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Jim Leach (Christy Bowe/ImageCatcher News Service/Corbis via Getty Images)

Jim Leach (1942–2024), 30-year Iowa congressman

by Eric San Juan

Jim Leach was a respected Republican congressman from Iowa who served 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.  

Jim Leach’s legacy 

Leach spent most of his life living in, working in, and serving Iowa, his native state. Born in Davenport, he studied at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, and the London School of Economics. In the 1960s, he was a staffer for then-Illinois Rep. Donald Rumsfeld and served as a delegate to the U.N. General Assembly before resigning his commission in 1973 in protest of President Richard Nixon’s infamous Saturday Night Massacre. 

Three years later, Leach made the jump to Congress, elected in 1976 and beginning what would become three decades of service. A Republican, he considered himself fiscally conservative but socially moderate, views that were reflected in his voting record. Leach voted for conservative fiscal policies, but was also pro-choice on issues like abortion, and was one of just six Republicans to vote against military action in Iraq in 2002.  

The congressman pushed for a more progressive approach to the U.S.’ role in Central American politics and opposed Newt Gingrich for speaker of the House, but was also one of the top critics of President Bill Clinton and helped push the Whitewater investigation. Leach served 15 terms in Congress before finally being defeated in a 2006 upset, bested by Democratic candidate Dave Loebsack.  

After leaving Congress, Leach taught at Princeton and was selected chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Barack Obama. He served on the boards of the Century Foundation, Kettering Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 2022, in protest of the Republican Party’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Leach changed his party registration from Republican to Democrat. 

During his time in public service, Leach earned the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award from Johns Hopkins, and the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association, among other honors. 

On what it means to be a progressive Republican: 

“When I entered politics, there was a well-understood cleavage between Goldwater conservatism and Rockefeller urbanism. Today, the conservative dynamic is more social issue-related than attuned to individual rights. If Goldwater were alive today, he would be perceived as a radically liberal Republican. He was an economic and individual rights conservative, pro-choice and pro-gay rights … The conservative wing has always been the larger wing within the party, but there has generally been a substantial moderate wing as well. Today in Congress the moderate base has been eroded almost to extinction.” — interview with the National Endowment of the Humanities, 2009 

Tributes to Jim Leach 

Jim Leach was a man of great integrity, who cared deeply about people. He was kind, funny, a wise leader, and a dedicated fan of U of Iowa football and women's basketball. It was a privilege to know him, and he will be missed by many. Farewell, my friend ❤️apnews.com/article/jim-…

Wendy (@vtwendy.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T01:53:07.160Z

When I was a senior in high school Jim Leach, not yet elected, visited my journalism class. I came at him pretty hard with a young liberal’s certainty. Afterward, he sought me out and shook my hand. Thanked me for my questions. I learned something that day. He was a class act. RIP.

Bill Bumgarner (@wjb58.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T01:39:18.679Z

Jim Leach was one of a kind. He was a statesman, intelligent, caring, and decent. He was also funny and fun to hang out with. He also loved his Hawkeyes. I'm happy I got to spend three years with him driving and going to events all over Eastern Iowa. I'm thinking of Deba and their family.

Janelle Rettig (@janellerettig.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T00:11:39.851Z

Just read about the passing of former Congressman Jim Leach. I'll never forget his kindness and hospitality when I visited the Capitol while in college. A good, principled man. RIP.

Todd Brommelkamp (@toddbrommelkamp.bsky.social) 2024-12-11T22:28:06.362Z

We are sorry to learn of the passing of former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, an Iowa icon who served the state and country throughout his long career in public service. Our condolences go to his family and loved ones.

Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics (@cattcenter.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T14:31:02.666Z

Civility and reason lost a good one. Jim Leach, “was everything you would expect a statesman would be.”‘He lived a life of service’cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com?publink=0d68…

Andy Bock (@apbi.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T11:45:13.249Z

Former Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa passed away yesterday. He spent 30 years representing his constituents in the U.S. House. He was 82. RIP, Jim.

Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@artcandee.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T15:35:18.282Z

Full obituary: Des Moines Register 

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