U.S. Senate
Elections Lugar first ran for the
United States Senate in
1974 and lost to incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator
Birch Bayh 51% to 46%. In
1976, he defeated Indiana's other U.S. senator, Democratic Senator
Vance Hartke, by a margin of 59% to 40%. In
1982, he defeated Democratic Congressman
Floyd Fithian 54% to 46% to win a second term.
Six years later, Lugar won reelection to a third term, defeating Democrat Jack Wickes 68% to 32%. In
1994, Lugar won a fourth term, defeating Democratic former U.S. Congressman
Jim Jontz (67–31%). He became the first U.S. senator from Indiana to be elected to a fourth term. Lugar went on to serve a total of six terms in the Senate, defeating Democrat David Johnson 67% to 32% in
2000 and defeating Libertarian
Steve Osborn 87% to 13% in
2006 in a contest in which the
Democratic Party did not field a candidate. His was the highest-percentage win of the 2006 Senate elections despite a Democratic takeover of Washington. In
2012, Lugar ran for reelection to a seventh term. Due to Lugar's unpopularity among some
Tea Party voters because of his positions regarding
illegal immigration, voting to confirm then-
U.S. Supreme Court nominees
Sonia Sotomayor and
Elena Kagan, the
DREAM Act, the
New START Treaty, some
gun control bills, and
congressional earmarks, he was challenged by Tea Party-backed State Treasurer
Richard Mourdock in a Republican primary. Mourdock defeated Lugar, 61% to 39%, and went on to lose the general election to incumbent Democratic Representative
Joe Donnelly. Lugar carried only three counties,
Boone,
Marion, and
Tippecanoe. He was the first six-term U.S. senator to lose his seat in a primary election since
Kenneth McKellar in 1952. in August 2005 near
Perm, Russia|left
Tenure 1970s Future
governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels served as Lugar's chief of staff from 1977 to 1982. During the
1980 Republican National Convention, Lugar was rumored as a potential vice presidential nominee for presidential nominee
Ronald Reagan. In his first months, Lugar backed legislation prompting the Senate to adopt a stringent code of ethics intended to assist with the restoration of public confidence in Congress. On June 30, 1978, the Senate voted to approve granting
New York City long term federal loan guarantees of $1.5 billion that the city had cited as essential to its prevention of bankruptcy. The measure was a compromise proposal by Lugar and Wisconsin Senator
William Proxmire. Later that day, during a news conference, Senator
Jacob K. Javits thanked Lugar and Proxmire.
1980s Lugar attended the January 7, 1980, signing ceremony of the
Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 in the Cabinet Room. Lugar addressed President
Jimmy Carter during the ceremony by thanking him for signing what Lugar called "very humane and compassionate legislation" that was important for the United States. In the early months of the Reagan administration, Lugar supported its program to eliminate all restrictions on planting and marketing of peanuts. An April 30, 1981, vote by members of the
Senate Agriculture Committee continued the restrictions. On May 11, 1981, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of implementing restrictions on American aid to
El Salvador requiring President Reagan to verify the Salvadorian government was using the funds to implement human rights along with political and economic changes. The measure was opposed by Lugar who voted against the entirety of its conditions. Lugar was one of four senators on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote against the Senate rejecting the nomination of
Ernest W. Lefever for Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights on June 5, 1981. On October 15, 1981, Lugar voted against the recommendation of the disapproval toward the Reagan administration's intent to sell
Awacs radar surveillance planes and other air-combat equipment to
Saudi Arabia. On December 2, 1981, Lugar voted in favor of an amendment to President Reagan's
MX missiles proposal that would divert the silo system by $334 million as well as earmark further research for other methods that would allow giant missiles to be based. The vote was seen as a rebuff of the Reagan administration. In 1982, Lugar cosponsored a housing bill that would provide middle-class purchasers of new homes with mortgage subsidies, which he referred to as "an emergency jobs program" that would provide 700,000 Americans with jobs in the housing and related industries while costing $5 billion over the following five years. The cancellation of an April meeting of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to discuss how far-reaching the bill should be was seen as crippling to its chances of implementation. On December 23, 1982, Lugar voted in favor of a 5 cent a gallon increase on gasoline taxes across the U.S. imposed to aid the financing of highway repairs and mass transit. The bill passed on the last day of the
97th United States Congress. On July 13, 1983, Lugar voted in favor of an authorization to appropriate $130 million toward the development of nerve gas bombs and shells. Lugar led the February 2, 1984, hearing of
William A. Wilson, the nominee of President Reagan for
United States Ambassador to the Holy See. In March 1984, Lugar voted in favor of a constitutional amendment authorizing periods in public school for silent prayer, and President Reagan's unsuccessful proposal for a constitutional amendment permitting organized school prayer in public schools. Lugar voted against the May 1984 budget freeze meant to reduce the budget deficit.
