Frank Lautenberg

Who was Frank Lautenberg?

Frank Raleigh Lautenberg was a United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. He first served in the United States Senate from 1982 to 2001; after a brief retirement, he was asked by his party to run again after Robert Torricelli dropped out of the 2002 Senate race due to scandal. Lautenberg was re-elected to the Senate and served from 2003 until his death in June 2013. He was the last serving veteran of World War II in the United States Senate. Before entering politics, he was the chairman and chief executive officer of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

He has been called "the last of the New Deal liberals" and was known for his legislative efforts against drunk driving, and his support of spending for Amtrak and urban public transportation, for stronger environmental regulations, greater consumer protections and investigations of wrongdoing by Wall Street.