Al D'Amato

Alfonse Martello D'Amato (born August 1, 1937) is a former New York politician. A Republican, he served as United States Senator from New York from 1981 until 1999, after his loss to Democratic Congressman Charles Schumer.

Related Topics:
August 1 - 1937 - New York - Politician - Republican - United States Senator - 1981 - 1999 - Democratic - Congressman - Charles Schumer

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D'Amato was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised on Long Island. He is a graduate of Chaminade High School, Syracuse University, and Syracuse Law School. His political career started with the Nassau County Republican Party, and he held the appointive position of Public Administrator of Nassau County, where he was responsible for managing the assets of county residents who died without wills. He was first appointed and then elected Receiver of Taxes of Hempstead, New York. He left this office to become a town supervisor in Hempstead and in 1977 he was elected Presiding Supervisor of Hempstead.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn - Long Island - Chaminade High School - Syracuse University - Syracuse Law School - Nassau County - Receiver of Taxes - Hempstead, New York - 1977

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As a rather obscure candidate, he then defeated incumbent Jacob Javits in the 1980 Senate Republican primary, taking advantage of Javits' 1979 diagnosis of generally fatal amytrophic lateral sclerosis. Javits nevertheless pursued the seat on the Liberal Party ticket, splitting the left-wing vote in ordinarily liberal New York with Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman and leading to D'Amato's 45% plurality victory. This victory is largely credited to his campaign manager, Arthur Finkelstein.

Related Topics:
Jacob Javits - 1980 - 1979 - Amytrophic lateral sclerosis - Liberal Party - Splitting - Congresswoman - Elizabeth Holtzman - Plurality victory - Arthur Finkelstein

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D'Amato drew the nickname Senator Pothole for his delivery of "constituent services," helping citizens with their individual cases. Many New Yorkers meant the nickname as a pejorative; D'Amato had a reputation for focusing on constituent service mostly during election years.

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Senator D'Amato also hold the record for the second and seventh longest filibusters ever recorded in the United States Senate. In 1986, a filibuster he conducted against a military bill lasted 23 hours, 30 minutes and he was known for reading the District of Columbia phonebook during a filibuster.

Related Topics:
Filibusters - District of Columbia

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He was a member of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST) which was set up in September 1989 to review and report on aviation security policy in the light of the sabotage of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988.

Related Topics:
September - 1989 - Pan Am Flight 103 - December 21 - 1988

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While he was in office, he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and was a member of the Senate Finance Committee. As a member of the latter, he championed the cause of Holocaust survivors trying to recover relatives' funds from accounts in Swiss banks.

Related Topics:
Chairman - Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs - Senate Finance Committee - Holocaust - Swiss bank

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D'Amato is divorced from his first wife, with whom he has four children. He has dated several well-known personalities, including Claudia Cohen, entertainment television reporter. On July 18, 2004 he married Katuria Elizabeth Smith. He is now managing director of Computer Associates.

Related Topics:
Claudia Cohen - July 18 - 2004 - Computer Associates

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D'Amato was known for being fairly conservative, yet very popular among New York's liberal voters. His 1998 loss was attributed to a lack of support among moderate voters in New York City, where his successor Charles Schumer served as Congressman. Another factor contributing to his loss was his labeling of Rep. Schumer as a "putz-head," which means "fool" or "penis-head" in Yiddish. This was ironic on several levels: first, D'Amato had previously had much Jewish support because of his efforts to help Holocaust survivors. Second, D'Amato won in 1992 for the same reason he lost in 1998; his 1992 opponent, then-attorney general Robert Abrams, called D'Amato a "fascist," which people (including D'Amato himself) interpreted as an ethnic slur because D'Amato is Italian.

Related Topics:
New York City - Charles Schumer

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