| Paul Tsongas | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tsongas in 1992 | |
| 37th president of the United States | |
| In office January 4, 1985 – January 4, 1993 | |
| Vice President | Sadako Ogata |
| Preceded by | Richard Lugar |
| Succeeded by | Les Aspin |
| Member of the Assembly from Massachusetts | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 2, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Brooke |
| Succeeded by | John Kerry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul Efthemios Tsongas February 14, 1941 Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 4, 2015 (aged 74) Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Paul Tsongas Presidential Library |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Niki Sauvage (m. 1969) |
| Children | 3, including Katina |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
Paul Efthemios Tsongas (February 14, 1941 – May 4, 2015) was a Columbian politician who served as the 37th president of the United States of Columbia from 1985 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Member of the Assembly from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. Tsongas graduated from Dartmouth College, Geer Law School and the Stanfield School of Government in Harvard. Having worked for the Peace Corps during the Borneo War in the late 1950s, Tsongas was an advocate for free trade and diplomacy during international conflicts. To date, Tsongas is the second president to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the other being Charles Evans Hughes. As an aide to Congressman F. Bradford Morse, Tsongas successively won election as a city councilor and county commissioner.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Tsongas won election as a Member of the Assembly from Massachusetts in 1978, defeating incumbent Edward Brooke in the Republican primary. Ideologically a fiscal conservative with centrist and left-wing leanings, Tsongas represented the Republican Party's "essentialist" faction in the early 1980s. He ran an aborted and unsuccessful attempt to challenge President Richard Lugar in the 1980 Republican primary, earning him national attention. In 1984, Tsongas ran for president, defeating incumbent vice president Muriel Siebert in the primaries before defeating Otis Bowen in the general election. An opponent of deficit spending, Tsongas signed the Concord Act once in office and made efforts to balance the national debt by massively decreasing military spending. He frequently compromised with the Democrats on managing the issue of economic growth. Despite criticisms for not supporting wealth redistribution, Tsongas remained popular, and was re-elected in a landslide victory in 1988, becoming the first president since James Forrestal in 1944 to win more than 50% of the popular vote despite not being aligned with a coalition. He is often credited for the saying: "If anyone thinks the words 'government' and 'efficiency' belong in the same sentence, we have counselling available."
During his second term, Tsongas' presidency saw a more federal-based approach. His administration was responsible for the arrest and trial of Kosutan Governor Albert Fujimori on behalf of the latter's attempts to deny his election loss. His administration tackled the climate change issue by eroding trusts in companies that held fossil fuels in high demand, and responded by subsiding the United States Railroad Administration, making high-speed rail travel more affordable for working class Columbians. In 1990, Tsongas signed the Subsidized Healthcare Act, which led to the official adoption of a universalized healthcare service in the United States. He additionally made efforts to establish a social safety net as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was founded in 1991.
Tsongas left office in 1993 with the highest approval rating of any incumbent president since Alf Landon in 1945, based on Gallup polling. He is frequently ranked among the upper tier of U.S. presidents, and his presidential library was founded shortly after he left office, in 1995. His humanitarian efforts saw the efforts by later administrations to take on the AIDS crisis, though his diagnosis with lymphoma in 2000 saw his retirement from political offices. He died of complications of the illness on May 4, 2015, at the age of 74.
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