Former U.S. Rep. James Leach, who represented Iowa in Congress for 30 years as a Republican before chairing the National Endowment for the Humanities and becoming a University of Iowa professor, died Wednesday.
He was 82.
Leach won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 and went on to represent parts of eastern Iowa in Congress for 30 years until he was defeated in the 2006 election by Democrat Dave Loebsack.
In an interview Wednesday, Loebsack praised Leach as a thoughtful and principled member of Congress.
“I wasn’t running against Jim Leach so much as I was running to change control in Washington D.C.,” he said.
Loebsack said he tried to emulate Leach’s approach to Congress by cultivating friends on both sides of the aisle. He said Leach never sacrificed his values.
“He was one of only six Republicans in the U.S. House at the time who voted against the Iraq War resolution,” Loebsack said. “That took a lot of courage and it was a thoughtful vote on his part.”
Leach’s biography includes everything from his service in Congress to being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003 to chairing the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Barack Obama and serving as a professor at Princeton, Harvard and the University of Iowa.
In Congress, Leach chaired the House Banking and Financial Services Committee, the subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He co-founded the Congressional Humanities Caucus. Leach also chaired the Ripon Society and the Republican Mainstream Committee.
David Oman, who worked for Republican Iowa Govs. Robert Ray and Terry Branstad and is a former co-chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, said Leach was someone who “always thought years and decades ahead.”
“He embodied civility,” Oman said. “He listened respectfully. He paused and thought before he opened his mouth. And whether he was talking to the president of the United States or a foreign leader or a farmer in Washington County, he always treated them the same way.”
Leach was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities, which he chaired from 2009 to 2013.
Leach’s early career before entering Congress included running a business in Bettendorf before working for then-U.S. Rep. Donald Rumsfeld and serving as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department, where he was assigned to the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the United Nations General Assembly.
In an interview with the National Endowment for the Humanities, Leach said he resigned his post as a foreign service officer in the wake of the Saturday Night Massacre, when President Richard Nixon asked his attorney general to fire the special counsel investigating the Watergate break-in, prompting widespread resignations.
“All Foreign Service officers of any rank are presidential appointees, even though one enters through a competitive civil service exam, and I concluded that I couldn’t serve the president from that time on,” Leach said in the 2009 interview.
Longtime Republican endorsed Barack Obama, then became a critic of Donald Trump
A longtime Republican, Leach switched his party registration to Democrat in 2022 in order to vote in that year’s Democratic primary.
“Today, the Republican Party that I spent so many years with has really let the country down,” Leach said in a July 2022 statement. “I’ll lean toward the Democratic Party as long as excellent people are running.”
Leach had endorsed Democrats before, including presidential nominees Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020.
He was a critic of Republican President Donald Trump, signing onto a 2016 letter with other retired Republican lawmakers saying Trump “makes a mockery of the principles and values we cherished and which we sought to represent in Congress.”
In 2020, Leach called Trump “unfit to serve as president” in a letter endorsing Biden.
Over the summer, Leach and Loebsack wrote a joint op-ed urging Iowans not to reelect Trump to a second term and calling him a threat to democracy.
“Let’s be clear, there is nothing less American than what Trump enabled on Jan. 6,” the two wrote in the op-ed. “And threatening revenge on one’s political enemies is absolutely anti-American.”
Davenport native was a state wrestling champ, Hall of Fame inductee
Leach was born on Oct. 15, 1942, in Davenport and graduated from Davenport High School in 1960.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1964 and a master’s in Soviet politics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1966. After his time at Johns Hopkins, Leach went on to study at the London School of Economics.
Leach won a state wrestling title as a senior in 1960 and went on to wrestle in college and graduate school. He is an inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“I’ve always thought that the most equalitarian place in the world is the wrestling mat,” Leach said in the 2009 interview with the National Endowment for the Humanities. “You have two people operating with the same goal in mind and abiding by the same rules. Wrestlers may differ in height and body type, but it’s hard to say who has the natural advantage.”
Loebsack said Leach demonstrated that same tenacity throughout his career.
“Never forget that he was a wrestler and he was a competitor and no one should ever underestimate his tenacity,” Loebsack said. “And that was evident in our campaign, but it was evident throughout his time.”
Condolences pour in from Iowa elected officials, educators
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican who represents Leach’s old territory in southeast Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, shared her condolences in a statement on social media.
“Sad to hear of the passing of former Congressman Jim Leach, a true statesman who represented Iowa in Congress for 30 years and was known for his bipartisan efforts,” Miller-Meeks wrote. “My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this time of loss.”
U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican who represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, wrote on social media that she was “deeply saddened” at the news.
“Deeply saddened to hear that Jim Leach passed away,” Hinson wrote. “He dedicated his life to serving Iowans & reaching across the aisle. My prayers are with his family during this time.”
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, said in a statement that it was “a privilege” to get to know Leach.
“Congressman Jim Leach was a leader who served with integrity and honor,” Sand said. “It was a privilege to get to know him over the last few years. Our prayers are with his family.”
Peter Matthes, vice president for external relations at the University of Iowa and a former congressional staffer for Leach, said Leach “lived a life of service that we should all aspire to emulate.”
“During my time working for Jim on his congressional staff and later with him at Iowa, I witnessed his fierce belief in the power of public service and education. Our state and university have lost a respected leader and a dear friend,” Matthes said in a statement.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
