Barber Conable

Barber Conable
President of the World Bank Group
In office
July 1, 1986  September 1, 1991
Preceded by Tom Clausen
Succeeded by Lewis Preston
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 30th district
In office
January 3, 1983  January 3, 1985
Preceded by David Martin
Succeeded by Fred Eckert
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 35th district
In office
January 3, 1973  January 3, 1983
Preceded by James Hanley
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 37th district
In office
January 3, 1965  January 3, 1973
Preceded by Harold Ostertag
Succeeded by Thaddeus Dulski
Member of the New York Senate
from the 53rd district
In office
January 1, 1963  December 31, 1964
Preceded by Austin Erwin
Succeeded by Kenneth Willard
Personal details
Born (1922-11-02)November 2, 1922
Warsaw, New York, U.S.
Died November 30, 2003(2003-11-30) (aged 81)
Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Charlotte Williams
Alma mater Cornell University

Barber Benjamin Conable, Jr. (November 2, 1922 – November 30, 2003) was a U.S. Congressman from New York and president of the World Bank.

Biography

Conable was born in Warsaw, New York on November 2, 1922. Conable was an Eagle Scout and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from Cornell University in 1942, where he was president of the Quill and Dagger society and a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. He then enlisted in the Marines and was sent to the Pacific front in World War II, where he learned to speak Japanese and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. After the war, he received his law degree from Cornell University Law School in 1948, where he lived at the Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association, having been admitted to the House as a law student, after an unsuccessful attempt as an undergraduate.[1] He later re-enlisted and fought in the Korean War.

In 1962, Conable was elected as a Republican to the New York State Senate. After only one term, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964 from a Rochester-based district. He was reelected nine more times. He was known on both sides of the aisle for his honesty and integrity, at one point being voted by his colleagues the "most respected" member of Congress; he refused to accept personal contributions larger than $50. As longtime ranking minority member of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of his signal legislative achievements was a provision in the U.S. tax code that made so-called 401(k) and 403(b) defined-contribution retirement plans possible, and contributions to those plans by both employers and employees tax-deferred, under federal tax law.

A long-time ally of Richard Nixon, Conable broke with him in disgust after the revelations of the Watergate scandal. When the White House released a tape of Nixon instructing his Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman to obstruct the FBI investigation, Conable said it was a "smoking gun", a phrase which quickly entered the political folklore.

In 1980, Conable appeared in Milton Friedman's PBS documentary Free to Choose.[2]

Conable retired from the House in 1984. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed him president of the World Bank. His experience as a legislator proved crucial as he persuaded his former colleagues to almost double Congress's appropriations for the Bank. He retired in 1991.

In 1952, Conable married Charlotte Williams, his wife until his death. He died from a staphylococcus infection in 2003, at his winter home in Sarasota, Florida.

Literature by and about Conable

References

  1. Fleming, James S (2004). Window on Congress: A Congressional Biography of Barber B. Conable, Jr. University of Rochester Press. pp. 34–36. ISBN 9781580461283.
  2. Free to Choose on YouTube (Conable's segment begins at approximately 37:20)

External links

New York State Senate
Preceded by
Austin Erwin
Member of the New York Senate
from the 53rd district

1963–1964
Succeeded by
Kenneth Willard
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Harold Ostertag
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 37th congressional district

1965–1973
Succeeded by
Thaddeus Dulski
Preceded by
James Hanley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 35th congressional district

1973–1983
Constituency abolished
Preceded by
David Martin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 30th congressional district

1983–1985
Succeeded by
Fred Eckert
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Tom Clausen
President of the World Bank Group
1986–1991
Succeeded by
Lewis Preston
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