Jim Leach

James Albert Smith Leach was born in Davenport, Iowa on October 15, 1942. He won the 1960 state wrestling championship at the 138-pound weight class for Davenport High School.gbhofinductions_03, wrestlingmuseum.org. Site has no content.{{Better source needed |date=April 2024}} He graduated from Princeton University in 1964 with an A.B. in politics after completing a senior thesis titled "The Right to Revolt: John Locke Contrasted with Karl Marx."{{Cite thesis |last=Leach |first=James |date=1964 |title=The Right to Revolt: John Locke Contrasted with Karl Marx |url=http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01jh343v104}} While a student at Princeton, Leach was a member of The Ivy Club. He then earned a Master of Arts degree in Soviet studies from Johns Hopkins University in 1966.{{Cite web |title=Arena Profile: James A. Leach |url=http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/james_a_leach.html |publisher=politico.com}}{{Cite web |date=June 3, 2009 |title=Obama taps Leach '64 to chair NEH |url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/06/03/23744/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809011523/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/06/03/23744/ |archive-date=August 9, 2009 |access-date=January 30, 2013 |publisher=dailyprincetonian.com}} He later did further Soviet research at the London School of Economics, where he studied under Leonard Schapiro, the foremost expert on Soviet affairs.{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2009 |title=111th Congress Report HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111-31 JAMES A. LEACH UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-111hrpt31/html/CRPT-111hrpt31.htm |publisher=gpo.gov}}

Prior to entering the United States Foreign Service, he was a staffer for then U.S. Rep. Donald Rumsfeld. In 1969, he was an assistant to Rumsfeld, who had left his Congressional seat to become Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity in the Nixon administration.{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2005 |title=Iowa: Second District Rep. Jim Leach (R) |url=http://www3.nationaljournal.com/pubs/almanac/2006/people/ia/rep_ia02.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023193030/http://www.nationaljournal.com/pubs/almanac/2006/people/ia/rep_ia02.htm |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |website=nationaljournal.com}} While in the Foreign Service, he was a delegate to the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the U.N. General Assembly.{{Cite web |title="Jim Leach Rally, Bettendorf, Iowa, October 21, 1976" of the Frances K. Pullen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0003/1069260.pdf |publisher=fordlibrarymuseum.gov}} In 1973, Leach resigned his commission in protest of the Saturday Night Massacre when Richard Nixon fired his Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and the independent counsel investigating the Watergate break-in, Archibald Cox.{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Michael |date=April 3, 1994 |title=Los Angeles Times Interview: James Leach : Viewing Whitewater as a Matter of Public Ethics |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-03-op-41596-story.html |access-date=August 28, 2016 |work=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035}}

After returning to Iowa to head a family business, Leach was elected in 1976 to Congress (defeating two-term Democrat Edward Mezvinsky), where he came to be a leader of a small band of moderate Republicans.{{Cite news |title=Jim A. Leach (R) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/elections/2004/candidates/22426/ |work=washingtonpost.com}} He chaired two national organizations dedicated to moderate Republican causes: the Ripon Society and the Republican Mainstream Committee.{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1981 |title=THE 'GYPSY MOTHS' FOLLOW THEIR OWN LIGHTS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/01/weekinreview/the-gypsy-moths-follow-their-own-lights.html |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=January 8, 1994 |title=Key Republican rules out trying to topple Clinton |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/01/08/key-republican-rules-out-trying-to-topple-clinton/ |work=The Baltimore Sun}} He also served as president of the largest international association of legislators – Parliamentarians for Global Action.{{Cite web |title=Honorable James A. Leach |url=http://www.acfr.org/bios/leach.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801075309/http://www.acfr.org/bios/leach.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |publisher=acfr.org}}

During his 15 terms in Congress, Leach's voting record was generally conservative on fiscal issues, moderate on social matters, and progressive in foreign policy. As chair of the Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus, he pressed for a Comprehensive Test Ban and led the first House debate on a nuclear freeze.{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2023 |title=James A. Leach |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=3795660&ticker=UFCS&previousCapId=318898&previousTitle=HORACE%20MANN%20EDUCATORS |publisher=bloomberg.com}}{{dead link|date=April 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} He objected to military unilateralism as reflected in the Iran-Contra policy of the 1980s. He pushed for full funding of U.S. obligations to the United Nations, supported U.S. re-entry into UNESCO, and opposed U.S. withdrawal from the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.{{Cite web |date=December 4, 2000 |title=Why the US should support UNESCO |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/1204/p10s3.html |access-date=January 30, 2013 |publisher=csmonitor.com}}

