Robert Weygand
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Robert A. "Bob" Weygand was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1997-2001. He was a Democrat from Rhode Island.
Weygand was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts on May 10, 1948. He attended the University of Rhode Island, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater in 1971 and a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1976. He worked as a landscape architect for the Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources from 1973 until 1982, when he became the president of the landscape architectural firm Weygand, Orchich, & Christie, Inc.
In 1991, Weygand, then a state legislator, was offered a $2,000 bribe by then-Pawtucket Mayor Brian J. Sarault. Weygand went to the FBI and agreed to be fitted with a hidden microphone. Wearing the listening equipment, Weygand met with Sarault in the mayor's office. After Weygand left, FBI agents burst in and arrested the mayor. The evidence Weygand provided helped send the mayor to prison. [1]
Weygand served as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1985 to 1993, and as Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island from 1993 to 1997. In 1996, he successfully was elected to an open seat in Congress that was being vacated by incoming Senator Jack Reed.
Weygand did not run for re-election to the United States House of Representatives in 2000, opting to challenge Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee. Weygand, a pro-life Democrat, lost the election to the incumbent Chafee, who had been appointed in 1999 after the death of his father, John Chafee. Chaffee, often considered the most liberal Republican elected in recent years, was victorious because Weygand was actually perceived as the more conservative candidate.
In 2001, Weygand was appointed President of the New England Board of Higher Education. In 2004, he stepped down at NEBHE to take a new position as Vice President for Administration at the University of Rhode Island.
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This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
| Preceded by Jack Reed |
United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Rhode Island 1997–2001 |
Succeeded by James Langevin |
| Preceded by Roger N. Begin |
Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island 1993–1997 |
Succeeded by Bernard A. Jackvony |
