Robert P. Casey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bob Casey

42^nd Governor of Pennsylvania
In office January 20, 1987 – 1995
Preceded by	Dick Thornburgh
Succeeded by	Tom Ridge

Born	January 9, 1932 Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, USA
Died	May 30, 2000 (aged 68) Scranton, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Ellen Casey
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Robert Patrick Casey, Sr. (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000), was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served Pennsylvania in several capacities, most notably as its 42nd Governor from 1987 to 1995. He is best known for leading the pro-life wing of the Democratic party, and for taking the lead in fighting Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a major Supreme Court course case that upheld almost all the prohibitions on abortion that he signed into law. Casey was an Irish American Democrat "pol" of the old school, the son and grandson of coal miners, who championed unions and believed in government as a beneficent force. In a state that reveres deer-hunting, he was gun-friendly.^[1]

He is the father of Bob Casey, Jr., who is currently a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. Today, Governor Casey is typically referred to as Robert Casey Sr., or Bob Casey Sr.; before his son came to national prominence he was called simply Bob Casey.

1 Early life
2 Political career
3 Post-political career
4 References
5 Footnotes
6 External links

Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, Casey grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Marie Cummings and Alphonsus Lignori Casey,^[2] a devoutly Roman Catholic former coal miner who began working as a coal miner at age 10 and began practicing law by age 40.

Robert P. Casey turned down an offer to play for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949, opting to go to college instead. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. in 1953, and received his Juris Doctor from George Washington University in 1956.

A member of the Democratic Party, Casey first sought the governor office in 1966, losing the Democratic party primary. He tried on two other occasions without success, in 1970 and again in 1978. Considered a moderate and despite growing frustration with Democratic Party policies, Casey rejected Republican offers to run for Governor on their ticket on two occasions.

Restricted from seeking another term as Auditor General, Casey declined to seek the office of State Treasurer in 1976. Instead, a county official who also was named Robert Casey won the Democratic primary and the general election, spending virtually no money and doing virtually no campaigning; voters merely assumed that they were voting for the outgoing Auditor General. In 1980 the Republicans launched an extensive advertising campaign to clarify that "Casey isn't Casey," and the Democratic state treasurer was defeated for re-election.

In 1978, yet another candidate named Robert Casey, a different Robert Casey, this one a teacher and ice cream parlor owner, likewise received the Democratic party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor, again with a no-spending, no-campaigning strategy. This Casey, who joined Democratic gubernatorial nominee Pete Flaherty, narrowly lost to Richard Thornburgh and William Scranton III.

After a decade practicing law, Casey made a fourth bid for governor in 1986, billing himself as the "real Bob Casey" to distinguish himself and make light of the mistaken identity follies of the past. Dubbed "the three-time loss from Holy Cross" by detractors, Casey hired James Carville and Paul Begala to his campaign staff, two then-generally unknown political strategists.

Unlike his three previous tries, Casey won the Democratic primary, defeating Philadelphia district attorney (and future governor) Ed Rendell. He then faced Thornburgh's lieutenant governor, William Scranton III in the general election. The race was considered too close to call until the week before the election, when the Casey campaign staff, led by Carville, launched the now infamous "guru ad" which attacked Scranton's practice of transcendental meditation. The ad campaign depicted Scranton as a "dope smoking hippie," complete with 1960s-era pictures of the lieutenant governor wearing long hair, a beard, and tie-dyed clothing. Casey defeated Scranton by a margin of 79,000 votes.

Inaugurated on January 20, 1987, Casey was immediately confronted with issues. R. Budd Dwyer, the state treasurer who had been convicted on charges of accepting kickbacks, committed suicide at a press conference just two days into his term.

Casey brought what he called an "activist government" to Pennsylvania, expanding health care services for women, introducing reforms to the state's welfare system, and introducing an insurance program for uninsured children. Casey also introduced a "capital for a day" program, where the state's official business was conducted from eighteen different communities throughout the state. Despite charges that his administration squandered a budget surplus and ran the state into record annual budget deficits, Casey remained popular with voters, easily winning re-election in 1990 against Republican nominee Barbara Hafer. Polling data show that abortion attitudes were a stronger predictor of vote choice than party affiliation. ^[3]

A fierce pro-life advocate, Casey refused to campaign for any candidate who supported abortion rights - including his own lieutenant governor when he sought to succeed Casey. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference demanded action on the abortion issue.^[4] In 1989 Casey pushed through the legislature the "Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act," which placed limitations on abortion, including the notification of parents of minors, a twenty-four-hour waiting period, and a ban on partial-birth procedures except in cases of risk to the mother's life. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania sued, with Casey as the named defendant, asserting that the law violated Roe v. Wade. The case went to the Supreme Court in April, 1992. The Court decided Planned Parenthood v. Casey on June 29th, upholding all of Pennsylvania's contested restrictions but one (a requirement for spousal notification) and affirming the right of states to restrict abortions. ^[5]