While he supported the first Gulf War in 1991, Leach was one of six House Republicans who voted against the authorization to use force against Iraq in 2002.{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Tom |date=December 15, 2011 |title=Jim Leach: An Iowa Republican carves a life in public service |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/jim-leach-an-iowa-republican-carves-a-life-in-public-service/2011/12/14/gIQAWGbNwO_story_1.html |work=washingtonpost.com}}{{Cite news |date=November 14, 2006 |title=House lawmakers promote colleague for U.N. post |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-14-leach_x.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011235651/https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-14-leach_x.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2008 |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press}} He was one of three Republican congressmen (alongside Michael Castle and Amo Houghton) to vote against the 2003 extension of the Bush-era tax cuts.{{Cite web |date=May 9, 2003 |title=Final vote results for roll call 182 |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll182.xml |publisher=clerk.house.gov}}

File:JimLeach.jpg

Leach supported abortion rights except during the third trimester but also opposed public funding of abortion, receiving an overall 30% rating from the Pro-Choice group NARAL.{{Cite web |title=Jim Leach on Abortion Former Republican Representative (IA-2, 1977–2007) |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Jim_Leach_Abortion.htm |publisher=ontheissues.org}} Leach was a supporter of stem cell research.{{Cite web |date=October 26, 2012 |title=Former Iowa congressman Jim Leach has harsh words for today's politics |url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/former-iowa-congressman-jim-leach-has-harsh-words-for-today/article_5ad139a2-92e0-58e0-86a5-63a94c866a52.html |publisher=siouxcityjournal.com}}

Leach supported campaign reform and pressed unsuccessfully for a system of partial public financing of elections whereby small contributions could be matched by federal funds with accompanying limits on the amounts that could be spent in campaigns including the personal resources candidates could put in their own races.{{Cite news |date=January 29, 1997 |title=Odds Against Finance Reform |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/01/29/odds-against-finance-reform/ |publisher=chicagotribune.com}} In his own campaigns, Leach did not accept donations from outside of Iowa.{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2012 |title=Leach talks super PACs at St. Ambrose |url=http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=597134 |publisher=qconline.com}}

As a member of the minority for his first nine terms, he became known for the development of three reports – one in the 1980s calling for a more progressive approach to Central American politics; a second in the early 1990s on reforming the United Nations written for a national commission he legislatively established and later chaired; and the third issued when he was ranking minority member of the Banking Committee on the challenges of regulating derivatives.{{Cite web |last=Report to Congressional Requesters |date=May 1994 |title=Financial Derivatives: Actions needed to protect the financial system |url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/160/154342.pdf |access-date=October 19, 2019 |website=GAO}}

In the wake of a 1996 Ethics Committee probe of then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, which cited the Speaker for providing false information under oath to a House committee, Leach broke ranks with tradition and voted against his party's nominee for Speaker in the subsequent Congress.{{Cite news |last=Trescott |first=Jacqueline |date=September 24, 2009 |title=Jim Leach Becomes National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/23/AR2009092304330.html |work=washingtonpost.com}} In one of the few occasions in the 20th century when any party division was recorded on the initial leadership organizing votes on the House floor, he voted for the former Republican leader, Bob Michel, and received two votes himself, causing Leach to take a distant third in the contest for Speaker of the 105th Congress behind Gingrich and the Democratic nominee, Dick Gephardt.{{Cite web |date=January 7, 1997 |title=Background: The Re-Election of Speaker Gingrich |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june97/gingrich_01-07a.html |publisher=pbs.org |access-date=September 1, 2017 |archive-date=October 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012190735/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june97/gingrich_01-07a.html |url-status=dead }}

