Chafee, John Hubbard (1922-1999), a Republican from Rhode Island, was a member of the United States Senate from 1976 until his death in 1999. He served as chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee from 1995 to 1997 and also was a member of the committees on Finance and Intelligence.
Chafee was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on Oct. 22, 1922. He entered Yale University in 1940 but left school in February 1942 to enlist in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. After the war, Chafee completed his bachelor’s degree at Yale in 1947. He received a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1950. In 1951, Chafee was recalled to active duty with the Marines in Korea.
Chafee practiced law in Providence from 1952 to 1963. He served in the Rhode Island state House of Representatives from 1957 to 1963 and was minority leader from 1959 to 1963. Chafee was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1962. He was reelected in 1964 and 1966 but was defeated in 1968.
President Richard M. Nixon appointed Chafee secretary of the Navy in 1969. Chafee served in that position until 1972. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1972 but lost. In 1976, he ran for the Senate again and won. In December 1976, Rhode Island Governor Philip W. Noel appointed Chafee to the Senate to finish the term of Senator John Pastore, who had resigned. Pastore’s term ended in January 1977, and Chafee then began his elected six-year term. Chafee was reelected three times.
Before his death in 1999, Chafee announced that he would not seek reelection in 2000. He died on Oct. 24, 1999, and his son Lincoln was appointed to serve out the remainder of the Senate term. Lincoln Chafee won election to a full Senate term in 2000 and was elected Rhode Island’s governor in 2010.