United States Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole announced President Reagan's support for legislation that would force states to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 during a news conference on June 13, 1984. Lugar stated that he, along with Dole, had convinced Reagan to change his mind through "the work of groups like MADD (
Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and the concern of hundreds of high school organizations called
SADD (Students Against Driving Drunk)". Lugar noted his commitment to working on bipartisan support for the legislation. The same month, Lugar voted in favor of legislation restricting federal highway funds for states that did not raise the minimum age for drinking to 21. On May 9, 1986, Lugar held a news conference designed to coincide with the beginning of the
Manila visit by Secretary of State
George P. Shultz, during which he criticized the Reagan administration for what he perceived as a lack of support for the Philippine government under the rule of
President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino and accused former Philippines President
Ferdinand E. Marcos of using his
Hawaii haven as an area to make hundreds of telephone calls to former allies still in Manila for the purpose of making his potential return to power of active speculation. The fiscal year of 1986 included the United States providing 236 million to the
Philippines. President Reagan also sought an additional 100 million for economic aid and 50 million for military aid. During a June 3 panel on the subject of providing aid for Manila, Lugar stated his support for the United States providing another 100 million to the government of President Aquino and called on the chamber to recognize Aquino's government "is threatened not only by a
communist insurgency but also by a possible challenge from the political right". In November 1986, amid the
Iran–Contra affair, Lugar stated that President Reagan did not understand the law requiring a president to inform Congress in a timely fashion over operations and that Reagan's rhetoric on the third party arm shipments had been confusing. He also stressed that the president had not been damaged in his credibility. Around this time, Lugar conferred with
John Poindexter, a key figure in the scandal. After the
1987 State of the Union Address, Lugar stated that he believed President Reagan had taken responsibility for the Iran–Contra affair by acknowledging that the deal had been unsuccessful. The 1986 midterm election featured 22 of the 53 Senate Republicans up for reelection. In late 1984, Lugar predicted that "a number of our people are not going to win in '86" unless there was economic growth. The Republicans lost eight seats that election cycle. Shortly after the midterms, on November 13, it was disclosed that Senator
Jesse Helms would challenge Lugar for ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Helms telling Lugar in a letter that the challenge would not have occurred had the Republicans maintained a majority in the Senate as "the ranking minority post is a different matter". On January 6, 1987, Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted unanimously to retain Lugar as their ranking member. After the results, Lugar stated that he saw his win as a vote of confidence in his leadership. In January 1988, the Senate began work on the ratification of the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Later that month, Lugar met with German
Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher to discuss the INF Treaty, Lugar stating afterward that he was confident the treaty would eventually be ratified despite developments in the process. Lugar believed technical errors existed within the treaty, aligning him with Senate critics of the measure, but differed from them on when they should be improved. Lugar voted in favor of the treaty in May when it passed overwhelmingly in the Senate on May 27. Lugar attended the July 11, 1988, White House meeting on the subject of legislation to provide financial relief to farmers affected by the showers in the Midwestern and Southern United States, Lugar during which he indicated that there was willingness on the part of his political party to support the measure. On August 11, 1988, President Reagan signed the
Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 into law. During the ceremony, President Reagan noted Lugar as one of the members of Congress "who've done so much to make this possible". After Vice President
George H. W. Bush selected Lugar's fellow Indiana senator
Dan Quayle for his running mate in the 1988 Presidential election, Lugar spoke with Bush by telephone, and the presidential candidate explained his pick of Quayle: "The Vice President told me he wanted somebody of a distinctly different generation. It was obvious he felt that was more important than some other considerations. I certainly understand that." In a September 28, 1988, news conference, Democratic vice-presidential nominee
Lloyd Bentsen cited Lugar as one of three "heavyweight" Republican senators who were more qualified for the vice presidential nomination than Quayle. On December 12, 1988, Lugar attended Vice President-elect Quayle's first news conference following the election, during which Quayle stated the Bush administration would be seeking his aid along with that of
Dan Coats in pushing their agenda through Congress.
