Robert Kastenmeier | Ex-congressman, 91
Robert W. Kastenmeier, 91, a stalwart Wisconsin liberal who served in the House for 32 years and was among the first members of Congress to oppose the Vietnam War, died Friday at his home in Arlington, Va. The cause was heart disease, said his wife, Dorothy Kastenmeier.
Robert W. Kastenmeier, 91, a stalwart Wisconsin liberal who served in the House for 32 years and was among the first members of Congress to oppose the Vietnam War, died Friday at his home in Arlington, Va. The cause was heart disease, said his wife, Dorothy Kastenmeier.
Mr. Kastenmeier, a Democrat, was first elected in 1958 from a district that included Madison, the state capital, and was reelected 15 times.
A veteran of World War II, he became a skeptic of U.S. military intervention abroad and, in 1965, voiced outspoken opposition to sending troops to Vietnam. He later had key roles in the Watergate hearings of the 1970s and in revising the country's copyright law.
His political career ended in a shocking upset in 1990, when he was defeated by Republican Scott Klug. Mr. Kastenmeier then served on a judicial reform commission before retiring. - Washington Post