EnemiesList.info

Nixon Enemies List entry for
Allard K. Lowenstein:

List and position:First/Top 20, #7 with Charles Colson's blue checkmark
Name as originally listed:Allard Lowenstein
Vitals:1/16/1929 - 3/14/1980
Comment on original list:Long Island, New York
Gleanings:

- Politician, civil rights activist, antiwar activist.

- Congressman from NY's 5th district, 1969-71.

- Endorsed by William F. Buckley in 1968.

- Was a House gym wrestling buddy of Donald Rumsfeld according to David Broder's March 21, 1980 column.

- Spearheaded 1967 "Dump Johnson" campaign and recruited Eugene McCarthy to run on an antiwar platform.

- He first approached Robert F. Kennedy, who declined at the time.

- Later spearheaded the "Dump Nixon" campaign as noted in the Top 20 list.

- Lost congressional elections in 1972 (after unfavorable redistricting), 1974, and 1976.

- was campaigning for Edward Kennedy when he died.

- murdered at age 51 by a deranged former associate.

- buried in Arlington Cemetery.

- NY Times called him "An Ebullient Advocate of Social Justice" in article on his death, also mentioning that he was #7 on the Enemies List.

- Harry Chapin's "Remember When the Music" (2nd version, 1980) was inspired by Lowenstein's untimely death which "seemed to symbolize the death of an era." (from Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story by Peter Coan). He dedicated the song to Lowenstein and John Lennon.

- Not to be confused with the TV producer, Al Lowenstein, or the late New Jersey lawyer, Alan Lowenstein.

- Remembered in a Firing Line retrospective on PBS on May 11, 1980. (transcript)

- Son, Frank, left his job "selling big shopping centers in California" to work on the 2004 John Kerry campaign after Senator Christopher Dodd said, "Man, your dad would be so ashamed of you." (from Washington Post, Oct. 1, 2004)

- There are 2 books that attempt to diminish his accomplishments, Pied Piper: Allard K. Lowenstein & the Liberal Dream by Richard Cummings (1985) which claimed that Lowenstein worked for the CIA, and Never Stop Running: Allard Lowenstein and the Struggle to Save American Liberalism by William Chafe (1993).

- A book about his assassin came out in 1982, Dreams Die Hard by David Harris.

Comments

Name/Date:Charles CerfApr 25, 2014 11:52am
Comment:Al was both eloquent and funny. After being elected to Congress he was, of course, anathema to the Democratic leadership as well as to the Republicans. "They assigned me to the Agriculture Committee, which was interesting since my district is suburban. But I did my duty - I visited the farm in my district."

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