Because he considered abortion a key social issue for the 1992 presidential election, Casey sought a speaking slot to give a minority plank on the topic at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. He was not given a speaking spot^[6] and in a series of news conferences he said the party was censoring his pro-life views since Casey took the Democratic party's view on nearly all other issues.^[7] Convention organizers said that Casey was not denied a spot because of his views on abortion, but because they wanted speakers to have endorsed Bill Clinton ahead of time, which Casey had not done.^[8]^[9] After the convention, Casey went on vacation rather than campaign for Clinton in Pennsylvania, which was a key swing state. However, he told the New York Times, "I support the ticket. Period."^[10] Although several pro-life Democrats did speak at the convention, they did not focus their remarks on their opposition to abortion, and the issue was not debated the way Casey had wanted.^[9]

In 1994, Casey refused to endorse Harris Wofford, the Democrat he had appointed to the Senate and who was running for re-election. The reason was Casey rejected Wofford's pro-choice views. The result was a split in the Democratic party that helped elect conservative Republican Rick Santorum as Casey’s critics within the Democratic Party accused him of treason.^[11] The issue of Casey's treatment in 1992 was kept alive in the Pennsylvania Democratic party for years.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, Chuck Schumer and other national Democratic leaders promoted Bob Casey Jr., who is pro-life, as a candidate for Senator. He won by a landslide over Santorum.^[12]

In 1990, Casey was diagnosed with Appalachian familiar amyloidosis, a genetic condition where proteins invade and destroy bodily organs. To combat the disease, he underwent an extremely rare heart-liver transplant on the morning of June 14, 1993. The announcement of Casey's disease was made just days before he underwent the transplant, and as a result many unfairly accused him of receiving preferential treatment with respect to donor waiting lists. In fact, Casey had been on the list for over a year, but this information was not widely known.

Before undergoing the operation, he transferred executive authority to lieutenant governor Singel, marking the first time Pennsylvania was under the leadership of an acting governor. Casey resumed his duties on December 13, 1993, almost six months to the day after he underwent the operation.

Following his operation, Casey strongly supported legislation that encouraged organ transplants by guaranteeing access to the families of potential organ donors by organ recovery organizations, providing drivers' license identification of potential donors, and establishing an organ donation trust fund from voluntary donations to promote the benefits of organ donation. Today the organ donation trust fund is named in his honor.

Prohibited from seeking a third term, Casey left office in 1995 but contemplated a run for President to oppose Bill Clinton in the 1996 Democratic primaries. His failing health caused him to abandon his plans.

Despite the transplants, Casey continued to suffer long-term effects of his disease, to which he finally succumbed on May 30, 2000, at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Ellen Casey, as well as his eight children and numerous grandchildren.

Casey's oldest son, Robert Patrick Casey, Jr., followed in his father's footsteps, being elected to two terms as Pennsylvania's auditor general. In 2002 he sought the governor's office, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Ed Rendell. In 2005, he was sworn in as state treasurer, and on election day, November 7, 2006, he defeated incumbent Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum.

Abramowitz, Alan I. "It's Abortion, Stupid: Policy Voting in the 1992 Presidential Election." Journal of Politics 1995 57(1): 176-186. ISSN 0022-3816 in Jstor
Elizabeth Adell Cook, Ted G. Jelen, Clyde Wilcox, "Issue Voting in Gubernatorial Elections: Abortion and Post-Webster Politics," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 187-199 in JSTOR
Peter J Boyer. "The Right to Choose," The New Yorker November 14, 2005 online version
Vincent P. Carocci, A Capitol Journey: Reflections on the Press, Politics, and the Making Of Public Policy In Pennsylvania. (2005) memoir by senior aide excerpts online
Casey, Robert P. Fighting for Life: The Story of a Courageous Pro-Life Democrat Whose Own Brush with Death Made Medical History. Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing (1996). Autobiography. Hardcover: ISBN 0-849-91224-5, ISBN 978-0-84991-224-5.

^ Boyer 2005
^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/senators/casey.htm
^ Cook, Ted G. Jelen, Clyde Wilcox (1994); Ted G. Jelen, Perspectives on the politics of abortion (1995) p. 76
^ Ted G. Jelen, Perspectives on the politics of abortion (1995) p. 112
^ Boyer 2005
^ Shailagh Murray (January 21, 2007). "Democrats Seek to Avert Abortion Clashes". The Washington Post.
^ Carocci 2005
^ Peter J Boyer (November 14, 2005). "The Right to Choose". The New Yorker.
^ ^a ^b Michael Crowley, "Casey Closed," The New Republic, September 16, 1996.
^ Michael Decourcy Hinds, “Pennsylvania; Democratic Ticket Heads Into Fertile Territory,” New York Times July 19, 1992, Section 1, Page 20
^ Carocci 2005, who says "In my judgment, his [Wofford's] decision to support the Clinton position on abortion may have cost him his seat in the U.S. Senate. Casey’s critics within the Democratic Party accused him of treason." online excerpt
^ Michael E. Barone, The Almanac of American Politics: 2006 (2005) p 1424.