John Chafee
Encyclopedia
John Lester Hubbard Chafee (icon ; October 22, 1922 October 24, 1999) was an American politician. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps
, as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as the Secretary of the Navy
, and as a United States Senator
.
to a politically active family. His great-grandfather, Henry Lippitt
, was governor of Rhode Island (1875–1877) and among his great-uncles were a Rhode Island governor, Charles Warren Lippitt, and United States Senator Henry Frederick Lippitt. His uncle, Zechariah Chafee
, was a Harvard law
professor, and a notable civil libertarian
.
John Chafee graduated from a coeducation
al primary school, Providence's Gordon School
, in 1931 and then attended Providence Country Day School
. In 1940, he graduated from Deerfield Academy
in Massachusetts
. Chafee was in his third year as an undergraduate at Yale University
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
. He interrupted his undergraduate studies and enlisted in the Marine Corps
, spending his 20th birthday on Guadalcanal
fighting on the island from August 8, 1942 until November 1942, when the First Marine Division was relieved, during the Battle of Guadalcanal. After receiving his commission, he fought in the Battle of Okinawa
in the spring of 1945 as a Second Lieutenant. Following the war, he received degrees from Yale University
in 1947 and Harvard Law School
in 1950. At Yale, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
(Phi chapter) and Skull and Bones
fraternities. In 1951, he was recalled to active service to be a Marine rifle company commander during the Korean War
with Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.
Author James Brady in his memoir of the Korean War, and his serving as a Marine under Chafee writes: “Nowhere, at any time, did John Chafee serve more nobly than he did as a Marine officer commanding a rifle company in the mountains of North Korea.” and that "He was the only truly great man I've yet met in my life..."
Chafee became active in behind-the-scenes Rhode Island politics by helping elect a mayor of Providence
in the early 1950s. He successfully ran for a seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives
in 1956 and later became the minority leader. He was re-elected in 1958 and 1960, the latter a year when many Republican
s were swept from office in his state.
. He served as governor until 1969, when he was surprisingly defeated by underdog Democrat
Frank Licht
. Reasons ascribed for the defeat include the fact that, after running three times on a strong anti-income tax platform, Chafee now said that such a tax was imperative (indeed his anti-tax opponent went on to champion one in 1971); and that he stopped campaigning after his 14-year-old daughter Tribbie was killed in a riding accident.
Richard Nixon
. Chafee's tenure as Secretary was marked by a willingness to make bold decisions and stand by them. Emblematic of this was his decision to elevate Admiral Elmo Zumwalt as Chief of Naval Operations
over 33 more senior officers, and his judicious handling of the USS Pueblo
situation. His action as Secretary of the Navy that is most clearly remembered is his disapproval of the recommendation to court martial Commander
Lloyd Bucher, the commanding officer of the Pueblo. Because it was clear that the guilt clearly rested on the North Koreans and not Bucher or the sailors on the Pueblo, Chafee stated that "Bucher and his men have suffered enough", and that a court martial would only add insult to injury. He served as Secretary of the Navy until 1972 when he resigned to run for the U.S. Senate.
incumbent Claiborne Pell
, Chafee was elected to that body in 1976, the first Republican to win a Rhode Island Senate election since 1930. He joined the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in 1977 and made environmental matters a chief concern, often breaking with his party to the delight of conservation groups. He chaired that committee during his last term in office from 1995 to 1999.
Among the bills Chafee fostered while in the minority was the Clean Water Act
of 1986, and the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act
. He also was an architect of the 1980 Superfund program to clean up hazardous waste
sites as well as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
. Chafee authored the Coastal Barrier Resources Act
of 1982, establishing the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). Upon Chafee's death in 1999, the CBRS was renamed the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System.
Frequently following a moderate path, Chafee was pro-choice
on abortion and supported the North American Free Trade Agreement
. He took a moderate stance on taxes and government assistance to the needy. On social issues, Chafee was among the most liberal members of the Senate. He opposed the death penalty, school prayer, and the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. Chafee was one of the few Republicans to support strict gun control laws. He sponsored a bill that, if passed, would have prohibited the "manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, purchase, transfer, receipt, possession, or transportation of handguns and hand ammunition."
