Iowa’s DES MOINES (AP) Jim Leach, a former U.S. Representative who led the National Endowment for the Humanities after serving 30 years as an eastern Iowa politician, passed away on Wednesday. He was eighty-two.
Up until 2006, when he lost to Democrat Dave Loebsack in a midterm election that gave Democrats control of the U.S. House, Leach, whose passing was verified by a funeral home in Iowa City, served as a moderate Republican representative for Iowa.
In 2002, he voted against a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq along with six other Republicans, who at the time controlled the House majority. He also served as the chair of the finance and foreign relations committees. Leach also opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which was made possible by the measure.
Following his departure from Congress, Leach supported Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama of Illinois over Arizona Senator John McCain, citing Obama’s opposition to the 2003 invasion as a factor in his decision.
Leach told The Associated Press in an interview at the time that “you really hate to step outside of a family environment and political parties are a distant analogy to families.”
Leach and Loebsack collaborated earlier this year to write an op-edin on January 6. The Des Moines Register, one year after supporters of former President Donald Trump flocked to the Capitol to try to prevent Congress from approving President Joe Biden’s win.
According to Leach and Loebsack, the anniversary of the bloody uprising on our country’s Capitol serves as a sobering reminder of how shaky democracy’s foundations are when radicals like Donald Trump are prepared to discredit millions of voters and incite a lethal mob in the name of gaining power.
Despite their different political parties, Loebsack told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he even voted for Leach before challenging him.
For thirty years, Jim served our state and district with distinction. According to Loebsack, he was a man of dignity, integrity, and principles. He will be missed. No question exists.
Before Obama appointed Leach to head the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2009, he served as a professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Princeton, his alma school. In 2013, he joined the faculty at the University of Iowa after leaving the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In a statement released on Wednesday, University Vice President Peter Matthes described Leach as an unrelenting supporter of Iowa. Leach gave his private and public materials to the university’s library, according to the statement.
According to Matthes, we should all strive to live a life of service like his.
Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor of Iowa, expressed her sympathies on Wednesday.
Reynolds stated on the social media site X that Jim, a 30-year member of the U.S. Congress, devoted his life to serving Iowa and his nation.
According to his obituary, Leach is left by his wife, two children, and two grandchildren.
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