Allard K. Lowenstein
Encyclopedia
Allard Kenneth Lowenstein, (January 16, 1929 – March 14, 1980), was a liberal
Democratic politician, a one-term congressman
representing the 5th District in Nassau County, New York
from 1969 until 1971. His work on civil rights and the antiwar movement has been cited as an inspiration by public figures including Congressmen, John Kerry
, Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
, Barney Frank
, California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides
, columnist William F. Buckley, Jr.
, actor Warren Beatty
, White House Counsel under President Obama Gregory Craig and songwriter Harry Chapin
.
in New York City
and of the University of North Carolina
. As an undergraduate, he was president of the National Student Association
and the Dialectic Society. Lowenstein received a J.D. from Yale Law School
in 1954.
After completing his law degree Lowenstein became a college professor and administrator, holding posts at Stanford University
, North Carolina State University
, and City College of New York
.
and he was a foreign policy assistant on Senator Hubert H. Humphrey's staff in 1959.
In 1959, Lowenstein made a clandestine tour of South-West Africa, now Namibia
. While he was there, he collected testimony against the South African controlled government (South-West Africa was a United Nations Trust Territory). After his return, he spent a year promoting his findings to various student organizations, then wrote a book, A Brutal Mandate, with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt
, with whom he had worked in 1957 at the American Association for the United Nations.
In 1960 Lowenstein was a Delegate to the Democratic national convention
.
Along with Curtis Gans
in 1967, and later that fall joined by Wisconsin's Midge Miller
, Lowenstein started the Dump Johnson movement
and approached Robert F. Kennedy
about challenging President Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries. When Kennedy declined, Lowenstein, a Delegate to the Democratic national convention
, threw his support behind Eugene McCarthy
, to whom he remained loyal even after Kennedy's late entry into the race (before Johnson bowed out).
Lowenstein was himself elected to Congress in 1968, but was defeated in a modified district in 1970 by New York State Senator
Norman F. Lent
by 9,300 votes. Long Island
's generally liberal Five Towns
had been removed from the district, and the far more conservative Massapequa
had been added. Lowenstein captured 46% of the vote in the new district.
The 1970 election was viewed nationwide as a referendum on President Richard Nixon's conduct of the Vietnam War. In 1971, Lowenstein became head of the Americans for Democratic Action
, and also spearheaded the Dump Nixon movement, earning himself a place on Nixon's Enemies List
. In 1972, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Brooklyn against Congressman John J. Rooney
, a conservative Democrat. Rooney narrowly won the primary, but Lowenstein continued in the race on the Liberal Party
line, finishing with 28% of the vote. After an abortive 1974 U.S. Senate
bid, Lowenstein unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Congressman John Wydler in 1974 and 1976.
Lowenstein was one of the most vocal critics of the unwillingness of Los Angeles and Federal authorities to reopen the investigation into the June 6, 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
. Lowenstein's one hour appearance on the PBS television show Firing Line
in 1975, where he was interviewed by conservative William F. Buckley Jr., was one of the first times the American public were shown that many elements of ballistic and forensic evidence were radically at odds with eyewitness testimony and the assumption that Sirhan Sirhan
alone had shot Senator Kennedy.
President Carter
appointed Lowenstein as United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and thus head the United States delegation to the thirty-third regular annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1977. Lowenstein served with the rank of ambassador from August 1977 to June 1978 in the capacity of alternate United States Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations. In 1978 he resigned to run for Congress again, narrowly losing the Democratic primary.
Lowenstein was married to Jennifer Lowenstein (née Lyman, now Littlefield) from 1966 to 1977 and the two had three children: Frank Graham, Thomas Kennedy, and Katharine Eleanor.
office on March 14, 1980, at age 51 by a deranged gunman, Dennis Sweeney
.
Lowenstein was well known for his ability to attract energetic young volunteers for his political causes. In the mid-1960s, he briefly served as dean of Stern Hall, then a men's dormitory at Stanford University
, during which time he met and befriended undergraduate students David Harris
and Sweeney. Over a decade later, in 1980, Lowenstein was shot in New York City
by Sweeney, now mentally ill and convinced that Lowenstein was plotting against him; Sweeney subsequently turned himself in to the police. Lowenstein, Sweeney, and the shooting are discussed in Harris's autobiographical book Dreams Die Hard
as well as in Richard Cummings
's biography of Lowenstein, "The Pied Piper."
Sweeney was eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to full-time psychiatric treatment for schizophrenia
. By 1992, Sweeney was on 16-hour-a-day furloughs. Members of the Lowenstein family, who had opposed prosecutorial plans to seek a sentence of death for Sweeney, expressed grave concern about the supervision Sweeney would receive and anger that a murderer was being given such privileges.