1990s In February 1990, Lugar announced that the congressional group President Bush named to observe Nicaragua elections the following month was disbanded following their being denied visas by the Nicaraguan government. In 1990, after President Bush nominated James E. Cason to be Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, the latter received scrutiny for his record during the Reagan administration. During a September hearing, Lugar "asked a series of probing questions on the spotted owl", and questioned him during a hearing the following month regarding his record at the Interior Department. On October 19, 1990, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to recommend Cason for Assistant Agriculture Secretary. on August 21, 1990, Lugar told reporters that the move to a marketing economy on the part of Vietnam had created the possibility for American investment provided that differences between Washington and Hanoi be resolved. On October 2, 1990, Lugar voted in favor of the nomination of
David Souter for Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. In November 1990, amid President Bush's handling of the Persian Gulf crisis, Lugar observed that President Bush should "call back the Congress and get an affirmative vote to authorize our staying power over there so that the world knows that we're going to back up whatever the President is doing." In June 1991, Lugar joined fellow Senators
William Cohen and
John Warner in revealing their dissent with space-based weapons, a central component of the Bush administration's version of the Strategic Defense Initiative, in a letter and speeches. The three offered an alternative that "would defer the deployment of 1,000 missile-destroying rockets in space, while calling for greater levels of ground-based missile defenses". On November 25, 1991, the Senate voted in favor of approving the Bush administration-backed package to transfer $500 million of the Pentagon budget to assist with dismantling Soviet nuclear weapons. In support of the measure, Lugar said, "We can either seize the opportunity for cooperative efforts in this field now or witness a quantum leap in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the next few years." During the 1992 election cycle, Lugar stated President Bush needed to signal that his reelection campaign was "a new campaign with a new game plan and a new vigor" and the best results would be formed through a message on "growth and jobs". In February 1993, after Secretary of State
Warren Christopher declared that the United States would only use military power in seeking a settlement as it pertained to Bosnia, Lugar's spokesman stated that during a telephone conversation between Christopher and Lugar, the secretary of state said "that the United States could contribute as many as 5,000 to 10,000 American troops to a 40,000-member NATO force that would go to Bosnia under United Nations auspices after a new peace accord is concluded". Lugar attended the April 28, 1993, meeting between President Clinton and lawmakers over American involvement in Bosnia. Following its conclusion, Lugar stated the president's views: "He had a positive feeling towards lifting the embargo—that justice has to be served in that respect. But the President was much less certain about heading down the trail of air strikes." Weeks later, on May 11, Lugar met with President Clinton on the subject of Bosnia, Lugar stating afterward that President Clinton had developed "a plan that he has been pushing steadily" and was in favor of containing the Bosnia disaster. Lugar was of the view that the United States wanted a full partnership with Europeans that could only arise from "recognition on their side that our men and women in the armed forces are taking risks right now". On November 20, 1993, Lugar voted in favor of the
North American Free Trade Agreement. The trade agreement linked the United States, Canada, and Mexico into a single free trade zone, and was signed into law on December 8 by President Clinton. In December 1994, President Clinton announced the nomination of
Dan Glickman for Secretary of Agriculture. During the ceremony, Glickman stated that agriculture should not be immune to change and cited Lugar as an official "asking good questions about the next farm bill". During a March 1995 Senate hearing, Lugar indicated his distaste with Glickman not supporting the latest accord under the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade the previous November. Lugar afterward spoke positively of Glickman. On August 3, 1997, Lugar stated his support for convening a hearing for
William Weld for
United States Ambassador to Mexico and overlook Senator
Jesse Helms, noting that a Senate chairman "cannot be dictatorial, ultimately, when a majority of the committee, a majority of the Senate, a majority of the American people, want action". On February 12, 1999, Lugar voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against President Clinton, calling his relationship with White House intern
Monica Lewinsky "shameless, reckless and indefensible", and criticizing him for creating a negative environment. In October 1999, Lugar voted against the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The treaty was designed to ban underground nuclear testing and was the first major international security pact to be defeated in the Senate since the
Treaty of Versailles.
2000–2008 During the August recess of 2005, Lugar and then-freshman Senator
Barack Obama of neighboring
Illinois visited
Russia,
Azerbaijan, and
Ukraine to inspect nuclear facilities there. He was detained for three hours at an airport in the city of
Perm, near the
Ural Mountains, where they were scheduled to depart for a meeting with the President and the Speaker of the House of Ukraine. He was released after a brief dialogue between U.S. and Russian officials and the Russians later apologized for the incident. In January 2007, President Bush signed into law the Lugar–Obama Proliferation and Threat Reduction Initiative, which furthered Lugar's work with Senator Sam Nunn in deactivating weapons in the former Soviet Union. The Lugar–Obama program focuses on terrorists and their use of multiple types of weapons. In April 2006,
Time magazine selected Lugar as one of America's 10 Best Senators.Although Lugar's party was then in the minority in the Senate, he had good relationships with President Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden. Lugar was named an honorary co-chairman of their inauguration. On the day of the
final 2008 presidential debate, Lugar gave a speech at the
National Defense University praising Obama's foreign policy approach and warning against the isolationist, reactive policies espoused by
John McCain. At that debate, Obama also listed Lugar as among the individuals "who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House". There were rumors that either Obama or McCain would select Lugar to be
Secretary of State, but that he preferred to keep his Senate seat.
Obama administration On January 13, 2009, Lugar participated in the confirmation hearing for Secretary of State nominee
Hillary Clinton, raising questions on the potential conflict of interest between her husband Bill's charitable activities and her new position. Lugar offered praise to Clinton as "the epitome of a big leaguer". Lugar's spokesman Andy Fisher said that before the hearing, Lugar offered Clinton's staff four ways in which to increase the transparency of former President Clinton's fundraising. On March 18, 2009, Lugar cast his 12,000th Senate vote, putting him in 13th place for most votes. During his 32 years as a Senator, he had a 98% attendance record.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry •
Committee on Foreign Relations ==1996 presidential campaign==