Steve Symms

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Steve Symms

Steven Douglas Symms (born April 23, 1938 in Nampa, Idaho) was an American congressman (1973-1981) and U.S. senator (1981-1993) from the state of Idaho. He was among the most conservative members of the Republican Party. He currently works for Parry, Romani & DeConcini, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.

Symms attended public schools in Canyon County and graduated from Caldwell High School in 1956. He attended the University of Idaho in Moscow and graduated in 1960, with a B.S. in agriculture. After graduation, Symms served in the Marines for three years, after which he worked as a private pilot and fruit rancher on his family's farm. From 1969-1972, he was editor of the newspaper, the Idaho Compass.

In 1972, Symms was elected to the House of Representatives, and he won re-election three times, serving until 1980, when he ran for the U.S. Senate and unseated four-term incumbent Democrat Frank Church. Symms was reelected in 1986, when he defeated Democratic Governor John V. Evans.

Symms was one of six Republicans who voted "nay" on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Act passed by a vote of 91-6.

In the 1988 presidential election, at the behest of Lee Atwater, Symms floated a false rumor that Kitty Dukakis, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, as well as a claim that Dukakis himself had been treated for a mental illness.

When his wife Fran divorced him, and details of his philandering began to emerge, Symms decided not to run for re-election in 1992. He was succeeded by the Republican mayor of Boise, Dirk Kempthorne, who was later a two term Idaho governor and is now US Secretary of Interior in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush.

After leaving the Senate, he founded Symms, Lehn Associates, Inc., a consulting firm; in 2001, he left to join Parry, Romani & DeConcini.

Symms is a cousin of former Oregon congressman Denny Smith.

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Preceded by: Jim McClure	United States House of Representatives, Idaho First Congressional District January 3, 1973–January 3, 1981	Succeeded by: Larry Craig
Preceded by: Robert L. Smith	Republican Party nominee, U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Idaho 1980 (won), 1986 (won)	Succeeded by: Dirk Kempthorne
Preceded by: Frank Church	United States Senator (Class 3) from Idaho January 3, 1981–January 5, 1993 Served alongside: Jim McClure, Larry Craig	Succeeded by: Dirk Kempthorne

United States Senators from Idaho
Class 2: Shoup • Dubois • Borah • Thomas • Gossett • Dworshak • Miller • Dworshak • Jordan • McClure • Craig Class 3: McConnell • Dubois • Heitfeld • Heyburn • Perky • Brady • Nugent • Gooding • Thomas • Pope • Clark • Taylor • Welker • Church • Symms • Kempthorne • Crapo