Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Steven Douglas "Steve" Symms | image=Steve Symms of ID.jpg | office=United States Senator for Idaho | term_start=January 3, 1981 | term_e..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Steven Douglas "Steve" Symms
| image=Steve Symms of ID.jpg
| office=[[United States Senator]] for [[Idaho]]
| term_start=January 3, 1981
| term_end=January 3, 1993
| preceded=[[Frank Church]]
| succeeded=[[Dirk Kempthorne]]
| office2=[[United States Representative]] for Idaho's 1st congressional district
| term_start2=January 3, 1973
| term_end2=January 3, 1981
| preceded2=James A. McClure
| succeeded2=[[Larry Craig]]
| birth_date=April 23, 1938
| birth_place=Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho
| death_date=
| death_place=
| residence=Caldwell, Idaho
| spouse=(1) Frances Stockdale Symms<br> (married 1959-1990, separated in 1987, divorced)
(2) Loretta E. Mathes Fuller Symms (married 1992)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=19891206&id=giYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ttAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6575,855565|publisher=''The Idahonian''newspaper=Idahonian|location=Moscow, Idaho|title=Symms wants to divorce estranged wife|date=December 6, 1989|page=12A}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6pMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q9AFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2824%2C1581338|publisher=''The Idahonian''|title=Fran Symms picks up pieces after divorce|publisher=''Twin Falls Tribune''|author=Anita Dennis|date=June 13, 1991|page=1A}}</ref>
| children=Four children from first marriage
| alma_mater=[[University of Idaho]] at Moscow
| occupation=Agricultural [[lobbyist]]
| religion=[[United Methodist]]
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|branch=[[United States Marine Corps]]
| rank=First Lieutenant
serviceyears=1960–1963
| battles=[[Cold War]]
}}
'''Steven Douglas "Steve" Symms''' (born April 23, 1938) is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] former [[United States Senator]] and [[United States Representative]] for his native state of [[Idaho]]. He served four terms in the House from the 1st congressional district and then in the 1980 Senate election, he narrowly unseated the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Frank Church]], a nationally known defender of civil liberties. Symms took [[conservative]] stances on significant issues.<ref>{{cite web|title=Idaho teachers attack Symms' voting record|publisher=''The Spokane Chronicle''|date=October 14, 1986|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19861014&id=7kFYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4745,2895012|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref> A resident of [[suburb]]an Leesburg, [[Virginia]], Symms is a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a [[lobbying]] firm in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=lobby>{{cite web|url=http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html|title=Hon. Steve Symms|publisher=lobbycongress.com|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref>
==Background==
Symms was born in Nampa, the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. He graduated in 1956 from Caldwell High School in Caldwell, the county seat located like Nampa within the metropolitan district of the capital city of [[Boise]]. He then studied [[horticulture]] at the [[University of Idaho]] in Moscow, at which he played [[football]] with the Idaho Vandals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1960/259|publisher=''Gem of the Mountains'' (University of Idaho yearbook)|title=Football|year=1960|page=255|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref> In 1960, he received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree and then served from 1960 to 1963 in the [[United States Marine Corps]] during the [[Cold War]]. He then worked as a private pilot and grew [[apple]]s on his farm. From 1969 to 1972, he edited ''The Idaho Compass,'' a [[newspaper]] apparently no longer in publication.
In August 1959, Symms married his college sweetheart, Frances Eugenia "Fran" Stockdale of [[Helena]], [[Montana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1959/304|publisher=''Gem of the Mountains,'' University of Idaho yearbook|title=Seniors|year=1959|page=300}}</ref>They had a son and three daughters. Following his re-election in 1986, the couple separated,and were divorced in 1990. Symms in 1992 married the former Loretta Mathes Fuller, a former aide and later the U.S. Senate deputy sergeant at arms. The first Mrs. Symms resides in Boise.