Leach was a top critic of President Bill Clinton and played a leading role in the House's investigation of the Whitewater scandal.{{Cite news |last=Wines |first=Michael |date=March 22, 1994 |title=Senior Democrats back full hearing into Whitewater |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/22/us/senior-democrats-back-full-hearing-into-whitewater.html |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Devroy |first=Ann |author-link=Ann Devroy |date=March 28, 1994 |title=Leach Urges Keeping Focus in Whitewater: Inquiry: GOP's chief critic of Clinton in controversy says too much is made of White House aides' phone calls. He says their anger was 'natural.' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-28-mn-39291-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite news |last=Risen |first=James |date=August 2, 1994 |title=A 'Scandal' That's More Snooze Than News : Politics: The reviews are in – the public and the pundits have pronounced the Whitewater hearings a dud. And that's just what the Democrats wanted to hear. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-02-ls-22697-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times}} In the 1980s he had objected to political misjudgments that lengthened and deepened losses in the savings and loan industry.{{Cite news |last=Nash |first=Nathaniel C. |date=July 12, 1987 |title=How the White House Lost Its Big Bank Battle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/12/business/how-the-white-house-lost-its-big-bank-battle.html |access-date=October 19, 2019 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Because criminal referrals had been lodged by a federal agency against President Clinton, his wife, and their partners in a real estate venture for their role in the failure of a modest-sized Arkansas S&L, Leach as chair of the House Banking Committee held four days of hearings (all in the same week) on the causes and consequences of the failure.{{Cite web |date=July 27, 1994 |title=First Whitewater hearing achieves its goal: boredom |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/07/27/first-whitewater-hearing-achieves-its-goal-boredom/ |publisher=baltimoresun.com}} While federal taxpayer losses (approximately $70 million) associated with this particular S&L were not as large as with bigger institutions around the country, no S&L anywhere failed with a higher percentage of losses relative to assets than the one in Arkansas.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In the end, the independent counsel brought more than 50 criminal convictions related to the failed S&L, including cases against Clinton's successor as Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, and his business partners in Whitewater.{{Cite news |date=August 28, 1995 |title=Caught in the Whitewater Quagmire |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/stories/wwtr950828.htm |work=washingtonpost.com}}

Leach did not think that the crimes surrounding the failure of the Whitewater-tied S&L should have been considered in an impeachment framework. Like many in Congress, he was surprised that the Justice Department chose to refer certain sex-related charges to Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, and even more so when Starr chose subsequently to refer certain of them to the Congress. But in what he described as a close judgment call, Leach voted for the article of impeachment that related to felonious lying under oath.{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Michael |date=April 3, 1994 |title=Los Angeles Times Interview: James Leach : Viewing Whitewater as a Matter of Public Ethics |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-03-op-41596-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times}}

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 106–102, 113 Stat. 1338 (November 12, 1999), is an Act of the United States Congress which repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, opening up competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. The Glass–Steagall Act prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services.

This act of deregulation has been cited as one reason for the subprime mortgage crisis,{{Cite web |title=The Overlooked Culprit in the Credit Crisis |url=http://www.usc.edu/org/InsightBusiness/ib/articles/articlescontent/08_4%20Adrianna%20Smith.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200354/http://www.usc.edu/org/InsightBusiness/ib/articles/articlescontent/08_4%20Adrianna%20Smith.html |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=January 30, 2013 |publisher=usc.edu}}{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2010 |title=The Repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act and the "Subprime Mortgage Crisis": is Deregulation to be blamed? |url=http://www.denison.edu/academics/departments/honors/chen.pdf |publisher=denison.edu}}{{Cite news |date=April 19, 2012 |title=Parsons Blames Glass-Steagall Repeal for Crisis |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-19/parsons-blames-glass-steagall-repeal-for-crisis.html |publisher=bloomberg.com}}{{Cite web |date=December 7, 2011 |title=Testimony of Sheila C Bair before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee |url=http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=29da74f2-85f9-479e-8c23-836a718fd1e9 |publisher=banking.senate.gov}} which in turn is cited as a prime component of the 2008 financial crisis. In this regard in 2009 and since, Gramm–Leach has been considered in part a target of the Volcker Rule within the overall Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.{{Cite news |last=Feeney |first=Lauren |date=March 16, 2012 |title=Glass-Steagall, Dodd-Frank and The Volcker Rule: A Primer and Resources |url=https://billmoyers.com/content/glass-steagall-dodd-frank-and-the-volcker-rule-a-primer-and-resources/ |access-date=May 3, 2012 |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Indiviglio |first=Daniel |date=October 21, 2009 |title=Volcker's Quest To Reinstate Glass-Steagall |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/10/volckers-quest-to-reinstate-glass-steagall/28759/ |access-date=May 3, 2012 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Uchitelle |first=Louis |date=October 20, 2009 |title=Volcker Fails to Sell a Bank Strategy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/business/21volcker.html |access-date=May 3, 2012 |work=New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Vasey |first=Roger M. |date=April 17, 2012 |title=Banks Don't Need to Gamble With Taxpayer Money |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304356604577337484269627406 |access-date=May 3, 2012 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}