During the late 1980s and 1990s Senator Chafee became an advocate for improving the U.S. health care system. He supported legislation to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income children and pregnant women, sponsored legislation to expand the availability of home and community-based services for persons with disabilities and worked to enact legislation to establish Federally Qualified Health Centers. In 1992, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Republican Task Force on Health, and he worked to develop a consensus among Republicans on health care. In 1993, he joined with Democratic Louisiana Senator John Breaux to form the Senate Mainstream Coalition, a coalition of six Democratic and six Republican Senators seeking bipartisan consensus on health reform. He sponsored legislation that increased funds to states to assist youths in making the transition from foster care to independing living; recognized the need for special help for youths ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care; offered states greater flexibility in designing their independent living programs; and, established accountability for states in implementing independent living programs. As a testimonial to the late Senator Chafee, the program is now entitled the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
"John Chafee proved that politics can be an honorable profession," President Bill Clinton
said in a statement to the Associated Press
, shortly after Chafee died. "He embodied the decent center which has carried America from triumph to triumph for over 200 years." On February 12, 1999, Chafee voted against both articles of impeachment against Clinton.
Chafee sat on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Health Care
, but his biggest imprint was on environmental concerns. He also served in his party's leadership, chairing the Senate Republican Conference
from 1985 to 1990.
His last major act was authoring and sponsoring the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century, which authorized funding for transportation programs for the next six years.
in October 1999 at the National Naval Medical Center
in Bethesda, Maryland
. His son, Lincoln Chafee
, was appointed to serve the remainder of his term – after leaving the Senate and the Republican Party, in 2011
Lincoln Chafee, elected as an independent, would follow his father's footsteps as Governor of Rhode Island as well. Senator Chafee was survived by his wife Virginia Coates Chafee, a daughter and four sons.
In 2000, Senator Chafee was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
.
, the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
and the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge
were named in his honor.
Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island named its World Trade Center on campus after John. H. Chafee for his continuing support for global trade and his association with the University.
The Chafee Social Science Center at the University of Rhode Island
is named in his honor. It is the tallest building in southern Rhode Island.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, passed on November 23, 1999 after his death, is known as the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as the Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
, and as a United States Senator
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...
.
Early life and family
Chafee was born in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
to a politically active family. His great-grandfather, Henry Lippitt
Henry Lippitt
Henry Lippitt was the 33rd Governor of Rhode Island from 1875 to 1877.-Family:Lippitt was the son of Warren Lippitt and Eliza Lippitt, married to Mary Ann Balch. He was the father of Charles Warren Lippitt, another Rhode Island Governor, and the father of Henry F. Lippitt, a U.S...
, was governor of Rhode Island (1875–1877) and among his great-uncles were a Rhode Island governor, Charles Warren Lippitt, and United States Senator Henry Frederick Lippitt. His uncle, Zechariah Chafee
Zechariah Chafee
Zechariah Chafee, Jr. was an American judicial philosopher and civil libertarian. An advocate for free speech, he was described by Senator Joseph McCarthy as "dangerous" to the United States...
, was a Harvard law
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
professor, and a notable civil libertarian
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
.
John Chafee graduated from a coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
al primary school, Providence's Gordon School
Gordon School
The Gordon School is a coeducational, independent school located in East Providence, Rhode Island. Students are educated from nursery through eighth grade. It is located on a site.-History:...
, in 1931 and then attended Providence Country Day School
Providence Country Day School
The Providence Country Day School is a private middle and high school, founded in 1923. Located in East Providence, Rhode Island, United States, it serves approximately 300 students in grades 6 through 12...
. In 1940, he graduated from Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Chafee was in his third year as an undergraduate at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. He interrupted his undergraduate studies and enlisted in the Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, spending his 20th birthday on Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
fighting on the island from August 8, 1942 until November 1942, when the First Marine Division was relieved, during the Battle of Guadalcanal. After receiving his commission, he fought in the Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
in the spring of 1945 as a Second Lieutenant. Following the war, he received degrees from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1947 and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1950. At Yale, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
(Phi chapter) and Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
fraternities. In 1951, he was recalled to active service to be a Marine rifle company commander during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
with Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.
