Steve Symms
{{Short description|American politician and lobbyist (1938–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Steve Symms.jpg
| jr/sr = United States Senator
| state = Idaho
| term_start = January 3, 1981
| term_end = January 3, 1993
| predecessor = Frank Church
| successor = Dirk Kempthorne
| state1 = Idaho
| district1 = {{ushr|ID|1|1st}}
| term_start1 = January 3, 1973
| term_end1 = January 3, 1981
| predecessor1 = Jim McClure
| successor1 = Larry Craig
| birth_name = Steven Douglas Symms
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|4|23}}
| birth_place = Nampa, Idaho, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|8|8|1938|4|23}}
| death_place = Leesburg, Virginia, U.S.
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Frances Stockdale|1959|1990|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Loretta E. Mathes|1992|2023|end=died}}
}}
| children = 4
| education = University of Idaho (BA)
| party = Republican
| allegiance = United States
| branch = {{marines|United States}}
| rank = 5px First Lieutenant
| serviceyears = 1960–1963
}}
Steven Douglas Symms (April 23, 1938 – August 8, 2024) was an American politician and lobbyist who served as a four-term congressman (1973–1981) and two-term U.S. Senator (1981–1993), representing Idaho.{{cite news
| title = Idaho teachers attack Symms' voting record
| work = Spokane Chronicle
| date = October 14, 1986
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19861014&id=7kFYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4745,2895012
| access-date = August 6, 2014
}} He later became a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html|title=Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms}}
Early life and education
Symms was born in Nampa, Idaho, on April 23, 1938.{{CongBio|inline = yes|S001138|accessdate = August 9, 2024}} His family owned a fruit farm.{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/08/10/steve-symms-senate-dukakis-dies/|title = Steve Symms, senator who was voice of conservative ire, dies at 86|last = Murphy|first = Brian|date = August 10, 2024|accessdate = August 10, 2024|newspaper = The Washington Post|url-access = limited}} He attended public schools in Canyon County and graduated from Caldwell High School in 1956. He studied horticulture{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1960/322|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Seniors|year=1960|page=318}} at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he was a reserve center on the football team{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1960/259|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Football|year=1960|page=255}} and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1960/223|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Sigma Nu|year=1960|page=219}} He graduated in 1960 with a B.S. in agriculture, then served in the United States Marine Corps for three years, after which he worked as a private pilot and apple farmer. From 1969 to 1972, he was co-editor of the college newspaper, The Idaho Compass.{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/22539|title=History, Art & Archives_Steven Douglas Symms}}
Career
= Congress =
In 1972, Symms ran for U. S. Congress, highlighting his career as an apple farmer by using the slogan "Take a bite out of big government!" He was elected to the open seat in the United States House of Representatives at age 34 and was re-elected three times. He ran for the United States Senate in 1980. Aided by national funding,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i6ZfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3807,4483168|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|agency=Associated Press|title=Anti-Church committee goes national|date=July 13, 1979 |page=5C}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nYBRAAAAIBAJ&pg=3571,3470328 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review|agency=Associated Press|title=Broadside fired at Symms |date=August 8, 1980|page=8 }} he unseated four-term incumbent Democrat Frank Church, winning by less than one percent.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W61fAAAAIBAJ&pg=4369%2C2366596|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|agency=Associated Press|title=Symms basks in the glow of hard-won Senate victory |date=November 6, 1980|page=6A}} Symms was re-elected in 1986, defeating Democratic Governor John V. Evans in another hard-fought and close election.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gDFkAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,2681874|newspaper=Spokane Chronicle|last=Kenyon|first=Quane|agency=Associated Press|title=No political truce in Idaho|date=October 28, 1986|page=A4}}
Symms was one of several Republican senators who, in 1981, called into the White House to express 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. p. 222.
In 1985, Symms was one of four Republican Senators who voted against a resolution condemning apartheid.Coker, Christopher (1986). The United States and South Africa, 1968–1985: Constructive Engagement and its Critics. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0822306654. The four "no" votes came from four Republican senators: Symms, Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Barry Goldwater of Arizona, and Chic Hecht of Nevada.Baldwin, Tom (April 4, 1985). "Tutu leads priests' march for arrested colleague". Arizona Daily Star. p. 9. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
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. Nevertheless, the claim became national news, as media outlets began searching for the photograph Symms said he had "heard" about. 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.
