Honorable James A. Leach
James Leach is currently John L. Weinberg Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University¹s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He assumed this position after a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Iowa.
Leach was born October 15, 1942 in Davenport, Iowa. He received his elementary and secondary education in the public schools of Davenport, Iowa, where he was also a member of the high school football and wrestling teams. He was the Iowa High School State Wrestling Champion for his weight division and elected to the Wrestling Hall of Fame, Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the International Wrestling Hall of Fame, Newton, Iowa. He continued his education at Princeton University (B.A. cum laude, 1964), Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (MA, Soviet Politics, 1966) and the London School of Economics.
He worked on the staff of Congressman Donald Rumsfeld (1965), joined the Foreign Service and then returned to work for Donald Rumsfeld, who was then head of the Office of Economic Opportunity. He also worked in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency as a Foreign Service Officer (1971-72). Before being first elected to the Congress he was also President of Flamegas (1973-76), Chairman of the Board of Adel Wholesalers (1973-76), and a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Education and Cultural Affairs (1975-76).
He was first elected a Member of the 95th Congress in November, 1976, and had been elected to each succeeding Congress but the current 110th to represent the 2nd district of Iowa. His Committee assignments included the Committee on International Relations, where he was the Chair of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services (where was the Chairman, emeritus). He was also a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus, Project Vote Smart (Founding Member), The Century Foundation (Vice Chairman of the Board), The Constitutional Forum (Co-Chair, 1993-98), Parliamentarians for Global Action (President, 1991-93), Ripon Society (Chairman, 1981-88), U.S. Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations (Co-Chair, 1991-93), Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus (Chairman, 1983-84), and a Trustee of Princeton University.
He has served as a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and the Geneva Disarmament Conference. Congressman Leach has been awarded numerous honorary degrees from institutions including: Iowa Wesleyan College, Marycrest College, St. Ambrose University, Mt. Mercy College, Luther College, Coe College, Virginia Theological Seminary, and the Moscow Academy of Economics. Among his many awards are: The Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award, The Woodrow Wilson Award (Johns Hopkins University), The Adlai Stevenson Award, The Poverello Award (Mt. St. Clare College), Congressional Award for Commitment to the Principles of the U.N. Charter (The United Nations Association), Charles Dick Medal of Merit (U.S. National Guard Association), Edgar Wayburn Award, and The Sierra Club 2002 Leadership Award.
