Jacob Koppel JAVITS, Congress, NY (1904-1986)

JAVITS, Jacob Koppel, a Representative and a Senator from New York; born in New York City, May 18, 1904; attended the public schools; traveling salesman; attended night classes at Columbia University; graduated from the New York University Law School in 1926; admitted to the bar in 1927 and commenced practice in New York City; lecturer and author of articles on political and economic problems; during the Second World War, served with the Chemical Warfare Service 1941-1944, with overseas service in the European and Pacific Theaters; discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1945; resumed the practice of law; elected as a Republican to the Eightieth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1947, until his resignation December 31, 1954; had been renominated in 1954 to the Eighty-fourth Congress but withdrew; attorney general of New York 1954-1957; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1956 for the term commencing January 3, 1957, but did not assume his duties until January 9, 1957; reelected in 1962, 1968, and again in 1974, and served from January 9, 1957, to January 3, 1981; unsuccessful Republican candidate for renomination in 1980; unsuccessful Liberal candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1980; resumed the practice of law; adjunct professor of public affairs at Columbia University’s School of International Affairs; author; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on February 23, 1983; died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 7, 1986; interment in Linden Hill Cemetery, Queens, New York City.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives; Javits, Jacob, and Steinberg, Rafael. Javits: The Autobiography of a Public Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present