Former Sen. Paul Sarbanes of Maryland dies

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, who represented Maryland for 30 years in the Senate as a leader of financial regulatory reform and drafted the first article of impeachment against Republican President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal as a congressman, has died, his son said. He was 87.

Sarbanes, who retired from the Senate in 2006 and also served six years as a U.S. representative, was a Democrat known for avoiding the spotlight while quietly pursuing liberal goals.

Rep. John Sarbanes, the late senator’s son, said his father died peacefully Sunday night in Baltimore. The statement did not reveal the cause of death.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Maryland and all Americans lost “a leader and public servant of dignity and principle,” who worked tirelessly over 40 years to bring “integrity, transparency and oversight to Washington.”

“In Congress, Paul Sarbanes was respected by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle for his humility, tenacity and keen intellect,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Sarbanes entered politics in 1966 with a successful run for Maryland’s House of Delegates before reaching Congress four year later.

As a House member, Sarbanes was chosen by fellow Democrats to introduce an article of impeachment for obstruction of justice against Nixon. Sarbanes later said there was no joy in taking steps to bring down a president, but “somebody had to do it.” Nixon resigned before the impeachment proceedings ended.

Known for his cerebral and self-effacing manner, Sarbanes focused during much of his career on complex and seemingly humdrum economic issues. That background helped him drive the legislation that became the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, designed to make corporate executives more accountable. Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, co-authored the bill with Sarbanes.

The law was inspired partly by the

2001 bankruptcy filing of Houston-based

Enron Corp.