Paul Sarbanes

• Born: February 3, 1933
• Birthplace: Salisbury, Maryland
• Died: December 6, 2020
• Deathplace: Baltimore, Maryland

Democrat Paul Sarbanes was one of Maryland's longest serving and arguably most recognizable elected officials. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates and US House of Representatives, and was elected to his fifth term in the US Senate in 2000 before retiring in 2006. In addition to serving as the ranking Democrat on the Senate committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs, he was also a member of the Senate budget and foreign affairs committees as well as the joint economic committee.

Early Life

Paul Spyros Sarbanes was born on February 3, 1933, in Salisbury, Maryland. He was the son of Greek immigrants Spyros and Matin Sarbanes, who owned a restaurant in Salisbury. Though his parents did not have much in the way of education, they pushed their children to work hard and do well in school. Sarbanes graduated from Wicomico High School in Salisbury, and then attended Princeton University with the help of academic and athletic scholarships. After graduating from Princeton in 1954, Sarbanes attended Balliol College at the University of Oxford (England) on a Rhodes Scholarship. He earned a First Class BA at Balliol in 1957, and then enrolled at Harvard Law School, earning his law degree in 1960.

Entry Into Politics

Upon graduating from Harvard Law School, Sarbanes clerked for a federal judge and then worked for the Baltimore law firm of Piper & Marbury. In 1962 he landed a position in the John F. Kennedy administration, serving as administrative assistant to council of economic advisers chairman Walter W. Heller. A year later he became executive director of the Charter Revision Commission of Baltimore City, and in 1965, returned to private law practice for the firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard. Sarbanes remained with the firm until 1970.

In 1966, Sarbanes decided to fulfill his longtime desire to seek public office. He ran successfully for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing a Baltimore City district. He served on the House Judiciary and Ways and Means committees. Sarbanes served two terms in the House of Delegates before running successfully for the US House of Representatives in 1970.

During his six years in the US House, Sarbanes served on the House judiciary committee, the merchant marine and fisheries committee and the select committee on House reorganization. It was his seat on the judiciary Committee that gave Sarbanes a pivotal role in one of America's most historic moments, delivering the first article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, for obstruction of justice in connection to the Watergate scandal.

"Stealth Senator"

In 1976, Sarbanes won his first term in the US Senate, easily defeating incumbent Republican J. Glenn Beall Jr., who had been connected to a secret Nixon White House fund three years earlier. Sarbanes won by comfortable margins in each of his reelection bids, in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000, in traditionally Democratic Maryland. His victory in 2000 made him the first senator in Maryland's history to serve a fifth term.

During his career, Sarbanes rarely swayed from the Democratic position on key issues. He received high marks on labor union report cards, and supported increases in the federal minimum wage and extensions in unemployment benefits. He also opposed most tax cuts, including those advocated by President George W. Bush. As the ranking minority member of the senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee, Sarbanes supported international trade, consumer rights, increased funding for public housing and transportation, and legislation allowing small-business workers to join credit unions.

Sarbanes was often labeled the "stealth senator" by both his critics and supporters for keeping a low profile while sponsoring or supporting legislation likely to have a long-term impact. However, Sarbanes shed his "stealth" image in coauthoring one of the most high-profile laws in 2002. In the wake of scandals involving corporations such as Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom, Sarbanes and Rep. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) teamed up to write a bill that, among other provisions, holds corporations to higher accountability standards, requires corporate lawyers to report wrongdoing to corporate executives, and limits auditors in providing non-auditory consulting for their clients. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed through the House and Senate easily, and was signed by President Bush in July 2002.

Sarbanes chose not to seek reelection in 2006. He was succeeded by Ben Cardin. In retirement, Sarbanes, who had also maintained an affiliation with Salisbury University, held a seat on the boards of trustees and directors of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Sarbanes and his wife, Christine, who died in 2009, had three children, John, Michael, and Janet, and numerous grandchildren. Sarbanes was a member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore.

On December 6, 2020, Sarbanes died at a Baltimore, Maryland, retirement community at the age of eighty-seven.

Bibliography

Barker, Jeff. "Longtime Lawmaker Paul Sarbanes of Maryland Was Unpretentious 'Stealth Senator' Who Championed Civility, Chesapeake Bay." The Baltimore Sun, 7 Dec. 2020, www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-paul-sarbanes-20201207-joygkdwykrfb3ehld72brkx7e4-story.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

Clymer, Adam. "Paul Sarbanes, 87, Dies; Maryland Senator Fought Accounting Fraud." The New York Times, 7 Dec. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/politics/paul-sarbanes-dead.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

"Paul Spyros Sarbanes (Democrat) (1933–2020)." Maryland Manual On-Line, Maryland State Archives, 8 Dec. 2020, msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/39fed/05ussen/former/html/msa02169.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.