Later, two of Lowenstein's children (Thomas and Kate) would go on to work in the death penalty abolition movement. Kate Lowenstein served as the Executive Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation.
A veteran of the United States Army, Lowenstein is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
.
The one time Long Island congressman had a scholarship set up- the Allard K. Lowenstein Civil Rights Scholarship- in his name by Hofstra University in 2007.
Yale Law School
also has several programs named in honor of Lowenstein. The Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Project was founded in 1981 shortly after Lowenstein's death to honor his contributions to the field of human rights and provide law students with a vehicle to continue his work. The Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic, an outgrowth of the Project, is a clinical course in which law students participate in legal and advocacy research and writing projects for academic credit. Lowenstein's papers are held as a special collection of the Long Beach (New York) Public Library and offer much material relative to his activities and his times.
Liberalism in the United States
Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...
Democratic politician, a one-term congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
representing the 5th District in Nassau County, New York
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
from 1969 until 1971. His work on civil rights and the antiwar movement has been cited as an inspiration by public figures including Congressmen, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. is an American politician from Michigan, who served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator.-Early life:...
, Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
, California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides
Phil Angelides
Philip Nicholas "Phil" Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections...
, columnist William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
, actor Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, White House Counsel under President Obama Gregory Craig and songwriter Harry Chapin
Harry Chapin
Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter best known in particular for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key player in the creation of the...
.
Early life and start of career
Lowenstein was a graduate of Horace Mann SchoolHorace Mann School
Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and of the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. As an undergraduate, he was president of the National Student Association
National Student Association
The United States National Student Association, a confederation of American college and university student governments, was founded in 1947 at a conference at the University of Wisconsin. It established its first headquarters in Madison, not far from the U. of Wisconsin campus...
and the Dialectic Society. Lowenstein received a J.D. from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
in 1954.
After completing his law degree Lowenstein became a college professor and administrator, holding posts at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, and City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
Political activism
In 1949 Lowenstein worked as a special assistant on the staff of Senator Frank Porter GrahamFrank Porter Graham
Frank Porter Graham was a president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, for a brief period, United States Senator.-Early life:...
and he was a foreign policy assistant on Senator Hubert H. Humphrey's staff in 1959.
In 1959, Lowenstein made a clandestine tour of South-West Africa, now Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
. While he was there, he collected testimony against the South African controlled government (South-West Africa was a United Nations Trust Territory). After his return, he spent a year promoting his findings to various student organizations, then wrote a book, A Brutal Mandate, with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, with whom he had worked in 1957 at the American Association for the United Nations.
In 1960 Lowenstein was a Delegate to the Democratic national convention
1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...
.
Curtis Gans
Curtis Gans is a Jewish-American activist and writer who, with Allard K. Lowenstein started and headed the Dump Johnson movement. He currently is Director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University...
in 1967, and later that fall joined by Wisconsin's Midge Miller
Midge Miller
Marjorie "Midge" Miller was a Wisconsin Democratic politician.Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Miller served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1971 to 1985....
, Lowenstein started the Dump Johnson movement
Dump Johnson movement
The Dump Johnson movement was a movement within the United States Democratic Party to oppose the candidacy of President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson to become the party's nominee in the 1968 presidential election...
and approached 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...
about challenging President Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries. When Kennedy declined, Lowenstein, a Delegate to the Democratic national convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
, threw his support behind Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, to whom he remained loyal even after Kennedy's late entry into the race (before Johnson bowed out).
Lowenstein was himself elected to Congress in 1968, but was defeated in a modified district in 1970 by New York State Senator
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
Norman F. Lent
Norman F. Lent
Norman Frederick Lent is a former Republican-Conservative member of the United States House of Representatives from New York....
by 9,300 votes. Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
's generally liberal Five Towns
Five Towns
The Five Towns is an informal grouping of villages and hamlets in Nassau County, New York, United States on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the border with Queens County in New York City. Despite the name, none of the communities is a town...
had been removed from the district, and the far more conservative Massapequa
Massapequa, New York
Massapequa is a hamlet located in the suburban Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685.Massapequa is located on the South Shore of Long Island....
had been added. Lowenstein captured 46% of the vote in the new district.
The 1970 election was viewed nationwide as a referendum on President Richard Nixon's conduct of the Vietnam War. In 1971, Lowenstein became head of the Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action is an American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA works for social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research and supporting progressive candidates.-History:...
, and also spearheaded the Dump Nixon movement, earning himself a place on Nixon's Enemies List
Nixon's Enemies List
Nixon’s Enemies List is the informal name of what started as a list of President of the United States Richard Nixon’s major political opponents compiled by Charles Colson, written by George T. Bell , and sent in memorandum form to John Dean on September 9, 1971...
