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Congressman Adam Benjamin Jr. - 1935-1982

ADAM BENJAMIN, COGRESSMAN, DIES.
Source: New York Times, Wednesday Sep 8 1982.

Democrat From Indiana's First District Found Dead in His Washington Apartment.
Representative Adam Benjamin Jr., a Democratic member of Congress from Indiana since 1977, died over the Labor Day weekend at his Washington apartment, his office said today. He was 47 years old. An aide found his body shortly after 9 A.M. today after Mr. Benjamin failed to keep an appointment with his doctor. An aide said Mr. Benjamin apparently died of natural causes. The Metroplitan Police Department was investigating the death and said an autopsy would be ordered.

Mr. Benjamin, who represented the First District in northwestern Indiana, which included his home town of Gary, was chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus. He served on the Budget and Transportation Committees and held several Democratic Party positions on Capitol Hill, including memberships on both the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and the Democratic Caucus Committee on Party Effectiveness.

GRADUATE OF MILITARY ACADEMY:
Source: Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress 1774-1989 Bicentenial Edition.

Mr. Benjamin was a 1958 graduate of the United States Military Academy who earned his law degree from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 1968. He was an Indiana State Senator when he first ran for Congress in 1972 against a powerful Democratic incum bent, Ray Madden. Mr. Benjamin lost a close race. In 1976, Mr. Benjamin, who had been a protege of Mr. Madden, ran against him again and won. In his first term Mr. Benjamin managed to get a seat on the Appropriations Committee and in his second term became a subcommittee chairman.

Mr. Benjamin served in the Marine Corps in Korea and after graduation from the Military Academy served in the Army until 1961. He taught high school briefly after leaving the Army, then went to work for the a dministration in Gary, Ind., serving as zoning administrator and executive secretary to the Mayor before being elected a State Representative in 1966. He served in the State House until 1971 and in the State Senate from 1971-1976.

CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY WEEKLY REPORT - September 11, 1982.

Rep. Adam Benjamin Jr., 47, was found dead in his Washington, D.C., apartment Sept. 7. The three-term Democrat from Indiana's 1st District died of heart disease, according to the District of Columbia Medical Examiner's Office. Benjamin's death leaves the Democrats without a candidate in the 1st, the most Democratic of Indiana's 10 districts.

Had Benjamin died before Sept. 1, a Democratic Partv committee in his district would have named a replacement. But because his death occurred after that date, the Indiana secretary of state has ruled that District Party Chairman Richard Hatcher, the mayor of Gary, may make the choice.

The 1st's new boundaries may play a role in determining Benjamin's successor. The oldst was wholly contained within Lake County, which is dominated by Gary. The new district includes parts of LaPort and Porter counties; party officials in these counties may insist on being consulted. The mayor is under no legal obligation to make a decision by any particular date befre the Nov. 2 general election, but an early decision would aid the nominee's campaign against Benjamin's Republican opponent, Thomas W. Krieger a 52-year-old teacher from Whiting. Benjamin would have had little trouble defeating Krieger.

Benjamin was one of the most respected junior members of the House, a workaholic with a passion for detail and a thorough command of his subject. Appointed to the Appropriations Committee as a freshman in 1977, he became chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee in 1979. He moved to the chairmanship of the Transportation Subcommittee in 1981 and was assigned a seat on the Budget Committee.

Democrat William Lehman of Florida is next in line behind Benjamin on the Transportation panel. Before his election to the House in 1976, Benjamin had a long career in local and state politics. After serving as a zoning administrator in Gary and as executive secretary to the mayor in the mid-1960s, he was elected to the state House in 1966 and the state Senate in 1970.

WASHINGTON TIMES - Sep 8, 1982 - By Richard Slusser

Rep. Adam Benjamin Jr., D-Ind., 47, was found dead yesterday of apparently natural causes in his apartment on Capitol Hill, District police reported. Richard Hatcher, mayor of Gary, Ind., said Mr. Benjamin "was one of the most hard-working members of the U.S. Congress. It was not unusual for Adam to stay late working on legislation when everyone else had gone home.

"He was so popular that he rarely had any significant opposition. That's the greatest tribute that can be paid to any public officer, that no one feels inclined to run against him." Mr. Benjamin, serving his third term and renominated without opposition for another term, last May, was found by an aide, Peter Visclosky, about 9:10 a.m., police said.

"There is no evidence of any foul play," said Police Capt. Mike Boyle. "Visclosky may have been the last person to see the congressman alive, on Saturday, said another aide, Sandra Kormos. She said Mr. Benjamin had returned from Indiana earlier that day to help his son, enroll in a private school.

Visclosky went to the appartment after Mr. Benjamin failed to keep an appointment. The 1st District, which Mr. Benjamin represented, includes the industrial zone around Gary. He lived in Hobart, Ind.

A member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees, Mr. Benjamin also served on the Democrat Steering and Policy Commitee as well as advisory groups for party effectiveness and reform of the budgeet process. He was chairman of the executive committee of the Congressional Steel Cacus and the House Transportation Appropritions subcommittee.

In Congress, Mr. Benjamin concentrated on economic development, steel industry revitalization and improvement of transportation. He was a key figure in legislative battles over congressional pay increases. A lawyer and a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, Mr. Benjamin was a state senator when he first ran aginst Rep Ray Madden in the Democratic primary in 1972. He received 42 percent of the vote and Madden won with 46 percent.

ln l974, Mr. Benjamin did not run against the longtime congressman who served as the chairman of the House Rules Committee, preferring to keep his seat in the state Senate. However, in 1976, Mr. Benjamin defeated Madden, by receiving 56 percent of the vote. He was,consiered unbeatable in the 1st District in this year's general election. An affable man, Mr. Benjamin was considered politically shrewd as a congressman.

Mr. Benjamin was born in Gary and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1958. Before he was admitted to West Point he served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Following service as an Army lieutenant, Mr. Benjamin was zoning administrator for Gary from 1963 to 1965 when he began serving as state Senator. He received his law degree from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 1966 and was admitted to the Indiana bar that year. From 1973 to 1976 he was a member of the law firm of Benjamin, Greco & Gouveia in Gary.

Mr. Benjamin lectured in sciences at Georgetown University and taught a course on the federal budget process. He was to receive a LL.M. Degree in international and comparative law from the university next month. He is survived by his wife the former Patricia Ann Sullivan, to whom he was married in 1966; a son ,Adam. III, and two daughters, Alison Louise and Arianne, of Hobart; his mother, Margaret, of Merrilville, Ind.; his grandfather, Ervand Marjanian of Hobart, and five brothers and sisters.

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