New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Dick Thornburgh, former gov. and U.S. attorney general, dies
Dick Thornburgh, who as Pennsylvania governor won plaudits for his cool handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis and as U.S. attorney general restored credibility to a Justice Department hurt by the IranContra scandal, has died. He was 88.
Thornburgh died Thursday morning at a retirement community facility outside Pittsburgh, his son David said. The cause is not yet known. He suffered a mild stroke in June 2014.
Thornburgh built his reputation as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh and as a moderate Republican governor. As the nation’s top law enforcement official, he prosecuted the savings and loan scandal. He also shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act; one of his sons had been severely brain damaged in an auto accident.
After leaving public office, Thornburgh became a go-to troubleshooter who helped CBS investigate its news practices, dissected illegalities at telecommunications company WorldCom and tried to improve the United Nations’ efficiency.
“I’ve always had an opportunity to right a vessel that was somewhat listing and taking on water,” he told The Associated Press in 1999. “I wouldn’t object to being characterized as a ‘ Mr. Fix It.’ I’ve liked the day-in, day-out challenges of governance.”
President Ronald Reagan appointed Thornburgh attorney general in the waning months of his administration. Thornburgh succeeded the embattled Edwin Meese III, who was investigated by a special prosecutor for possible ethics violations, and his appointment in August 1988 was
hailed on Capitol Hill as an opportunity to restore the agency’s morale and image.
He was asked to stay on as attorney general when George H.W. Bush became president in 1989.
Thornburgh ran into trouble with the press and members of Congress who were put off by his imperious manner. He also battled liberals and conservatives in Congress over Justice Department appointments.
Despite the difficulties, Thornburgh enjoyed the continued backing of President Bush and won unprecedented increases from Congress in the Justice Department’s budget to fight crime.
The prosecution of savings and loan operators and borrowers increased during his tenure as the nation faced a growing crisis in the thrift industry. He set up securities fraud and S&L task forces in several major cities.
Also under Thornburgh, the Justice Department pursued the prosecution of deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was brought to Miami to face drug trafficking charges after a U.S. invasion.
Thornburgh tried to halt unauthorized leaks of information about criminal investigations, but he ran into trouble in the spring of 1989 when CBS News aired a story that the FBI was investigating the congressional office of Rep. William Gray, D-Pa. The story produced expressions of outrage among Democrats because it was aired when Gray was seeking to be elected House majority whip.
An internal investigation later showed that Thornburgh’s own chief spokesman played a role in confirming the story.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said Thornburgh led Pennsylvania and the Department of Justice “successfully and with integrity.”
“The steady nature in which he guided Pennsylvania through one of its most dangerous crises - the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island - should serve as an example for all elected officials,” the Republican senator said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, shared Toomey’s sentiment, describing Thornburgh during the accident as a “necessary and steady voice of calm in the midst of a crisis.”
As Pennsylvania governor from 1979 to 1987, Thornburgh won a reputation as a squeaky-clean, reformminded executive who cut the state government’s payroll, but his defining moment came barely two months into office.
In March 1979, he was confronted with the worst nuclear accident in American history when a routine equipment failure at the Three Mile Island power plant turned into a partial meltdown, which released radioactive elements.