SENATOR ONCE SHUSHED EINSTEIN.
Paul Sarbanes, who drafted and introduced the first article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon and tightened the regulation of corporate accounting after financial scandals, died Dec. 6 at 87.
He was widely recognized for a superb intellect and a nimble mind, but had “an odd lack of sparkle for one so brilliant,” the Baltimore Sun once printed.
What he lacked in charisma he made up for in tenacity. He attended Princeton University on scholarship, was a Rhodes scholar and graduated from Harvard Law School before embarking on a career in Democratic politics.
Sarbanes helped shape legislation affecting Social Security, tax policy and campaign financing, being adept at the unglamorous task of redrafting amendments and details that could draw bipartisan support.
Sarbanes described himself as a “different sort of politician. I'm not out there blowing my own trumpet. … You can get a lot done if you let others take some, maybe all, the credit for it.”
While serving in the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977, Sarbanes earned a coveted spot on the Judiciary Committee.
He drafted the article of impeachment against Nixon, who then resigned the presidency in quick order.
Sarbanes won a Senate seat in 1976 and chaired the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs from 2001 to 2003.
He wrote, with Rep. Michael G. Oxley, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was intended to ensure that publicly held businesses disclose to potential investors an accurate and complete portrayal of their financial condition.
Paul Spyros Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, Md., on Feb. 3, 1933.
From 1960 until she died in 2009, Sarbanes was married to Christine Dunbar, a teacher of Latin and Greek. They had three children.
Sarbanes was never a yarn- spinner, but he had one story about his years at Princeton — the time he shushed Albert Einstein.
He was catching a catnap in his dorm between classes, when loud voices outside woke him. He went to an open window to confront the transgressors, only to find himself face-to-face with the world's most famous scientist, who was leading a campus tour.
There was no exchange of harsh words. Einstein and the group moved on, and the Princeton freshman resumed his nap.