Symms is a cousin of [[Oregon]]'s Republican former U.S. Representative Dennis Alan "Denny" Smith, who is three months Symms' senior.
==Career==
In 1972, along with the reelection of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Symms, at the age of thirty-four used the theme of an apple farm in his successful bid for an open seat in the U.S. House. One of his advertisements showed a large red apple and the slogan, "Take a bite out of big government!" He was elected to the open seat and was re-elected three times before becoming a U.S. Senator. In 1980, with the [[Ronbald Reagan]] triumph, Symms unseated four-term Senator Frank Church with a victory margin of less than 1 percent in the Republican landslide year.<ref name=sbigohwsv>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W61fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0DIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4369%2C2366596|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|agency=Associated Press|title=Symms basks in the glow of hard-won Senate victory |date=November 6, 1980|page=6A}}</ref> Symms was re-elected in [[United States Senate election in Idaho, 1986|1986]], defeating Democratic [[Governor of Idaho|Governor]] [[John V. Evans]] in another hard-fought and close election.<ref name=npotrinid>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gDFkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yfkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,2681874|newspaper=Spokane Chronicle|last=Kenyon|first=Quane|agency=Associated Press|title=No political truce in Idaho|date=October 28, 1986|page=A4}}</ref>
Symms chose did not seek a third Senate term in 1992 and was succeeded by the Republican mayor of Boise, [[Dirk Kempthorne]], a future two-term Idaho [[governor]] and [[United States Secretary of the Interior]]. Symms is the recipient of the U.S. Marine Corps "Iron Mike" award and the National Guard's "Minuteman of the Year" award. He has also been honored by the [[Chamber of Commerce]], the National Federation of Independent Business,Freedoms Foundation, the American Security Council, Americans for Constitutional Action.<ref name=lobby/>
.
==Controversies==
Symms was one of several Republican senators who in 1981 expressed his opposition to the nomination of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], an Arizona [[Moderate Republican]] whom [[U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated for the [[Supreme Court]]. The opposition hinged over the issue of O'Connor's unwillingness to overturn the landmark [[abortion]] opinion, ''[[Roe v. Wade]].''<ref>Jan Crawford Greenburg, ''Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court,'' Penguin Books, 2007. p. 222.</ref> Reagan, however, stubbornly stood with O'Connor, the first woman justice who affirmed ''Roe'' in the 1992 case, ''Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey.''
During the 1988 presidential election, Symms falsely alleged that Kitty Dukakis, the wife of Democratic nominee [[Michael Dukakis]] of [[Massachusetts]], burned a U.S. flag in a 1960s demonstration against the [[Vietnam War]]. Mrs. Dukakis angrily blasted the accusation as "totally false and beneath contempt," and Symms later admitted that he could not substantiate his allegation.<ref name="AP Editors 1988">AP Editors (August 26, 1988) "Story on Mrs. Dukakis Is Denied by Campaign." ''New York Times.''</ref> Nevertheless, the claim became national news, as media outlets began searching for the photograph Symms said he had "heard" existed.<ref>E. J. Dionne, Jr. (August 29, 1988) "Political Memo; Accentuating the Positive Can Lead to Nasty Campaign." ''New York Times.'' </ref> dukakis lost the election to [[Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].