File:jimleach-2006nov5.jpg, 2006]]

Leach was usually reelected without much difficulty (including an unopposed run in 1990). He remained very popular in the 1st even as his district turned increasingly Democratic, especially from the 1990s onward.{{cn|date=December 2024}} For most of his career, he represented the Democratic strongholds of Davenport, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. The district had last supported a Republican for president in 1984, and by the mid-1990s most of its state legislators were Democrats.{{cn|date=December 2024}} The district became even more Democratic after the 2000 census, in which it was renumbered the 2nd District. Additionally, his hometown of Davenport, which had anchored the district for decades, was drawn into the 1st District (previously the 2nd District).{{cn|date=December 2024}} Leach seriously considered running against fellow Republican incumbent Jim Nussle in the 1st District primary. Had he done so, it was considered very likely that the reconfigured 2nd would have been taken by a Democrat.{{or|date=December 2024}} However, Leach opted to move to Iowa City in the reconfigured 2nd and won reelection two more times. Still, it was considered very likely that Leach would be succeeded by a Democrat once he retired.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In 2006, Leach was defeated in a considerable upset by Democratic opponent Dave Loebsack, a political science professor at Cornell College.{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2006 |title=Archer concedes to Loebsack in Iowa's 2nd District |url=http://thegazette.com/2012/11/06/loebsack-wins-fourth-term-in-congress/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220093413/http://thegazette.com/2012/11/06/loebsack-wins-fourth-term-in-congress/ |archive-date=February 20, 2013 |publisher=thegazette.com}} Loebsack had only qualified for the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate, and Leach was not on many Democratic target lists. However, Loebsack won by a narrow margin of approximately 6,000 votes, largely by running up an 8,395-vote margin in Johnson County, home to Iowa City.{{Cite web |date=November 21, 2006 |title=Official Results Report – Statewide Election : 2006 General Election-11-07-2006 |url=http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/GenOffResults.pdf |publisher=sos.iowa.gov}}

In conjunction with a Democratic tide which swept Eastern Iowa and across the U.S. in the 2006 election, there were two factors seen as what led to Leach's defeat: his refusal to allow the Republican National Committee to distribute leaflets that were seen as anti-gay, attacking Loebsack for his views on gay marriage, and his refusal to take out-of-state and political action committee money.{{Cite news |last=Gensheimer |first=Lydia |date=December 20, 2006 |title=Freshmen Rep. Loebsack Tries to Build His Rapport With Congressional Constituents |url=https://www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/12/20/cq_2053.html?pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2009 |title=Does this sound like your congressperson? If you live in Berkeley, Oakland, or San Francisco – well, sure. But if you're from Iowa... |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2009/03/11_lectures.shtml |publisher=berkeley.edu}}

The second related to his success just before adjournment in passing H.R. 4411. Gambling interests opposed him during the election and contended the bill had passed without hearings. The bill had been subject to extensive hearings over several Congresses, especially on the House side where both the Financial Services and the Judiciary committees had shared jurisdiction.{{Cite web |title=Congress.gov |url=http://www.thomas.gov |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929022433/http://www.thomas.gov/ |archive-date=September 29, 2006 |access-date=September 10, 2015 |website=thomas.gov}} Leach argued that Internet gambling weakened the economy and jeopardized the social fabric of the family.

After his defeat, Leach's name was floated as a potential replacement to John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations.{{Cite news |last=Wheaton |first=Sarah |date=December 4, 2006 |title=Looking Outward: Jim Leach |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/looking-outward-jim-leach/ |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |date=November 14, 2006 |title=House lawmakers promote colleague for U.N. post |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-14-leach_x.htm |publisher=usatoday.com}} On December 8, 2006, Leach's House colleagues Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) and Jim Walsh (R-New York) sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging the President to nominate Leach for the post.{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2006 |title=The List: Who Will Replace John Bolton? |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2006/11/19/the_list_who_will_replace_john_bolton |publisher=foreignpolicy.com}} However, the nomination instead went to the United States Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.{{Cite news |date=January 8, 2006 |title=Khalilzad to be new US UN envoy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6242053.stm |publisher=bbc.co.uk}}

