| Birch Bayh | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Daniel Inouye |
| Succeeded by | Barry Goldwater |
| United States Senator from Indiana | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Homer E. Capehart |
| Succeeded by | B. Evan Bayh |
| Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives | |
| In office November 5, 1958 – November 9, 1960 | |
| Preceded by | George Diener |
| Succeeded by | Richard Guthrie |
| Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the Vigo County district | |
| In office November 3, 1954 – November 7, 1962 | |
| Preceded by | John Brentlinger |
| Succeeded by | Hubert Werneke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Birch Evans Bayh Jr. January 22, 1928 Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | March 14, 2019 (aged 91) Easton, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery (not yet interred as of February 2020) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Marvella Hern (m. 1952; d. 1979) Kitty Halpin (m. 1981) |
| Children | 2, including Evan Bayh |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | 
|
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1946–1948 |
| Rank | Private (1st Class) |
Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1999. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the Indiana House of Representatives; in 1958, he was elected Speaker, the youngest person to hold that office in the state's history. In 1962, he ran for the U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Homer E. Capehart. Shortly after entering the Senate, he became Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, and in that role authored two constitutional amendments: the twenty-fifth—which establishes procedures for an orderly transition of power in the case of the death, disability, or resignation of the President of the United States—and the twenty-sixth, which lowered the voting age to 18 throughout the United States. He is the only non–Founding Father to have authored two constitutional amendments. Bayh also led successful efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment but failed to eliminate the Electoral College.
Bayh authored Title IX of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which bans gender discrimination in higher education institutions that receive federal funding. He also authored the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, and co-authored the Bayh–Dole Act, which deals with intellectual property that arises from federal-government-funded research. Bayh voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court. He led the Senate opposition to the nominations of Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell, two of Richard Nixon's unsuccessful Supreme Court nominees. Bayh intended to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, but declined to run after his wife was diagnosed with cancer. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976, but dropped out of the campaign after disappointing finishes in the first set of primaries and caucuses.
Bayh won re-election in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, and 1992, retiring in 1998, being succeeded by his son, Evan Bayh, who previously served as the Governor of Indiana.