Alito.
At the 2006 annual meeting of the conservative lawyers group, the Federalist Society, Specter got a warm welcome. "I conclude that most of that applause is for Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito," he told the crowd.
He added that the confirmations of Roberts and Alito "may turn out to be the highlight" of Bush's presidency.
In 2004, when Specter – still a Republican at that point – faced a primary challenge from Toomey, President George W. Bush went to Pennsylvania to campaign for Specter. "He's a little bit independent-minded sometimes. But there's nothing wrong with that," Bush told Pennsylvania voters. "I can count on this man ... He's a firm ally when it matters most."
Early in his career, Specter served as assistant counsel to the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Specter developed the hotly disputed “single bullet” theory of the shooting which contended that one bullet fired from Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle had killed Kennedy and wounded Texas Gov. John Connolly, who was riding in Kennedy’s open limousine in Dallas on Nov, 22, 1963.
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...and now to undo the damage he created...
Are you on drugs or what? Obama's main task is cleaning up the damage from the previous administration. Or have you forgotten the bank failures, the near collapse of the auto industry, Americans losing jobs at the rate of 700,000/month at the end of the Bush administration, finding and killing bin Laden (who Bush couldn't seem to find for over 7 years)?
If you didn't like the Bush administration, Romney is Bush on steriods.
You know what they say about assuming.
good riddance
Justice is defined in the Bible . Those who made bad decisions acted for G-d s forgiveness . Supposedly ,
those in power of a Judge never acted with injustice or prejudice , or bribe , or political sway . In the context
of political appointments to the Supreme Count Biblical Justice is a farse The act of a political appointee makes G-d's Justice a farce . The least a politician can do is not to destroy the system that gave him power . Normally , politician do the least as so do the Judges they appoint . The Warren Commission was an example of this . The problem with this that although they will do the least to preserve the system, this does not mean that the seeds of a lack of justice or corruption , will not destroy eventually the system . Bad Justices or decision vibrate in the system for the extent of the system . In our system they become court cases in the past confirming bad decisions of the past , and so the entire system becomes correct even in the evolution of the cases before Justice . The extreme result of this is Warren Commission who actually allowed murder to on without Justice . It became OK to murder a President if one was well enough connected and or family members of the deceased wanted no Justice for the murdered but a continuation of their names in a political family interest as opposed to the right of the deseased,. and in this case the right of a nation . Mr X told the Black Community that Kennedy got what he deserved . The opposite was made possible by the Warren Commission namely the Country got the effects of the Lack of Justice by the Chief Justice , namely , he and the Supreme Count supported the Concept of discarding evidence , choosing false witnesses , and corruption of the system so that if a lack of justice for Murder , had a visible method . The same method was recently employed in the Zimmerman case , where there was evidence and witnesses who stated Zimmerman was not guilty and Obama knowing the rules of the Warren Commission , got the Sheriff who discovered this evidence fired , got witnesses for the release of Zimmerman to recant their testimony all with the idea of using the Justice system as a political tool of Obama. This is the sum total of Obama expertise experience and education . or his education background and his expert use of his employment as a teacher of Constitutional Law . Obama used corruption system for corrupt purpose , but this is as expected for all politicians . The worst case is the allowing by the Supreme Court of the buying of political position without disclosing who is doing the buying . To understand this in plain term this allows some Patron of the parties to buy the offices and for us to say we elected say Obama or Romney when in effect we elected their Patrons.who pull all the strings .
As to Senator Spector effects on Justice this is G-d 's decision as if he did the best he could or was part of this very corruption. I am not the judge of this and G-d is as stated in the Bible the ultimate Judge .
Specter is that most elusive of politicians, someone who is willing to put the country above the party. A man who doesent believe the opposition is evil. Voters have put some of the worst politicians in office in a long time. Specter was a conservative in his time but wasn't conservative enough for the Republican voters we have today.
Ha! Don't make me laugh. He was Democrat turned Republican (RINO) turned back to Democrat when he was going to have his political carreer handed to him on a plate. Specter was NEVER a conservative, he was a shill for the Democrat party. Specter only looked out for himself, his service had nothing to do with serving his country.
Although I am sad for his family, Specter was nothing more than a political opportunist who changed party affiliation more to increase his re-election chances than anything else. I got a big laugh when he lost in the dem primary 2 years ago. He saw flagging popularity numbers and decided to try and run on Obama's coat tails. Didn't work out so well.