Author James Brady in his memoir of the Korean War, and his serving as a Marine under Chafee writes: “Nowhere, at any time, did John Chafee serve more nobly than he did as a Marine officer commanding a rifle company in the mountains of North Korea.” and that "He was the only truly great man I've yet met in my life..."
Chafee became active in behind-the-scenes Rhode Island politics by helping elect a mayor of Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
in the early 1950s. He successfully ran for a seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives
Rhode Island House of Representatives
The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Rhode Island. It is composed of 75 members, elected to two year terms from 75 districts of equal population. The Rhode Island General Assembly does not have...
in 1956 and later became the minority leader. He was re-elected in 1958 and 1960, the latter a year when many Republican
Republican 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...
s were swept from office in his state.
Governor of Rhode Island
Chafee was elected governor in 1962, helping create the state's public transportation administration as well as what was known as the Green Acres program, a conservation effort. In 1968 he served as chair of the Republican Governors AssociationRepublican Governors Association
The Republican Governors Association is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1963, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Republican Party.Its Democratic Party counterpart is the Democratic Governors Association...
. He served as governor until 1969, when he was surprisingly defeated by underdog Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Frank Licht
Frank Licht
Frank R. Licht was 67th Governor of Rhode Island from 1969 to 1973.Licht was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Jacob Licht and Rose Kassed Licht. He graduated from Brown University in 1938 and Harvard Law School in 1941...
. Reasons ascribed for the defeat include the fact that, after running three times on a strong anti-income tax platform, Chafee now said that such a tax was imperative (indeed his anti-tax opponent went on to champion one in 1971); and that he stopped campaigning after his 14-year-old daughter Tribbie was killed in a riding accident.
Secretary of the Navy
He was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1969 by PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
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...
. Chafee's tenure as Secretary was marked by a willingness to make bold decisions and stand by them. Emblematic of this was his decision to elevate Admiral Elmo Zumwalt as Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
over 33 more senior officers, and his judicious handling of the USS Pueblo
USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
USS Pueblo is an American ELINT and SIGINT Banner-class technical research ship which was boarded and captured by North Korean forces on January 23, 1968, in what is known as the Pueblo incident or alternatively as the Pueblo crisis or the Pueblo affair. Occurring less than a week after President...
situation. His action as Secretary of the Navy that is most clearly remembered is his disapproval of the recommendation to court martial Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Lloyd Bucher, the commanding officer of the Pueblo. Because it was clear that the guilt clearly rested on the North Koreans and not Bucher or the sailors on the Pueblo, Chafee stated that "Bucher and his men have suffered enough", and that a court martial would only add insult to injury. He served as Secretary of the Navy until 1972 when he resigned to run for the U.S. Senate.
United States Senator
After an unsuccessful candidacy for the Senate in 1972 against DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent Claiborne Pell
Claiborne Pell
Claiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...
, Chafee was elected to that body in 1976, the first Republican to win a Rhode Island Senate election since 1930. He joined the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in 1977 and made environmental matters a chief concern, often breaking with his party to the delight of conservation groups. He chaired that committee during his last term in office from 1995 to 1999.
Among the bills Chafee fostered while in the minority was the Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...
of 1986, and the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act
Clean Air Act
A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
. He also was an architect of the 1980 Superfund program to clean up hazardous waste
Hazardous waste
A hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. According to the U.S. environmental laws hazardous wastes fall into two major categories: characteristic wastes and listed wastes.Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials that are known...
sites as well as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
The Oil Pollution Act was passed by the 101st United States Congress, and signed by President George H. W. Bush, to mitigate and prevent civil liability for future oil spills off the coast of the United States....
. Chafee authored the Coastal Barrier Resources Act
Coastal Barrier Resources Act
The Coastal Barrier Resources Act of the United States was enacted October 18, 1982. The United States Congress passed this Act in order to address the many problems associated with coastal barrier development. CBRA designated various undeveloped coastal barriers, which were illustrated by a...
of 1982, establishing the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). Upon Chafee's death in 1999, the CBRS was renamed the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System.