Leach then taught at Princeton and served on the board of several public companies and four non-profit organizations, including the Century Foundation, the Kettering Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.{{Cite web |last=Lee, Carol E. |date=June 3, 2009 |title=Jim Leach nominee for chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23291.html |access-date=January 30, 2013 |website=Politico}} He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and formerly served as a trustee of Princeton University.{{Cite web |date=June 4, 2009 |title=Obama taps Woodrow Wilson School's Leach '64 to lead NEH |url=https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S24/41/41E88/ |publisher=princeton.edu}}

Leach holds eight honorary degrees and has received decorations from two foreign governments.{{Cite web |title=clintonschoolspeakers.com |url=http://clintonschoolspeakers.com/content/jim-leach |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801072611/http://clintonschoolspeakers.com/content/jim-leach |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |publisher=Jim Leach}} He is the recipient of the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award from Johns Hopkins, the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association, and the Edger Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club.{{Cite web |title=James Leach to visit UNI as part of Reaching for Higher Ground series |url=http://www.uni.edu/newsroom/james-leach-to-visit-uni-as-part-of-reaching-for-higher-ground-series |publisher=uni.edu |access-date=January 31, 2013 |archive-date=October 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030004502/http://www.uni.edu/newsroom/james-leach-to-visit-uni-as-part-of-reaching-for-higher-ground-series |url-status=dead }} A three-sport athlete in college, Leach was elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa.{{Cite web |date=September 21, 2010 |title=Introducing a Distinguished Public Servant and Hall of Fame Wrestler: NEH Chairman James A. Leach |url=http://pres.iu.edu/speeches/2010/20100921-01.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328143307/http://pres.iu.edu/speeches/2010/20100921-01.shtml |archive-date=March 28, 2013 |access-date=January 31, 2013 |publisher=indianauniversity.edu}}

On September 17, 2007, Leach was named as Interim Director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School after former director Jeanne Shaheen left to pursue a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire.{{Cite web |title=Arthur J. Holland Program on Ethics in Government |url=http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/programs/ethicsingovernmt/Leachprogram2009.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117041732/http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/programs/ethicsingovernmt/Leachprogram2009.php |archive-date=January 17, 2011 |access-date=January 31, 2013 |publisher=eagleton.rutgers.edu}}

Leach resided in Iowa City and Princeton with his wife Elisabeth (Deba), son Gallagher, and daughter Jenny.{{Cite web |title=JAMES 'JIM' A. LEACH'S BIOGRAPHY |url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/26861/james-leach#.UQm5PL_ol5I |publisher=votesmart.org}}

File:Jim Leach DNC 2008.jpg in Denver, Colorado.]]

On August 12, 2008, Leach broke party ranks to endorse Democrat Barack Obama over fellow Republican John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.{{Cite news |date=August 13, 2008 |title=Republicans For Obama |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-for-obama-13-08-2008/ |publisher=cbsnews.com}} He spoke at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, on the night of August 25, 2008.{{Cite news |last=Akers, Mary Ann |date=August 24, 2008 |title=Surprise GOP Speaker at Dem Convention: Jim Leach |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/08/surprise_gop_speaker_at_dem_co.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519104908/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/08/surprise_gop_speaker_at_dem_co.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |access-date=January 30, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} He was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin, a fellow Iowan.{{Cite web |date=August 25, 2008 |title=Democratic convention schedule |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26379093 |publisher=NBC News}}

On November 14 and 15, 2008, Leach and former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright served as emissaries for President-elect Obama at the international economic summit being held in Washington, D.C.{{Cite news |last=Goldman, Julianna |date=November 12, 2008 |title=Obama Sending Albright, Leach to Economic Summit |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aaaP4eqKLmYg&refer=us |access-date=January 30, 2013 |work=Bloomberg}}

President Obama announced his nomination of Leach to be the ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities in June 2009.{{Cite web |date=June 3, 2009 |title=President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate former GOP Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Intent-to-Nominate-former-GOP-Congressman-Jim-Leach-as-Chairman-of-the-National-Endowment-for-the-Humanities |website=whitehouse.gov |via=National Archives}} The appointment was confirmed in August 2009.