Don't be sad for his family. They are WELL taken care of. You can be darn sure that old Arlen, the slickest of the beltway boys, received lots of lobbyist envelopes over his career that spanned 50 years. Can you image that we allow ANYONE to serve as a politician 30 years after their generation is relevant??? Term Limits now!
It's too bad he wouldn't help Holly Maddox.
A democrat who became a republican who became a democrat again. Typical political conviction. None. He fooled a lot of people for a lot of years. He isn't Fooling anyone anymore. Pity Poor Arlen.
Arlen Specter was known as the most dangerous member of congress because he did what was best for his political life. The message of his demise is a good one for all politicians...one day you will be gone.
Anyone wondering about the motivations of our politicians should carefully consider the following statement from Specter:
"I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate - not prepared to have that record decided by that jury," Specter said, explaining his exit from the GOP.
When the going gets tough, switch sides to maintain your feeble control over the masses. This guy was a switch hitter when it was convinient, as MOST politicians are. It is a sad state of affairs that we the people allow individuals like this to control our society. I see more of it coming from the current presidential campaign.
I see a light at the end of the tunnel and I wonder; Is that a train coming at me?
Arlen Spector's legacy is that he "spent 50 years in American politics". Whether you liked him or not his "career" is living proof that we need term limits sooner than later.
If you want to know what happens when a regime gets too cozy in their position, check out the hierarchy at Penn State since 1960. It becomes a Boys Club that will even protect the lowest form of criminal from public scrutiny.
If I lived in the town where they buried his carcass, I would go by and piss on his headstone every chance I got.
I wouldn't put forth the effort to soil the bottoms of my shoes to do that.
A lot of people from the Warrn Commision got some wonderful pay-offs for their services.!!!
It's called the Warren Commission. Please get it right.
So what' the big deal I missed the misspelling .
Specter was nothing more than a shill for the Democrat party. Nope I won't miss him at all. He did more harm to this country playing the role of a shill for the Democrats in Congress. He wasn't a moderate he was a liberal, a cut from the same bolt of cloth as "Jumpin" Jim Jeffords, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snowe. These 4 define the term "RINO" Republican In Name Only. They used Specter to round up wishy washy senators like McCain for GOP support on liberal bills.
Senator Arlen Specter was a great American. I am not old enough to be able to remember that moderate Republicans were the "rule, rather than, the exception." Senator Specter found that he was no longer wanted in the GOP that had became as rabidly right wing, racist, nation builders, and theocratic as the old "Solid South Southern Democrats."
Unless the Republican Party begins to heal itself from that sickness it will continue to attenuate itself.
God Bless Senator Specter,
LTC Rattus, USA, ret.
Does putting Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court make Specter a moderate?
More like he went to the highest bidder. That would explain his inconsistencies.
El Tigre,
I was, I think, a second year cadet at USMA during Thomas' confirmation hearings to become an associate justice of the SCOTUS.
With all due repect, there is nobody that is perfect and "hind sight is 20/20." I really do not think that Specter realized what a rubber stamp and a house daddy that Justice Thomas would become?
OBAMA-BIDEN 2012
LTC Rattus, USA, ret.
Spector didn't care about his constitutents, or the Republican Party, or the American people. He cared about Spector and Spector alone.
Now that he is gone, the facts remain, he was not a good guy.
He cleared his conscience before his death by leaving the republican party, just like many decent/good senior senators and congress GOP are leaving because of the new Third Reich...Tea Party that is.
Changed to a democrat in 2009, and it was all downhill from there. Let this be a lesson for all of you.
Enough of the childish banter over whether he is a Commie or whatever.
What I'd like to know, did he have a death bed confession about any Warren Commission dirt?
Those findings are full or holes. No pun intended.
look up "cord myer" cia.
I guess his reverting back to a Democrat just proved he was not the man for the job. Toomey was going to win it anyway.
RIP - I'm sure you did your best.
As his voting record indicates, he voted in favor of the pact that paid him enough. It was well known that his vote was available. His single bullet theory is proof that he could be bought.
Yes. Specter was an ass who voted for his pocket book...And he should have retired long ago. As should any of them who have been in office longer that 20 years...
so we have term limits afterall.
He should have croaked 30 years earlier, before he saddled us with three of the most corrupt and criminal swine to ever sit on the Supreme Court.