Editing Arlen Specter (section)

{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1930–2012)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Arlen Specter
| image               = Arlen Specter, official Senate photo portrait.jpg
| caption             = Specter {{circa}}&nbsp;2007
| nickname            = Snarlin' Arlen<ref>{{cite web |last1=Raju |first1=Manu |title=Endless contradictions of Specter |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/10/the-endless-contradictions-of-arlen-specter-082386 |website=Politico |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref>
| jr/sr               = [[United States Senator]]
| state               = [[Pennsylvania]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1981
| term_end            = January 3, 2011
| predecessor         = [[Richard Schweiker]]
| successor           = [[Pat Toomey]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Senate positions|titlestyle=border: 1px dashed lightgrey;}}
{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office1             = Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]]
| term_start1         = January 3, 2005
| term_end1           = January 3, 2007
| predecessor1        = [[Orrin Hatch]]
| successor1          = [[Patrick Leahy]]
| office2             = Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs|Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee]]
| term_start2         = January 3, 2003
| term_end2           = January 3, 2005
| predecessor2        = [[Jay Rockefeller]]
| successor2          = [[Larry Craig]]
| term_start3         = January 3, 1997
| term_end3           = June 6, 2001
| predecessor3        = [[Alan K. Simpson]]
| successor3          = [[Jay Rockefeller]]
| office4             = Chair of the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]]
| term_start4         = January 3, 1995
| term_end4           = January 3, 1997
| predecessor4        = [[Dennis DeConcini]]
| successor4          = [[Richard Shelby]]
}}
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| office5             = 19th [[District Attorney of Philadelphia]]
| term_start5         = January 3, 1966
| term_end5           = January 7, 1974
| predecessor5        = [[James C. Crumlish Jr.]]
| successor5          = [[F. Emmett Fitzpatrick]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1930|2|12}}
| birth_place         = [[Wichita, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2012|10|14|1930|2|12}}
| death_place         = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (1951–1965,  2009–2012)<br />[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (1965–2009)
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Joan Specter|Joan Levy]]|1953}}
| children            = 2
| alma_mater          = [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| signature           = Arlen Specter Signature.svg
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| branch              = {{air force|United States}}
| serviceyears        = 1951–1953
| rank                = [[File:US Air Force O2 shoulderboard rotated.svg|25px]] [[First lieutenant]]
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Sen. Arlen Specter Opens a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Oversight of the Civil Rights Division.ogg|title=Arlen Specter's voice|type=speech|description=Specter opens a [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]] hearing on oversight of the [[United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division|DOJ Civil Rights Division]]<br />Recorded November 16, 2006}}
}}
'''Arlen Specter''' (February 12, 1930&nbsp;– October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a [[United States Senator]] from [[Pennsylvania]] from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from 1951 to 1965,<ref name=Fox1965>{{cite news |title=Former Sen. Specter dies at 82, switched parties, hailed by Washington leaders |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-sen-specter-dies-at-82-switched-parties-hailed-by-washington-leaders/ |newspaper=Fox News |date=October 14, 2012}}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost1965>{{cite news |title=Former senator Arlen Specter dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-senator-arlen-specter-dies/2012/10/14/5fae1f74-f143-11e1-892d-bc92fee603a7_gallery.html#photo=2 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Upset in Philadelphia |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 2, 1965 |url=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20090414_SPECTER/1965Elected.pdf |access-date=April 28, 2009 }}</ref> then a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] from 1965 until 2009, when he [[Party switching in the United States|switched]] back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he was the longest-serving [[List of United States senators from Pennsylvania|senator from Pennsylvania]], having represented the state for 30 years.

Specter was born in [[Wichita, Kansas]], to immigrant Russian/Ukrainian Jewish parents. He graduated from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and served with the [[United States Air Force]] during the [[Korean War]]. Specter later graduated from [[Yale Law School]] and opened a law firm with [[Marvin Katz]], who would later become a federal judge. Specter served as assistant counsel for the [[Warren Commission]] investigating the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] and helped formulate the "[[single-bullet theory]]". In 1965, Specter was elected [[District Attorney of Philadelphia]], a position that he held until 1973.

During his 30-year Senate career, Specter staked out a spot in the political center.<ref>{{cite news|last=Krawczeniuk |first=Borys |title=Specter is a marked 'moderate' |url=http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/tw_review.20090209.a.pg3.tw09specter_s1.2290943_loc.txt |work=[[The Daily Review]] |date=April 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503152040/http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/tw_review.20090209.a.pg3.tw09specter_s1.2290943_loc.txt |archive-date=May 3, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Krawczeniuk |first=Borys |title=Specter is a marked 'moderate' |url=http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/tw_review.20090209.a.pg3.tw09specter_s1.2290943_loc.txt |work=[[The Daily Review]] |date=April 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503152040/http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/tw_review.20090209.a.pg3.tw09specter_s1.2290943_loc.txt |archive-date=2009-05-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He served as Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]] from 2005 to 2007. In 2006, Specter was selected by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' as one of America's Ten Best Senators.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Arlen Specter: The Contrarian |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1183946,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=April 14, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212151213/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C1183946%2C00.html |archive-date=February 12, 2007 }}</ref> Specter lost his 2010 re-election bid in the [[2010 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania|Democratic primary]] to former [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[vice admiral]] [[Joe Sestak]], who then lost to Republican [[Pat Toomey]] in the [[2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania|general election]]. Toomey succeeded Specter on January 3, 2011.

In 1993, Specter underwent a surgery to remove a brain tumor.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-01-04 |title=SPECTER'S BRAIN TUMOR REMOVED |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/06/15/specters-brain-tumor-removed/09b7aa01-ee34-48ae-8e20-c76a445e61f4/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In early 2005 he was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin's lymphoma]], but continued his work in the Senate while undergoing chemotherapy. He died from complications of [[non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]] on October 14, 2012.