H. John Heinz III

For other people named Henry Heinz, see Henry Heinz (disambiguation).

H. John Heinz III
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
In office January 3, 1977 – April 4, 1991
Preceded by	Hugh Scott
Succeeded by	Harris Wofford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th district
In office November 2, 1971 – January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Robert Corbett
Succeeded by	Doug Walgren
Personal details
Born	Henry John Heinz III October 23, 1938(1938-10-23) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	April 4, 1991(1991-04-04) (aged 52) Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Teresa Heinz

Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American politician from Pennsylvania, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives (1971–1977) and the United States Senate (1977–1991).

Early life

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Heinz was the son of H. J. Heinz II (heir to the H. J. Heinz Company) and Joan Diehl. His parents divorced, and Heinz moved to San Francisco, California with his mother and his stepfather, U.S. Navy Captain Clayton C. McCauley. He graduated from the Town School, Phillips Exeter Academy, in 1956, and Yale University, where he was a member of Manuscript Society, in 1960. He then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1963. In 1963, Heinz enlisted in the United States Air Force and served on active duty from June to December of that year at Lackland Air Force Base. He then served with the 911th Troop Carrier Group, based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport, as a member of the United States Air Force Reserve. In 1969 his rank was staff sergeant.

Academic and business activities

From 1970 to 1971, Heinz was a member of the faculty at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. His career as a businessman included positions as an analyst in the controller's division, and numerous positions in the marketing division of the H. J. Heinz Company.

Public service

House of Representatives

In 1971, he was elected by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert Corbett during the 92nd Congress. He defeated Gateway Clipper Fleet creator John E. Connelly. He was reelected to the 93rd and 94th Congresses.

Senate

Heinz was elected to the Senate in 1976, succeeding the retiring Hugh Scott. He was aided by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, Buckley v. Valeo, issued mid-campaign, which invalidated statutory restrictions on the spending of one's own personal funds in a political campaign. Heinz spent millions of dollars attacking Democratic nominee Bill Green, a seven-term congressman from Philadelphia and future mayor of that city, as being "soft" on military issues because he had voted against various Defense appropriation bills in the Vietnam War era.

In the early 1990s, Heinz was one of the leaders within the Senate on the issue of US economic competitiveness. Heinz's position was in direct contradiction to the much-publicized platform of the Republican Party and in direct opposition to the Bush White House. Heinz maintained that the US economic health and competitiveness was in a state of rapid decline and that the Bush administration, in contrast to the Reagan administration, both denied the problem and continued to execute policies that were not just neutral to the problem but rather accelerated the decline.

As the US decline accelerated, Heinz quietly assembled a "lunch meeting" group of Republican senators who were like-minded in their concern for US competitiveness but knew that their concern was in direct opposition to the White House and Republican Party. One of the group's initiatives was to back the reinstatement or refocusing of several of the Reagan administration’s key programs for rebuild US competitiveness (e.g., the Defense Manufacturing Board, the US intelligence community's Project Socrates) With the untimely death of Heinz, the group ceased to meet.

Death

Heinz and six other people were killed on April 4, 1991, when a Bell 412 helicopter collided with the Senator's Piper Aerostar plane over Merion Elementary School in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. All aboard the two aircraft and two first-grade girls playing outside the school were killed. The helicopter had been dispatched to check out a problem with the landing gear of Heinz's plane. While moving in for a closer look, the helicopter's rotor blades struck the bottom of the plane, causing both aircraft to lose control and crash.

Senator Heinz was interred in the Heinz family mausoleum in Homewood Cemetery, located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA.

Honors

The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum was renamed following his death. The 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) refuge includes the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania as well as other habitats that are home to a variety of plants and animals native to Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Several institutions bear his name, including:

• Senator H. John Heinz III Archives at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
• H. John Heinz III College at Carnegie Mellon University
• H. John Heinz III Center For Science, Economics and The Environment
• Senator John Heinz History Center

Further reading

• Heinz, H. John, III. "Foreign Takeover of U.S. Banking – a Real Danger?" Journal of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies 4 (Autumn 1979): 1–9
• Heinz, John. U.S. Strategic Trade: An Export Control System for the 1990s. Boulder: Westview press, 1991.

External links

• H. John Heinz III at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• John Heinz Legacy
• Senator H. John Heinz III Archives
• The H. John Heinz III College
• The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
• John Heinz's Gravesite
• Senator John Heinz History Center

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Robert Corbett	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district 1971–1977	Succeeded by Doug Walgren
United States Senate
Preceded by Hugh Scott	United States Senator (Class 1) from Pennsylvania 1977–1991 Served alongside: Richard Schweiker and Arlen Specter	Succeeded by Harris Wofford
Party political offices
Preceded by Robert Packwood Oregon	Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee 1979–1981	Succeeded by Robert Packwood Oregon
Preceded by Richard Lugar Indiana	Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee 1985–1987	Succeeded by Rudy Boschwitz Minnesota
Preceded by Hugh Scott	Republican nominee for United States Senator (Class 1) from Pennsylvania 1976, 1982, 1988	Succeeded by Dick Thornburgh
Political offices
Preceded by Lawton Chiles Florida	Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee 1981–1987	Succeeded by John Melcher Montana