===Later years===
After leaving the Senate in 1993, Symms founded a consulting firm, Symms, Lehn Associates, Inc. In January 1999, he and John Haddow formed Symms & Haddow Associates, a lobbying firm. In January 2001, the firm joined forces with Romano Romani and Democratic former Senator [[Dennis DeConcini]] of [[Arizona]] to establish Parry, Romani, DeConcini, and Symms.<ref name=lobby/>
==References==
{{Bioguide}}
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{CongBio|S001138}}
* [http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html Lobby Congress.com] – biography from Parry, Romani DeConcini & Symms
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steve_Symms Steve Symms] at [[SourceWatch]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symms, Steve}}
[[Category:Idaho]]
[[Category:Former United States Senator]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:Football]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]
| name=Steven Douglas "Steve" Symms
| image=Steve Symms of ID.jpg
| office=[[United States Senator]] for [[Idaho]]
| term_start=January 3, 1981
| term_end=January 3, 1993
| preceded=[[Frank Church]]
| succeeded=[[Dirk Kempthorne]]
| office2=[[United States Representative]] for Idaho's 1st congressional district
| term_start2=January 3, 1973
| term_end2=January 3, 1981
| preceded2=James A. McClure
| succeeded2=[[Larry Craig]]
| birth_date=April 23, 1938
| birth_place=Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho
| death_date=
| death_place=
| residence=Caldwell, Idaho
| spouse=(1) Frances Stockdale Symms<br> (married 1959-1990, separated in 1987, divorced)
(2) Loretta E. Mathes Fuller Symms (married 1992)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=19891206&id=giYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ttAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6575,855565|publisher=''The Idahonian''newspaper=Idahonian|location=Moscow, Idaho|title=Symms wants to divorce estranged wife|date=December 6, 1989|page=12A}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6pMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q9AFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2824%2C1581338|publisher=''The Idahonian''|title=Fran Symms picks up pieces after divorce|publisher=''Twin Falls Tribune''|author=Anita Dennis|date=June 13, 1991|page=1A}}</ref>
| children=Four children from first marriage
| alma_mater=[[University of Idaho]] at Moscow
| occupation=Agricultural [[lobbyist]]
| religion=[[United Methodist]]
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|branch=[[United States Marine Corps]]
| rank=First Lieutenant
serviceyears=1960–1963
| battles=[[Cold War]]
}}
'''Steven Douglas "Steve" Symms''' (born April 23, 1938) is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] former [[United States Senator]] and [[United States Representative]] for his native state of [[Idaho]]. He served four terms in the House from the 1st congressional district and then in the 1980 Senate election, he narrowly unseated the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Frank Church]], a nationally known defender of civil liberties. Symms took [[conservative]] stances on significant issues.<ref>{{cite web|title=Idaho teachers attack Symms' voting record|publisher=''The Spokane Chronicle''|date=October 14, 1986|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19861014&id=7kFYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4745,2895012|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref> A resident of [[suburb]]an Leesburg, [[Virginia]], Symms is a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a [[lobbying]] firm in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=lobby>{{cite web|url=http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html|title=Hon. Steve Symms|publisher=lobbycongress.com|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref>
==Background==
Symms was born in Nampa, the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. He graduated in 1956 from Caldwell High School in Caldwell, the county seat located like Nampa within the metropolitan district of the capital city of [[Boise]]. He then studied [[horticulture]] at the [[University of Idaho]] in Moscow, at which he played [[football]] with the Idaho Vandals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1960/259|publisher=''Gem of the Mountains'' (University of Idaho yearbook)|title=Football|year=1960|page=255|accessdate=December 17, 2021}}</ref> In 1960, he received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree and then served from 1960 to 1963 in the [[United States Marine Corps]] during the [[Cold War]]. He then worked as a private pilot and grew [[apple]]s on his farm. From 1969 to 1972, he edited ''The Idaho Compass,'' a [[newspaper]] apparently no longer in publication.
In August 1959, Symms married his college sweetheart, Frances Eugenia "Fran" Stockdale of [[Helena]], [[Montana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1959/304|publisher=''Gem of the Mountains,'' University of Idaho yearbook|title=Seniors|year=1959|page=300}}</ref>They had a son and three daughters. Following his re-election in 1986, the couple separated,and were divorced in 1990. Symms in 1992 married the former Loretta Mathes Fuller, a former aide and later the U.S. Senate deputy sergeant at arms. The first Mrs. Symms resides in Boise.
Symms is a cousin of [[Oregon]]'s Republican former U.S. Representative Dennis Alan "Denny" Smith, who is three months Symms' senior.
