Arlen Specter Biography

Politician. Born February 12, 1930 in Wichita, Kansas, the youngest child of Russian immigrants Lillie Shanin and Harry Specter. Specter's mother was a homemaker, and his father was a former WWI vet who—after sustaining injuries during combat—returned to the U.S. to work odd jobs as a fruit peddler, tailor and junkyard owner.

Specter studied first at the University of Oklahoma. He then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He majored in International Relations, and graduated in 1951. After receiving his bachelor's degree, Specter enlisted in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. He served during the Korean War.

When he returned home to the U.S., Specter entered Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1956. That same year, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and opened the Specter & Katz law practice with colleague Marvin Katz, who later became a Federal District Court Judge in Philadelphia. From 1959 to 1964, Specter became an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia under District Attorney James Crumlish.

In 1964, Specter became a top staffer for the Warren Commission, where he investigated President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It was during this time that Specter helped develop the "single-bullet theory," which suggested that President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally were wounded by the same bullet. This was a crucial theory for the Warren Commission; injuries from separate bullets would have meant more than one assassin, and imply a conspiracy.

A registered Democrat, Specter ran for Philadelphia District Attorney in 1965 on the Republican ticket. He beat out his former boss, James Crumlish, for the position and subsequently changed his registration to Republican. He served as the D.A. until 1974.

In 1975 Specter resumed his law practice, and attempted two runs for a Republican seat in the Senate. Both campaigns failed. He returned to his law practice, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1979. This same year, Senate Republican Richard Schweiker announced his retirement. Seizing the opportunity, Specter ran a third time for Senate. He faced former Pittsburgh mayor, Peter F. Flaherty, in the race. Specter won the election by a narrow 2.5% margin.

Specter was reelected for his Senate seat in 1986, 1992. On March 31, 1995, he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, running as a moderate against incumbent President Bill Clinton. Although he gained his party's support, Specter suspended his campaign before the Republican primaries in order to endorse Kansas Senator Bob Dole. Dole lost the election to President Clinton.

Specter was again reelected for Senate in 1998 and again in 2004. He sides with conservatives on some divisive issues, with liberals on others. His voting record is almost precisely at the midpoint of the Senate. Specter states that he is "personally opposed to abortion," but is "a supporter of a woman's right to choose." He also strongly supports the death penalty and opposes most gun control. He supports affirmative action and voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1991. In 1998 and 1999, Specter criticized his party for its impeachment of President Bill Clinton claiming that Clinton had not received a fair trial. Specter also worked for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, which the Senate passed in July 2005. Republicans attempted to block the agreement in December, but the bill passed in March 2006. In July 2006, he called for an independent commission to investigate the incarceration policies at Guantanamo, but the Defense Department blocked him from holding a hearing there.