Dates

• Existence: -1929

Biography

Dick Clark was born September 14, 1929, on a farm in Linn County and grew up in the town of Lamont, in nearby Buchanan County, where his father operated a general store. Clark served with the army in Germany from 1950 to 1952, and then received a Bachelor's Degree from Upper Iowa University at Fayette in 1953. He received a Master's degree in history from the University of Iowa in 1956. From 1959 to 1964, Clark was an assistant professor of history and political science at Upper Iowa University and from 1965 to 1972 he was the administrative assistant to Iowa Second District Congressman John Culver. In 1972 he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate after a 1300 mile campaign walk across the state. He served in the Senate until January 1979.

Clark was a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Democratic Steering Committee. He chaired Subcommittees on Rural Development and African Affairs. After leaving the Senate, Clark served as U.S. Ambassador for refugee affairs and then, in 1980, he worked in Senator Edward Kennedy's unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. He is now Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies in Washington, D.C.

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