Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register:
Former U.S. Rep. James Leach, who represented Iowa in Congress for 30 years as a Republican before chairing the National Endowment for the Humanities and becoming a University of Iowa professor, died Wednesday. He was 82.
Leach won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 and went on to represent parts of eastern Iowa in Congress for 30 years until he was defeated in the 2006 election by Democrat Dave Loebsack. In an interview Wednesday, Loebsack praised Leach as a thoughtful and principled member of Congress. “I wasn’t running against Jim Leach so much as I was running to change control in Washington D.C.,” he said.
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David Oman, who worked for Republican Iowa Govs. Robert Ray and Terry Branstad and is a former co-chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, said Leach was someone who “always thought years and decades ahead.” “He embodied civility,” Oman said. “He listened respectfully. He paused and thought before he opened his mouth. And whether he was talking to the president of the United States or a foreign leader or a farmer in Washington County, he always treated them the same way.”
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Peter Matthes, vice president for external relations at the University of Iowa and a former congressional staffer for Leach, said Leach “lived a life of service that we should all aspire to emulate.” “During my time working for Jim on his congressional staff and later with him at Iowa, I witnessed his fierce belief in the power of public service and education. Our state and university have lost a respected leader and a dear friend,” Matthes said in a statement.