Jake Garn
| Jake Garn | |
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| In office December 21, 1974 – January 3, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Wallace F. Bennett |
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| Succeeded by | Robert Foster Bennett |
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| Born | October 12, 1932 Richfield, Utah |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | 1) Hazel Thompson (deceased) 2) Kathleen Brewerton |
| Alma mater | University of Utah |
| Religion | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
Edwin Jacob Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and served as a U.S. Senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-51-D (April 12–April 19, 1985).
Born in Richfield, Utah, Garn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business and finance from the University of Utah in 1955, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He also attended East High School, Clayton Middle School, and Uintah Elementary School.
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[edit] Experience
Senator Garn is a former insurance executive. He served in the United States Navy as a pilot. He also served as a pilot of the 151st Air Refueling Group of the Utah Air National Guard. As a pilot, he flew the KC-97L Stratotanker and a KC-135A Stratotanker. He retired as a Brigadier General in April 1979. He has flown more than 10,000 hours in military and private civilian aircraft.
Prior to his election to the Senate, Garn served on the Salt Lake City commission for four years and was elected as the mayor in 1971, entering office in 1972. Garn was active in the Utah League of Cities and Towns and served as its president in 1972. In 1974, Garn was the first vice-president of the National League of Cities, and he served as its honorary president in 1975.
Garn was first elected to the Senate in 1974, succeeding retiring Republican Wallace Bennett. Garn was re-elected to a second term in November 1980, receiving 74 percent of the vote, the largest victory in a statewide race in Utah history.
Garn was chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and served on three subcommittees: Housing and Urban Affairs, Financial Institutions, and International Finance and Monetary Policy. He also was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and served as Chairman of the HUD-Independent Agencies Subcommittee. He served on four other Appropriations subcommittees: Energy and Water Resources, Defense, Military Construction, and Interior. Garn served as a member of the Republican leadership from 1979 to 1984 as Secretary of the Republican Conference.
[edit] Savings and loan
As Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Garn was co-author of the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, the law that deregulated the savings and loan industry and led to the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s.
[edit] Space flight experience
| Edwin Jacob Garn | |
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| Payload Specialist | |
| Born | October 12, 1932 Richfield, Utah |
| Other occupation | Pilot, Politician |
| Rank | Brig. General, Air National Guard |
| Time in space | 6 d 23 h 55 m |
| Missions | STS-51-D |
| Mission insignia |  |
STS-51-D was launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Its primary objective was to deploy two communications satellites, and to perform electrophoresis and echocardiograph operations in space in addition to a number of other experiments. At the conclusion of the mission, Garn had traveled over 2.5 million miles in 108 Earth orbits, logging over 167 hours in space. The spacesickness he experienced during the journey was so severe that a scale for space sickness was jokingly based on him, where "one Garn" is the highest possible level of sickness.[1] The Jake Garn Mission Simulator and Training Facility, NASA's prime training facility for astronauts in the Shuttle and Space Station programs,[2] is named for him.
Upon his return, he co-authored a novel entitled Night Launch. The book centers around terrorists taking control of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the first NASA-USSR space shuttle flight. It was first published in 1989, with a paperback edition coming out in 1990.
[edit] Personal life
Garn married Hazel Rhae Thompson in 1957. Together, they had four children: Jacob, Susan, Ellen, and Jeffrey. Hazel was killed in a car accident in 1976. Garn was remarried in 1977 to Kathleen Brewerton, who had a son, Brook, from a previous marriage. Jake and Kathleen had two more children, Matthew and Jennifer. Garn has 18 grandchildren: Ryan, Allison, Kirsten, Spencer, Carlie, Hannah, Mckenzie, Daniel, Lauren, Nathan, Caitlin, Savannah, Collin, Erik, Taylor, Summer, Koa, and Abigail.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/StevensonRE/RES_5-13-99.pdf, pg 35, Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, interview with Dr. Robert Stevenson:
"Jake Garn was sick, was pretty sick. I don't know whether we should tell stories like that. But anyway, Jake Garn, he has made a mark in the Astronaut Corps because he represents the maximum level of space sickness that anyone can ever attain, and so the mark of being totally sick and totally incompetent is one Garn. Most guys will get maybe to a tenth Garn, if that high. And within the Astronaut Corps, he forever will be remembered by that."
- ^ http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Jake_Garn_Simulator_and_Training_Facility
[edit] External links
- Jake Garn at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- NASA biography of Garn
- IMNO Interviews Jake Garn
- Spacefacts biography of Jake Garn
- Page with true origin of "Garn scale"
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by J. Bracken Lee |
Mayor of Salt Lake City 1972–1974 |
Succeeded by Conrad B. Harrison |
| Preceded by William Proxmire |
Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee 1981–1987 |
Succeeded by William Proxmire |
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by Wallace F. Bennett |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Utah 1974–1993 Served alongside: Frank Moss, Orrin Hatch |
Succeeded by Robert F. Bennett |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Clifford Hansen |
Vice-Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference 1979–1985 |
Succeeded by Thad Cochran |
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