Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the four-term U.S. Senator from New York and perhaps the most respected statesman of the Democratic party of the last half-century, died in Washington at the age of 76 Wednesday.
Moynihan was known as a patron of ideology and political intellectualism, instead of being a master of Senate maneuvering or legislative sponsorship.
He wrote 18 books, nine as a senator, about topics ranging from social justice for African Americans in the 1960’s to criticisms in the early 90’s of American invasions in South America as being in violation of international law.
President Reagan regarded him as a thorn in his side on both foreign policy and domestic topics like heavy tax and social security cuts and increased military spending.
Senator Moynihan opposed the first Gulf War in 1991.
Before becoming a senator, he served as an advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and as an ambassador to Presidents Nixon and Ford, acting as Ford’s U.N. representative.
In that capacity, and as a senator, he strongly criticized the former Soviet Union for its human rights violations, stemming from the weakness of which he accused the Carter administration.
“The defining event of the decade might well be the breakup of the Soviet empire,” he said in 1980.
He was also a Harvard professor of education and urban studies in the 60’s and later one of foreign affairs in the 70’s.