According to Salon magazine, during Symms's time in Washington, he "gained something of a sexual legend over his eight years in the House that grew larger once he was in the Senate; it was widely known among reporters that he was a big-time D.C. party animal and could be seen most evenings in the company of a woman other than his wife, Fran. She in fact was a kind, sweet woman who suffered terribly from arthritis and couldn't socialize much. Most of the state's political reporters knew about the situation but figured it was no one's business unless Symms made it an issue. However, when Fran finally had enough and divorced him, the emergent details of his philandering – and the ensuing shelled-out poll numbers – persuaded him to not pursue reelection in 1992."Neiwert, David (September 1, 1998) [https://www.salon.com/1998/09/16/news_111/ "Lives of the Republicans: Part Two."] Salon.com. (Retrieved September 29, 2010.)
Symms was also one of the six senators who voted against the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.{{Cite news|last=Holmes|first=Steven A.|date=July 14, 1990|title=Rights Bill for Disabled Is Sent to Bush|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/14/us/rights-bill-for-disabled-is-sent-to-bush.html|access-date=September 29, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}
Symms chose not to seek a third term in 1992 and was succeeded by the Republican mayor of Boise, Dirk Kempthorne, a future two-term Idaho governor and United States Secretary of the Interior.{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/916013473/|title = 1 Percent failing; Crapo, Kempthorne, LaRocco lead|newspaper = The Idaho Statesman|date = November 4, 1992|page = 1|via = Newspapers.com|url-access = subscription|accessdate = August 11, 2024}}
= Later career =
After leaving the U.S. Senate in 1993,{{Cite book|title=Senators of the United States: A Historical Bibliography: A compilation of works by and about members of the United States Senate 1789–1995|last=Boyle|first=Diane B.|year=1995|pages=321}} Symms founded Symms, Lehn Associates, Inc., a consulting firm.{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S001138|title=SYMMS, Steven Douglas – Biographical Information|website=bioguide.congress.gov|access-date=December 17, 2019}} In January 1999, he partnered with John Haddow and formed Symms & Haddow Associates, a lobbying firm. In January 2001, the firm joined forces with Romano Romani and former Senator Dennis DeConcini of Parry, Romani & DeConcini to form Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms.
Personal life
Prior to his senior year at the University of Idaho, Symms married Frances E. "Fran" Stockdale of Helena, Montana,{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1959/304|publisher=Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook|title=Seniors|year=1959|page=300}} in August 1959.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=19891206&id=giYuAAAAIBAJ&pg=6575,855565|newspaper=Idahonian|location=Moscow|title=Symms wants to divorce estranged wife|agency=Associated Press|date=December 6, 1989|page=12A}} They had four children, a son and three daughters. Following his re-election in 1986, the couple separated,{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-08-11-9103270934-story.html|title=SUMMER IS HERE, AND THE CAPITAL IS EMPTYING|last=Tribune|first=Elaine S. Povich, Chicago|work=chicagotribune.com|access-date=November 20, 2018|language=en-US}} and their divorce was finalized in 1990.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6pMrAAAAIBAJ&pg=2824%2C1581338|newspaper=Idahonian|location=Moscow|title=Fran Symms picks up pieces after divorce|agency=Twin Falls Tribune|last=Dennis|first=Anita|date=June 13, 1991|page=1A}} Although Symms declined to comment on the reason for the divorce,{{Cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/50a05a910d155b0c9ae1fc3a8d4751e4|title=Idaho Senator Separates From His Wife|work=AP NEWS|access-date=November 20, 2018}} he was dogged by rumors of infidelity during his 1980s campaigns, claims which were eventually substantiated by his former wife.{{Cite web|last=Tribune|first=Elaine S. Povich, Chicago|title=SUMMER IS HERE, AND THE CAPITAL IS EMPTYING|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-08-11-9103270934-story.html|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=chicagotribune.com|date=August 11, 1991 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=July 7, 1991|title=SYMMS WEIGHS SENATE RETIREMENT AS HIS PERSONAL TROUBLES MOUNT|url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/7/7/18929577/symms-weighs-senate-retirement-as-his-personal-troubles-mount|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=Deseret News|language=en}} Symms married Loretta Mathes Fuller in 1992,{{cite web|url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/a/t/Gordon-L-Mathes/GENE1-0067.html|publisher=Genealogy.com|title=Mathes Family in America, 538: Loretta Aileen Mathes Fuller|access-date=March 1, 2013}} a former aide and later the Deputy Sergeant of Arms of the U.S. Senate.{{Cite book|title=Official Congressional Directory, Volume 103|publisher=United States. Congress|year=1993|pages=614}}