. In 1972, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Brooklyn against Congressman John J. Rooney
John J. Rooney
John James Rooney was a Democratic politician from New York.Rooney was born in Brooklyn in 1903. In 1925, he graduated with a law degree from Fordham University and practiced law following his admission to the bar the next year...
, a conservative Democrat. Rooney narrowly won the primary, but Lowenstein continued in the race on the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a minor American political party that has been active only in the state of New York. Its platform supports a standard set of social liberal policies: it supports right to abortion, increased spending on education, and universal health care.As of 2007, the Liberal...
line, finishing with 28% of the vote. After an abortive 1974 U.S. Senate
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...
bid, Lowenstein unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Congressman John Wydler in 1974 and 1976.
Lowenstein was one of the most vocal critics of the unwillingness of Los Angeles and Federal authorities to reopen the investigation into the June 6, 1968 assassination of Senator 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...
. Lowenstein's one hour appearance on the PBS television show Firing Line
Firing Line
Firing Line was an American public affairs show founded and hosted by conservative William F. Buckley, Jr. Its 1,504 episodes over 33 years made Firing Line the longest-running public affairs show in television history with a single host...
in 1975, where he was interviewed by conservative William F. Buckley Jr., was one of the first times the American public were shown that many elements of ballistic and forensic evidence were radically at odds with eyewitness testimony and the assumption that Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel...
alone had shot Senator Kennedy.
President Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
appointed Lowenstein as United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and thus head the United States delegation to the thirty-third regular annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006...
in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1977. Lowenstein served with the rank of ambassador from August 1977 to June 1978 in the capacity of alternate United States Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations. In 1978 he resigned to run for Congress again, narrowly losing the Democratic primary.
Lowenstein was married to Jennifer Lowenstein (née Lyman, now Littlefield) from 1966 to 1977 and the two had three children: Frank Graham, Thomas Kennedy, and Katharine Eleanor.
Death
Lowenstein was murdered in his ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
office on March 14, 1980, at age 51 by a deranged gunman, Dennis Sweeney
Dennis Sweeney
Dennis Sweeney was an anti-Vietnam War protestor and civil rights activist in the 1960s. He worked with SNCC in their voter registration drives in Mississippi...
.
Lowenstein was well known for his ability to attract energetic young volunteers for his political causes. In the mid-1960s, he briefly served as dean of Stern Hall, then a men's dormitory at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, during which time he met and befriended undergraduate students David Harris
David Harris (protestor)
David Victor Harris is an American journalist and author. He is known chiefly for his role as an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War, most notably as a leading opponent of the Draft.-Early life and education:...
and Sweeney. Over a decade later, in 1980, Lowenstein was shot in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Sweeney, now mentally ill and convinced that Lowenstein was plotting against him; Sweeney subsequently turned himself in to the police. Lowenstein, Sweeney, and the shooting are discussed in Harris's autobiographical book Dreams Die Hard
Dreams Die Hard
Dreams Die Hard is an autobiographical book written in 1982 by David Harris, a prominent anti-Vietnam War activist during the 1960s.The book chronicles the experiences of three men--Harris, Allard Lowenstein, and Dennis Sweeney--amid the political and social tumult of the 1960s, as well as the...
as well as in Richard Cummings
Richard Cummings (writer)
Richard Cummings is an author, playwright, theorist and critic. He is the author of the comedy Soccer Moms From Hell and the biography of Allard Lowenstein, The Pied Piper - Allard Lowenstein and the Liberal Dream, which discloses Lowenstein's work for the CIA...
's biography of Lowenstein, "The Pied Piper."
Sweeney was eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to full-time psychiatric treatment for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. By 1992, Sweeney was on 16-hour-a-day furloughs. Members of the Lowenstein family, who had opposed prosecutorial plans to seek a sentence of death for Sweeney, expressed grave concern about the supervision Sweeney would receive and anger that a murderer was being given such privileges.
Later, two of Lowenstein's children (Thomas and Kate) would go on to work in the death penalty abolition movement. Kate Lowenstein served as the Executive Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation.
A veteran of the United States Army, Lowenstein is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
The one time Long Island congressman had a scholarship set up- the Allard K. Lowenstein Civil Rights Scholarship- in his name by Hofstra University in 2007.
Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
also has several programs named in honor of Lowenstein. The Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Project was founded in 1981 shortly after Lowenstein's death to honor his contributions to the field of human rights and provide law students with a vehicle to continue his work. The Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic, an outgrowth of the Project, is a clinical course in which law students participate in legal and advocacy research and writing projects for academic credit. Lowenstein's papers are held as a special collection of the Long Beach (New York) Public Library and offer much material relative to his activities and his times.