Frequently following a moderate path, Chafee was pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
on abortion and supported the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
. He took a moderate stance on taxes and government assistance to the needy. On social issues, Chafee was among the most liberal members of the Senate. He opposed the death penalty, school prayer, and the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. Chafee was one of the few Republicans to support strict gun control laws. He sponsored a bill that, if passed, would have prohibited the "manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, purchase, transfer, receipt, possession, or transportation of handguns and hand ammunition."
During the late 1980s and 1990s Senator Chafee became an advocate for improving the U.S. health care system. He supported legislation to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income children and pregnant women, sponsored legislation to expand the availability of home and community-based services for persons with disabilities and worked to enact legislation to establish Federally Qualified Health Centers. In 1992, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Republican Task Force on Health, and he worked to develop a consensus among Republicans on health care. In 1993, he joined with Democratic Louisiana Senator John Breaux to form the Senate Mainstream Coalition, a coalition of six Democratic and six Republican Senators seeking bipartisan consensus on health reform. He sponsored legislation that increased funds to states to assist youths in making the transition from foster care to independing living; recognized the need for special help for youths ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care; offered states greater flexibility in designing their independent living programs; and, established accountability for states in implementing independent living programs. As a testimonial to the late Senator Chafee, the program is now entitled the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
"John Chafee proved that politics can be an honorable profession," President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
said in a statement to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, shortly after Chafee died. "He embodied the decent center which has carried America from triumph to triumph for over 200 years." On February 12, 1999, Chafee voted against both articles of impeachment against Clinton.
Chafee sat on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Health Care
United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care
The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:The subcommittee is chaired by Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and the Ranking Minority Member is Vacant....
, but his biggest imprint was on environmental concerns. He also served in his party's leadership, chairing the Senate Republican Conference
Republican Conference Chairman of the United States Senate
The Republican conference of the United States Senate chooses a conference chairperson. The office was created in the mid-19th century with the founding of the Republican party...
from 1985 to 1990.
His last major act was authoring and sponsoring the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century, which authorized funding for transportation programs for the next six years.
Death
A few months after declaring that he would not seek reelection in 2000, he died suddenly from congestive heart failureCongestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
in October 1999 at the National Naval Medical Center
National Naval Medical Center
The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA — commonly known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital — was for decades the flagship of the United States Navy's system of medical centers. A federal institution, it conducted medical and dental research as well as providing health care for...
in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
. His son, Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician who has been the 74th Governor of Rhode Island since January 2011. Prior to his election as governor, Chafee served in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1999 until losing his Senate re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon...
, was appointed to serve the remainder of his term – after leaving the Senate and the Republican Party, in 2011
Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2010
The Rhode Island gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010. It was preceded by the primary election on September 14, 2010. Incumbent Republican Governor Donald Carcieri was term-limited in 2010...
Lincoln Chafee, elected as an independent, would follow his father's footsteps as Governor of Rhode Island as well. Senator Chafee was survived by his wife Virginia Coates Chafee, a daughter and four sons.
In 2000, Senator Chafee was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
.
Namesake
The USS Chafee (DDG-90)USS Chafee (DDG-90)
USS Chafee is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in United States Navy.She is named for Senator John Lester Hubbard Chafee , a Marine veteran of Guadalcanal....
, the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Blackstone Valley
The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution...
and the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge
John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge
Located within the picturesque Narrow River on the Southern Coast of Rhode Island, the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge is comparatively small in size, but big in protecting the unique features of this area.At , the John H...
were named in his honor.
Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island named its World Trade Center on campus after John. H. Chafee for his continuing support for global trade and his association with the University.
The Chafee Social Science Center at the University of Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...
is named in his honor. It is the tallest building in southern Rhode Island.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, passed on November 23, 1999 after his death, is known as the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
See also
- List of famous U.S. Marines
- Rockefeller RepublicanRockefeller RepublicanRockefeller Republican refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who held moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller...
External links
Retrieved on 2008-02-05- John Chafee at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...