| | Abstract: | Howard Morton Metzenbaum (1917-2008) was an Ohio Democrat who served in the United States Senate for one appointed term in 1974 and for three consecutive elected terms from 1976 to 1995. Metzenbaum was born on June 4, 1917, in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Glenville High School in Cleveland, Howard Metzenbaum attended Ohio State University, where he earned both his B.A. and L.L.D. Soon after graduating from law school, Metzenbaum founded his own law firm, Metzenbaum, Gaines, Finley, and Stern, in Cleveland. Howard Metzenbaum entered politics at the age of 26, serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from1943 to 1947 and in the Ohio State Senate from 1947 to 1950. He went on to become Ohio Senator Stephen M. Young's campaign manager in 1958. Meanwhile, he had also founded the Airport Parking Company of America (APCOA) with his business partner Alva "Ted" Bonda, who would remain an important associate throughout Metzenbaum's career. Metzenbaum ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1970, losing to Robert Taft, Jr. In 1974, however, he was appointed to the Senate by Ohio governor John Gilligan to replace William Saxbe, who had been appointed to the position of U.S. attorney general. Metzenbaum sought the Senate seat himself in the 1974 Democratic primary but lost to John Glenn. Metzenbaum later ran against incumbent Republican Robert A. Taft, Jr., in 1976, and won. In 1982 he handily won reelection against moderate Republican state senator Paul Pfeifer, and again in 1988 when he was opposed by Cleveland mayor George Voinovich, who ran a mostly negative campaign that accused Metzenbaum of being soft on child pornography. Metzenbaum chose not to run for reelection in 1994, instead supporting his son-in-law Joel Hyatt's ultimately unsuccessful campaign. Howard Metzenbaum's legacy in the U.S. Senate was as an ardent liberal. He quickly earned a reputation as a champion of consumer rights in 1977 when he and Senator James Abourezk (D-SD) embarked on a 14-day filibuster against the deregulation of natural gas; later, he spearheaded other important consumer legislation such as the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1989, and was also involved in food safety investigations involving artificial sweeteners, dietary supplements, and poultry processing. Metzenbaum was also responsible for significant legislation in the area of workers' rights, particularly the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which required companies employing 100 or more people to provide at least 60 days' advance notice to employees in the event of a plant closing or mass layoffs. Other legislative priorities included environmental protection, funding for Alzheimer's disease, support for Israel, and gun control. Metzenbaum introduced the Brady Bill in the Senate beginning in 1986 until it was finally signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Senator Metzenbaum also became known for his "filibuster-by-amendment" technique, in which he would delay passage of a bill by attaching as many as several dozen amendments. He was a particular critic of earmark-laden "pork barrel" bills, which he believed wasted taxpayers' money (and which he blocked at every opportunity, to the irritation of many of his colleagues). During his three elected terms, Metzenbaum was a member of the Indian Affairs committee, Budget committee, and Judiciary committee. He also served on the Subcommittee on Citizens and Shareholders Rights and Remedies and the Labor and Human Resources subcommittee. He served as the chairman of the Antitrust, Monopoly, and Business Rights subcommittee. As a member of the Judiciary committee, he investigated the savings and loan and insurance scandals of the 1980s, helped to block President Ronald Reagan's nomination of conservative judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, and unsuccessfully attempted to block confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Married to his wife Shirley (Turoff) Metzenbaum in 1946, Howard Metzenbaum had four daughters: Barbara, Susan, Shelley, and Amy. He died on March 12, 2008, at age 90. The consists of 4120 black and white and color images depicting the life and work of Metzenbaum. Included are images from his public and political involvement with constituents and constituency groups. | |
