Herbert London
Encyclopedia
Early life
He was born in Brooklyn, New York circa 1939 and attended Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, graduating in 1960. Standing 6'5", he was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals
Syracuse Nationals
The Syracuse Nationals were an American professional basketball team that existed from 1946 to 1963 as part of the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association . They are currently known as the Philadelphia 76ers, and are the NBA's oldest continued franchise.The team began in...
of the National Basketball League
National Basketball League (United States)
Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America to form the National Basketball Association in 1949.- League history :The...
, but did not play for them because of injuries. He was a social studies secondary school teacher and obtained his doctorate at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1966. His daughter is Stacy London
Stacy London
Stacy London is an American fashion consultant and media personality known primarily for her role as co-host on What Not to Wear, a reality program that features makeovers. After graduating from Vassar College, London started her career as a fashion editor at Vogue and transitioned into being a...
, host of the TV show What Not to Wear.
Professional life
London is the former John M. OlinJohn M. Olin
John Merrill Olin was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin.-Early life:Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry and as a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity...
Professor of Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at New York University. There he was responsible for creating the Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is a small interdisciplinary college within New York University. Gallatin aims to provide a "small college" feel, while being located within one of the largest private universities in the United States. Students design their own interdisciplinary program...
in 1972 and was its dean until 1992. This school was organized to promote the study of "Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
" and classic texts.
President of Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
from 1997 until 2011, London is currently President Emeritus. He was one of the judges for Human Events
Human Events
Human Events is a weekly American conservative magazine. It takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence...
' Ten Most Harmful Books of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. After this list was compiled, London gave an interview about the list, his selections and the judgeshttp://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2005/06/10/06.
Commentary
London maintains a website at http://www.herblondon.org/, and his commentary can be heard regularly on WAMCWAMC
WAMC is a public radio network headquartered in Albany, New York. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."In addition, the station...
Northeast Public Radio.
Political campaigns
In 1989, Dr. London was one of the RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidates for Mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
. In 1990 he was the Conservative Party of New York
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
candidate for Governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
garnering more votes than any third party candidate in the state's history. In 1994 he was the Republican Party candidate for New York State Comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
losing in a close election.
He is something of an anomaly in New York politics as a pro-life Jewish member of the Conservative Party.
1990 Governor's Race
Dr. London was the Conservative nominee for Governor of New York in 1990. The party broke from the Republican Party and declined to cross-endorse the Republican nominee, the Canada-born businessman Pierre Rinfret. Conservatives cited the little-known Rinfret as being too liberal for their tastes. London ran a strong campaign statewide and finished one percentage point behind Rinfret, who lost in a landslide to Democratic Gov. Mario CuomoMario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
. Had London polled higher than Rinfret, the Republican Party would have ceased being a major party in New York State and would have lost that status to the Conservatives. In New York, major party status is granted to the two parties who poll highest in the race for governor. One perk of major party status is the ability to have one elections commissioner in each county.
1994 Comptroller's Race
London launched a second campaign for Governor in 1994, which included a race for the Republican nomination. He was the frontrunner for the Conservative nomination and a strong contender for the Republican nod. Republican leaders who preferred State Sen. George PatakiGeorge Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
wanted Pataki to have the Conservative nomination as well, fearing that a London campaign on the Conservative line would lead to Cuomo's reelection. Republican leaders convinced London to drop out of the Governor's race in favor of accepting the party's nomination for state comptroller, facing interim Democratic Comptroller Carl McCall
Carl McCall
Herman Carl McCall is a former Comptroller of New York State and was the Democratic candidate for state governor in 2002. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for numerous corporations. He received a B.A. degree from Dartmouth...
. Prior to London being offered the Comptroller's nomination, Assemblyman John Faso
John Faso
John Faso was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2006, and was defeated by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer in the largest defeat for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. This followed his loss to Alan Hevesi four years earlier in his run for State Comptroller...
was considered the frontrunner for the nomination. McCall defeated London in the election.
The race was notable in part for the controversy created when several high profile New York politicians publicly denounced London as racist. Late in the race, a statement was issued by 50 leading members of the Democratic Party in New York, condemning London as a racist, according to a New York Times article ("Republican Comptroller Candidate Denounced as Racist," NY Times, November 1, 1994). "Herb London is a contagious racist disease that is sweeping, unfortunately, our nation," the Times quotes Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D) as declaring. "We must not be torn apart by the politics of division, the politics of hate, the politics of Herb London," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D), according to the Times. "We are all poisoned by his words. The malicious smear campaign orchestrated by Herb London -- his innuendo, his vicious implication of anti-Semitism, his race baiting -- is divisive and a lie." According to the article, London rejected these charges as unfounded and based on "lies."
1990 Conservative Ticket
- Governor: Herbert London
- Lieutenant Governor: Anthony DiPerna
- Comptroller: Edward Regan
- Attorney General: Bernard C. Smith
1994 Republican and Conservative Tickets
- Governor: George PatakiGeorge PatakiGeorge Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
- Lieutenant Governor: Betsy McCaughey
- Comptroller: Herbert London
- Attorney General: Dennis VaccoDennis VaccoDennis C. Vacco is an American lawyer and politician. He graduated a B.A. from Colgate University in 1974, a J.D...
- U.S. Senate: Bernadette CastroBernadette CastroBernadette Castro is a New York politician and businesswoman who served in the Cabinet of former Governor George Pataki. She was the heir and former President and Chief Executive Officer of Castro Convertibles, a sofa business in New Hyde Park, New York. Castro sold the company to Krause...