==Career==
In 1972, along with the reelection of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Symms, at the age of thirty-four used the theme of an apple farm in his successful bid for an open seat in the U.S. House. One of his advertisements showed a large red apple and the slogan, "Take a bite out of big government!" He was elected to the open seat and was re-elected three times before becoming a U.S. Senator. In 1980, with the [[Ronbald Reagan]] triumph, Symms unseated four-term Senator Frank Church with a victory margin of less than 1 percent in the Republican landslide year.<ref name=sbigohwsv>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W61fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0DIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4369%2C2366596|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|agency=Associated Press|title=Symms basks in the glow of hard-won Senate victory |date=November 6, 1980|page=6A}}</ref> Symms was re-elected in [[United States Senate election in Idaho, 1986|1986]], defeating Democratic [[Governor of Idaho|Governor]] [[John V. Evans]] in another hard-fought and close election.<ref name=npotrinid>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gDFkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yfkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,2681874|newspaper=Spokane Chronicle|last=Kenyon|first=Quane|agency=Associated Press|title=No political truce in Idaho|date=October 28, 1986|page=A4}}</ref>
Symms chose did not seek a third Senate term in 1992 and was succeeded by the Republican mayor of Boise, [[Dirk Kempthorne]], a future two-term Idaho [[governor]] and [[United States Secretary of the Interior]]. Symms is the recipient of the U.S. Marine Corps "Iron Mike" award and the National Guard's "Minuteman of the Year" award. He has also been honored by the [[Chamber of Commerce]], the National Federation of Independent Business,Freedoms Foundation, the American Security Council, Americans for Constitutional Action.<ref name=lobby/>
.
==Controversies==
Symms was one of several Republican senators who in 1981 expressed his opposition to the nomination of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], an Arizona [[Moderate Republican]] whom [[U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated for the [[Supreme Court]]. The opposition hinged over the issue of O'Connor's unwillingness to overturn the landmark [[abortion]] opinion, ''[[Roe v. Wade]].''<ref>Jan Crawford Greenburg, ''Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court,'' Penguin Books, 2007. p. 222.</ref> Reagan, however, stubbornly stood with O'Connor, the first woman justice who affirmed ''Roe'' in the 1992 case, ''Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey.''
During the 1988 presidential election, Symms falsely alleged that Kitty Dukakis, the wife of Democratic nominee [[Michael Dukakis]] of [[Massachusetts]], burned a U.S. flag in a 1960s demonstration against the [[Vietnam War]]. Mrs. Dukakis angrily blasted the accusation as "totally false and beneath contempt," and Symms later admitted that he could not substantiate his allegation.<ref name="AP Editors 1988">AP Editors (August 26, 1988) "Story on Mrs. Dukakis Is Denied by Campaign." ''New York Times.''</ref> Nevertheless, the claim became national news, as media outlets began searching for the photograph Symms said he had "heard" existed.<ref>E. J. Dionne, Jr. (August 29, 1988) "Political Memo; Accentuating the Positive Can Lead to Nasty Campaign." ''New York Times.'' </ref> dukakis lost the election to [[Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].
===Later years===
After leaving the Senate in 1993, Symms founded a consulting firm, Symms, Lehn Associates, Inc. In January 1999, he and John Haddow formed Symms & Haddow Associates, a lobbying firm. In January 2001, the firm joined forces with Romano Romani and Democratic former Senator [[Dennis DeConcini]] of [[Arizona]] to establish Parry, Romani, DeConcini, and Symms.<ref name=lobby/>
==References==
{{Bioguide}}
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{CongBio|S001138}}
* [http://www.lobbycongress.com/symms.html Lobby Congress.com] – biography from Parry, Romani DeConcini & Symms
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steve_Symms Steve Symms] at [[SourceWatch]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symms, Steve}}
[[Category:Idaho]]
[[Category:Former United States Senator]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:Football]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]