Steve Symms

Infobox Senator
name = Steve Symms
small

jr/sr =United States Senator
state = Idaho
term_start = January 3, 1981
term_end = January 5, 1993
preceded = Frank Church
succeeded = Dirk Kempthorne
office2=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Idaho's 1st district
term_start2=January 3, 1973
term_end2=January 3, 1981
predecessor2=Jim McClure
successor2=Larry Craig
date of birth=birth date and age|1938|4|23
place of birth=Nampa, Idaho
dead = alive
date of death=
place of death=
residence=Caldwell
spouse=
profession=Agriculture
religion=
party=Republican

Steven Douglas Symms (born April 23, 1938 in Nampa, Idaho) was a four-term congressman (1973–81) and two-term U.S. senator (1981–93) from Idaho. He was among the most conservative members of the Republican Party. He is currently a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.

Symms attended public schools in Canyon County and graduated from Caldwell High School in 1956. He attended the University of Idaho in Moscow and graduated in 1960, with a B.S. in agriculture. After graduation, Symms served in the Marines for three years, after which he worked as a private pilot and fruit rancher on his family's farm. From 1969–72, he was editor of the newspaper, the "Idaho Compass".

In 1972, Symms was elected to the United States Congress, and he won re-election three times, serving until 1980, when he ran for the U.S. Senate. He unseated four-term incumbent Democrat Frank Church. Symms was re-elected in 1986, defeating Democratic Governor John V. Evans.

Symms was succeeded by the Republican mayor of Boise, Dirk Kempthorne, who was later a two-term Idaho governor and since 2005 is the United States Secretary of Interior in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush.

After leaving the U.S. Senate, he founded Symms, Lehn Associates, Inc., a consulting firm. In January 1999, he partnered with John Haddow and formed Symms & Haddow Associates, a lobbying firm. In January 2001, Steve and John joined forces with Romano Romani and former Senator Dennis DeConcini of Parry, Romani & DeConcini to form Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms.

Symms is a cousin of former Oregon congressman Denny Smith.

Controversy

Senator Symms was one of several Republican senators who in 1981 called into the White House to express his discontent over the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court; the opposition hinged over the issue of O'Connor's presumed unwillingness to overturn "Roe v. Wade". [Greenburg, Jan Crawford. Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court.2007. Penguin Books. Page 222.]

During the 1988 U.S. presidential election, Symms claimed in a radio interview that a photograph existed from the 1960s showing Kitty Dukakis, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, burning an American flag to protest the Vietnam War. Kitty Dukakis angrily denied the accusation as "totally false and beneath contempt," and Symms later admitted that he could not substantiate it. [AP Editors (August 26, 1988) "Story on Mrs. Dukakis Is Denied by Campaign." "New York Times."] Nevertheless, the claim became national news, as media outlets began searching for the photograph Symms said he had "heard" about. [Dionne. E.J. Jr. (August 29, 1988) "Political Memo; Accentuating the Positive Can Lead to Nasty Campaign." "New York Times." The story read: "This campaign got very rough very early, and Kirk O'Donnell, a senior adviser to Mr. Dukakis, said it was shaping up to be among the most negative recent Presidential contests. Pointing a finger at the Bush campaign, he said, 'There's no question that rumor has developed into a new art form in this campaign. He was referring to a recent statement by Senator Steve Symms, Republican of Idaho, who said that he understood there were pictures showing that Kitty Dukakis, the candidate's wife, had burned an American flag. Mrs. Dukakis angrily denied the accusation, and Mr. Symms later acknowledged that he had no proof. But it was on television before he drew back."] The flag-burning story was one of several false rumors about Dukakis that circulated during the 1988 campaign. "Mr. Symms's comment was the third time in a few days that prominent Republicans have publicly aired allegations that the Democrats have swiftly rebutted," the "New York Times" reported. "The allegations come at a time when Republicans are struggling to shift the campaign focus away from his Vice-Presidential running mate, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, and questions about his Vietnam era service in the National Guard." [AP Editors (August 26, 1988) "Story on Mrs. Dukakis Is Denied by Campaign." "New York Times."]

The campaign of George H.W. Bush denied playing a role in spreading the rumors, but the stories helped erode Dukakis' 17-point lead in opinion polls, and Bush went on to win the election. In 1991, Bush campaign advisor Lee Atwater, after being stricken with terminal brain cancer, wrote a deathbed apology for his role in orchestrating unfair attacks on Dukakis. [Turnipseed, Tom (April 16, 1991) [http://www.turnipseed.net/atwaterart.htm "What Lee Atwater Learned."] "Washington Post."]

External links

* [http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html Lobby Congress.com] - biography from Parry, Romani DeConcini & Symms
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S001138 Congressional Biographical Dictionary] - Steve Symms
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steve_Symms Source Watch.org] - Steve Symms controversy

ee also

References