On August 1, 2013, Jim Leach began serving a three-year term as public affairs chair at the University of Iowa and he was slated to begin teaching there as a visiting professor of law in the spring of 2014.{{Cite web |title=Local News - Iowa City Press Citizen - press-citizen.com |url=http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130830/NEWS01/308310002/Leach-kicks-off-time-on-campus?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1 |access-date=September 10, 2015 |website=Iowa City Press Citizen}}

In 2020, Leach, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."{{Cite web |date=August 20, 2020 |title=Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden |url=https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/ |access-date=August 26, 2021 |website=Defending Democracy Together}}

In 2022, Leach revealed in an interview with the Quad-City Times that he had changed his registration to Democratic ahead of the June primary, citing his switch as a rebuke of the national party and their response to the January 6 United States Capitol attack the previous year. Leach also stated that he wanted to support Christina Bohannan, a Democratic candidate (and ultimately the nominee) for Iowa's 1st congressional district that year in the primary; he also endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Michael Franken.

Leach died on December 11, 2024, at a hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, from a heart attack and a stroke, at the age of 82.{{cite news|url = https://apnews.com/article/jim-leach-died-a0fab761883b7cf84636ed60964f53cf|title = Jim Leach, former US representative from Iowa, dies at 82|last1 = Fingerhurt|first1 = Hannah|last2 = Beaumont|first2 = Thomas|date = December 11, 2024|accessdate = December 11, 2024|work = Associated Press}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/12/12/jim-leach-iowa-iraq-dies/|title=Jim Leach, Iowa Republican who opposed Iraq invasion, dies at 82|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 12, 2024|accessdate=December 12, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/us/politics/jim-leach-dead.html|title=Jim Leach, Iowa Republican Who Extolled Moderation, Dies at 82|work=The New York Times|date=December 17, 2024|accessdate=December 17, 2024}}

• List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines

{{clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Jim Leach}}

• {{IMDb name| 2922457}}
• {{CongBio|L000169}}
• {{C-SPAN|1751}}
• [http://www.bsherman.net/Leach.mp3 June 21, 2007 speech by Leach on US foreign policy to the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, MP3]

{{s-start}}

{{s-par|us-hs}}

{{s-bef|before=Edward Mezvinsky}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the House of Representatives
from Iowa's 1st congressional district|years=1977–2003}}

{{s-aft|after=Jim Nussle}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Chalmers Wylie}}

{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee|years=1993–1995}}

{{s-aft|after=Henry Gonzalez}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Henry Gonzalez}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the House Financial Services Committee|years=1995–2001}}

{{s-aft|after=Mike Oxley}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Jim Nussle}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the House of Representatives
from Iowa's 2nd congressional district|years=2003–2007}}

{{s-aft|after=David Loebsack}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Max Baucus}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Joint China Commission|years=2003–2005}}

{{s-aft|after=Chuck Hagel}}

|-

{{s-gov}}

{{s-bef|before=Carole M. Watson
Acting}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities|years=2009–2013}}

{{s-aft|after=Carole M. Watson
Acting}}

{{s-end}}

{{NEH chairs}}

{{US House Financial Services chairs}}

{{USCongRep-start |congresses=95th–109th United States Congresses |state=Iowa}}

{{USCongRep/IA/95}}

{{USCongRep/IA/96}}

{{USCongRep/IA/97}}

{{USCongRep/IA/98}}

{{USCongRep/IA/99}}

{{USCongRep/IA/100}}

{{USCongRep/IA/101}}

{{USCongRep/IA/102}}

{{USCongRep/IA/103}}

{{USCongRep/IA/104}}

{{USCongRep/IA/105}}

{{USCongRep/IA/106}}

{{USCongRep/IA/107}}

{{USCongRep/IA/108}}

{{USCongRep/IA/109}}

{{USCongRep-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Jim}}

Category:1942 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century Iowa politicians

Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:21st-century Iowa politicians

Category:21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:Chairpersons of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Category:Episcopalians from Iowa

Category:Harvard Kennedy School faculty

Category:Iowa Democrats

Category:Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni

Category:Politicians from Davenport, Iowa

Category:Politicians from Iowa City, Iowa

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa

Category:The Century Foundation

Category:United States Department of State officials

Category:United Nations General Assembly officials

Category:Whitewater controversy