H. John Heinz III

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

H. John Heinz III
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
In office January 3, 1977-April 4, 1991
Preceded by	Hugh D. Scott, Jr.
Succeeded by	Harris Wofford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th district
In office January 3, 1971-January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Robert J. Corbett
Succeeded by	Doug Walgren
Born	October 23, 1938 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	April 4, 1991 Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Teresa Heinz

Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American politician from Pennsylvania, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives (1971–1977) and the United States Senate (1977–1991).

Contents 1 Early life 2 Academic and Business Activities 3 Public Service 3.1 House of Representatives 3.2 Senate 4 Death 5 Teresa Heinz 6 Honors 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Heinz was the son of H. J. Heinz II, heir to the H. J. Heinz Company. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1956 and Yale University in 1960, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1963. In 1963, Heinz enlisted in the United States Air Force and served on active duty from June to December of that year at Lackland Air Force Base. He then served with the 911th Troop Carrier Group, based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport, as a member of the United States Air Force Reserve; he was honorably discharged in 1969 with the rank of staff sergeant.

[edit] Academic and Business Activities

From 1970 to 1971, Heinz was a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. His career as a businessman included positions as an analyst in the controller's division, and numerous positions in the marketing division of the H. J. Heinz Company.

[edit] Public Service

[edit] House of Representatives

In 1971, he was elected by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert J. Corbett during the Ninety-second Congress. He was reelected to the Ninety-third and Ninety-fourth Congresses. Heinz was elected to the Senate in 1976 and reelected in 1982 and 1988.

[edit] Senate

Heinz's initial election to the Senate was aided by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, Buckley v. Valeo, issued mid-campaign, which invalidated the Congressionally-placed restrictions on the spending of one's own personal funds in a political campaign. (See campaign finance.) Heinz spent millions of dollars attacking Democratic nominee William J. Green, a young seven term congressman from Philadelphia and future mayor of that city, as being "soft" on military issues because he had voted against various Defense appropriation bills in the Vietnam War era.

Heinz's Senate work was focused on retirement and the elderly, health care, international trade, finance and banking, environmental issues, human development and education. He was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (Ninety-sixth and Ninety-ninth Congresses) and a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging (Ninety-seventh through Ninety-ninth Congresses).

[edit] Death

Heinz and six other people were killed on April 4, 1991, when a Bell 412 helicopter collided with the Senator's Piper Aerostar plane over Merion Elementary School in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. All aboard the two aircraft and two first-grade girls playing outside the school were killed. The helicopter had been dispatched to check out a problem Heinz's plane was having with its landing gear. While moving in for a closer look, the helicopter's rotor blades struck the bottom of the plane, causing both aircraft to lose control and crash. (Coincidentally, former U.S. Sen. John Tower was killed in a plane crash in Brunswick, Georgia, the very next day.)

He was interred in the Heinz family mausoleum in Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh.

[edit] Teresa Heinz

His widow, Teresa, is now married to Senator John Kerry. She was introduced to Kerry by Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. The principal beneficiary of Heinz's estate, she has been extremely active in expanding his legacy through philanthropy.

[edit] Honors

The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum was renamed following his death. The 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) refuge includes the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania as well as other habitats that are home to a variety of plants and animals native to Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Several institutions bear his name, including:

• Senator H. John Heinz III Archives at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
• The H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
• The H. John Heinz III Center For Science, Economics and The Environment
• The H. John Heinz III Center For the Performing Arts, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony

[edit] Further reading

• Heinz, H. John, III. "Foreign Takeover of U.S. Banking—a Real Danger?" Journal of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies 4 (Autumn 1979): 1-9
• Heinz, John. U.S. Strategic Trade: An Export Control System for the 1990s. Boulder: Westview press, 1991.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Senator H. John Heinz III Archives
• The H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
• The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
• John Heinz's Gravesite

Preceded by Robert J. Corbett	U.S. Representative Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District 1971-1977	Succeeded by Doug Walgren
Preceded by Hugh D. Scott, Jr.	United States Senator (Class 1) from Pennsylvania 1977 - 1991 Served alongside: Richard S. Schweiker , Arlen Specter	Succeeded by Harris Wofford
Preceded by Robert Packwood	Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee 1979-1981	Succeeded by Robert Packwood
Preceded by Richard Lugar	Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee 1985-1987	Succeeded by Rudy Boschwitz

Chairmen of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
Bridges • Brewster • Dirksen • Goldwater • Dirksen • Schoeppel • Goldwater • Morton • Murphy • Tower • Dominick • Brock • Stevens • Packwood • Heinz • Packwood • Lugar • Heinz • Boschwitz • Nickles • Gramm • D'Amato • McConnell • Frist • Allen • Dole • Ensign