"I think I will find my motives less impugned and I will be able to talk more about the merits," he said. It was the most extensive overhaul of the US financial system in decades. He said he intends to remain active in public policy issues, including defending the so-called Dodd-Frank bill that he co-authored in the wake of the financial collapse of 2008. Political professionals rated him an outstanding legislator.At a news conference, Frank said he had originally intended to seek one more term, but changed his mind in part because the state's new redistricting map will move 325,000 new constituents into his district. He was a staunch defender of President Clinton during the impeachment hearings where his wit often diffused tension. He was reelected in 1990 by a two to one margin.įrank advised President Clinton on the issue of gays in the military suggesting a middle way, commonly known as "Don't ask and don't tell." His compromise satisfied neither side. In the end Frank apologized and was reprimanded. Frank admitted that he had been suckered and asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate. Local newspapers and even national columnists called for his resignation. Scandal struck when Frank was accused of employing a former male prostitute and fixing parking tickets on his behest. He would not attack those who chose to keep their behavior private as long as they did not engage in gay bashing.
He often warded off attacks by threatening to "out" those who were hypocritical, attacking gay rights while secretly pursuing their homosexual lives. He rose to the defense of others when they were attacked for their purported sexual practices. He was thus the first openly gay congressman in the United States. He came out of the closet after another congressman died of aids. In the mid-1980s, the frumpish, overweight Frank gradually changed his appearance, losing 75 pounds and suddenly dressing stylishly. He was widely admired by the Asian community for his services as chair of the subcommittee that oversaw the bill granting compensation to Japanese-American for their internment during World War ii. In Congress, Frank was known for his liberal views. He first ran for Congress in 1981 in an open district and won a narrow victory. He excelled in the House and was an important early liberal voice on women's and homosexual rights. Frank then sought office on his own, serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981. He was the chief assistant to Boston Mayor Kevin White (1967–71) and later on the staff of Michael Harrington, a liberal Boston congressman. He worked as coordinator at Harvard for the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964, a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement, recruiting college black and white students – the whites overwhelmingly Jewish – to go down South. Frank received his undergraduate and graduate education at Harvard and his political initiation from Allard Lowenstein. His sister, Anne Lewis, was a long-term Democratic Party activist, serving both in the Carter and the Clinton White House. Frank was born in Bayonne, n.j., to a politically active family.
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