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Jack Kemp, RIP
Posted by Bigfoot on May 3rd, 2009
Jack Kemp, former football player, Congressman, Secretary of HUD and Vice Presidential candidate, has died of cancer at age 73, in his home in Bethesda, MD.
Kemp attended Occidental College, where he played quarterback on the football and threw javelin in track and field. In 1957, he was drafted and later cut by the Detroit Lions. He spent the 1957 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and parts of the 1958 season with the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. He was the 3rd-string quarterback of the Giants during the 1958 NFL championship game against the Baltimore Colts, but did not play. He played one game in 1959 with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, before joining the San Diego Chargers of the newly-formed American Football League in 1960. Two years later, after the Chargers put Kemp on waivers, he was claimed by the Buffalo Bills. He would lead the Bills to AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965. Besides his on-field accomplishments, he co-founded the AFL Players Association, and served as its president for five terms.
Kemp retired from the AFL after the 1969 season, ran successfully for a seat in the House of Representatives a year later, and served in the House from 1971 to 1989, his district located in western New York. In 1989, he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President George H. W. Bush. Kemp’s term as HUD Secretary has largely been considered unsuccessful, because is major ideas, enterprise zones and tennant ownership of public housing, were not enacted to any significant extent. In 1993, Kemp became one of the founders of Empower America, which later merged with Citizens for a Sound Economy to form Freedom Works. At their 1996 convention, the Republican Party nominated Kemp to be Vice President, running on the ticket with Senator Bob Dole. Kemp also served on several corporate boards and advisory boards. In 1998, he briefly campaigned for the 2000 GOP presidential nomination, but would eventually endorse George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas. He also founded the strategic consulting firm Kemp Partners.
On January 9, 2009, Kemp’s office announced that he was battling cancer, but did not reveal the type. He continued to serve as chairman of Kemp Partners until his death. More information about Jack Kemp may be found here, here and here.
