About John Chafee

CHAFEE, John Hubbard, (great-nephew of Henry F. Lippitt; father of Lincoln D. Chafee), a Senator from Rhode Island; born in Providence, Providence County, R.I., October 22, 1922; graduated, Deerfield (Mass.) Academy 1940; graduated, Yale University 1947 and Harvard Law School 1950; admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1950 and ...

CHAFEE, John Hubbard, (great-nephew of Henry F. Lippitt; father of Lincoln D. Chafee), a Senator from Rhode Island; born in Providence, Providence County, R.I., October 22, 1922; graduated, Deerfield (Mass.) Academy 1940; graduated, Yale University 1947 and Harvard Law School 1950; admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1950 and commenced practice in Providence; served in United States Marine Corps 1942-1945, 1951-1953; served in Rhode Island house of representatives 1957-1963; Governor of Rhode Island 1963-1969; Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of President Richard Nixon 1969-1972; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1972; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in November 1976 for the term commencing January 3, 1977; subsequently appointed by the Governor, December 29, 1976, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Pastore for the term ending January 3, 1977; reelected in 1982, 1988, and 1994, and served until his death due to heart failure on October 24, 1999; Senate Republican Conference chairman (1985-1991), Committee on Environment and Public Works (1995-1999); interment in family plot; posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 9, 2000.