Symms was a cousin of former Oregon congressman Denny Smith.{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000527|title=SMITH, Dennis Alan (Denny) – Biographical Information|website=bioguide.congress.gov|access-date=December 17, 2019}}
Symms died at his home in Leesburg, Virginia, on August 8, 2024, at the age of 86.{{cite news|url = https://www.idahonews.com/news/local/governor-brad-little-orders-flags-lowered-to-honor-late-senator-steve-symms|title = Governor Brad Little orders flags lowered to honor late Senator Steve Symms|work = KBOI-TV|date = August 9, 2024|accessdate = August 9, 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Ian |date= |title=First a fruit farmer, then Congress. Former Idaho Republican senator dies at 86|url=https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article290929109.html}}
Elections
References
{{Bioguide}}
{{Reflist|2|refs=
{{cite news
|url = http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/opinion/9580059.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
|title = Lies move Democrats to dig up dirt
|publisher = Myrtle Beach Sun
|author = Susan Estrich
|date = September 4, 2004
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040917100623/http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/opinion/9580059.htm?template=contentModules%2Fprintstory.jsp
|archive-date = September 17, 2004
|access-date = May 27, 2016
|quote = Or how about the one about Kitty Dukakis burning a flag at an anti-war demonstration, another out-and-out lie, which the Bush campaign denied having anything to do with, except that it turned out to have come from a United States senator via the Republican National Committee? Atwater later apologized to me for that, too, on his deathbed.
|url-status = dead
|author-link = Susan Estrich
}}
{{cite news
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/29/us/political-memo-accentuating-the-positive-can-lead-to-nasty-campaign.html?pagewanted=all
| title = Political Memo; Accentuating the Positive Can Lead to Nasty Campaign
| newspaper = New York Times
| author = E.J. Dionne
| date = August 29, 1988
| access-date = May 27, 2016
| quote = 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.
| author-link = E.J. Dionne
}}
{{cite news
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/26/us/story-on-mrs-dukakis-is-denied-by-campaign.html
| title = Story on Mrs. Dukakis Is Denied by Campaign
| newspaper = New York Times
| date = August 26, 1988
| access-date = May 27, 2016
| quote = Michael Dukakis's Presidential campaign, responding to comments by Senator Steve Symms, an Idaho Republican, issued a statement Wednesday saying any suggestion that Kitty Dukakis had ever burned an American flag was totally false and beneath contempt.
}}
}}
External links
- {{CongBio|S001138}}
- [http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html Lobby Congress.com] – biography from Parry, Romani DeConcini & Symms
- [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steve_Symms Steve Symms] at SourceWatch
- {{C-SPAN|472}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{Succession box|
title=United States House of Representatives, Idaho First Congressional District|
before=Jim McClure|
years=January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981|
after=Larry Craig
}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{Succession box
| title=Republican Party nominee, U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Idaho
| before=Robert L. Smith
| after=Dirk Kempthorne
| years=1980 (won), 1986 (won)
}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state = Idaho
|class = 3
|before = Frank Church
|after = Dirk Kempthorne
|alongside = Jim McClure, Larry Craig
|years =January 3, 1981 – January 5, 1993}}
{{S-end}}
{{USSenID}}
{{IdahoUSRepresentatives}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symms, Steve}}
Category:20th-century Idaho politicians
Category:Idaho Vandals football players
Category:Journalists from Idaho
Category:Members of Congress who became lobbyists
Category:Politicians from Caldwell, Idaho
Category:Politicians from Nampa, Idaho
Category:Place of death missing
Category:Republican Party United States senators from Idaho
Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho
Category:United States Marine Corps officers
Category:University of Idaho alumni
Category:20th-century United States senators
Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives