Simon, Paul M. (1928–2003)

Paul Martin Simon was a Democratic Representative, two-term U.S. Senator, and presidential aspirant from southern Illinois. He was known as a charismatic, honest, and compassionate lawmaker, and tireless advocate for the less fortunate. In Congress, Simon was a seasoned legislator whose tenure included working for bilingual education and language education programs, among other causes. His career and efforts promoting bilingual education and modern language study are described in this entry.

Born in Eugene, Oregon, on November 29, 1928, Simon attended local public schools, graduating from high school in Portland. He entered the University of Oregon, Eugene, in 1945, but left after a year to finish his studies at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, where he graduated in 1948. Upon graduation, he pursued a career as a newspaper editor and publisher in Troy, Illinois, becoming the nation's youngest editor-publisher at age 19. In a short time, he built a chain of 15 weekly publications in Downstate Illinois, and used his influence to expose various forms of corruption, including illicit gambling operations, among other things, in the St. Louis area. Simon served as an expert witness before the U.S. Senate's Crime Investigating Committee as a precocious 22-year-old.

Simon went on to serve as an intelligence agent for the U.S. Army in Eastern Europe from 1951 to 1953 and began a political career upon his return. In 1954, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served until 1962. He was subsequently elected to the state senate, serving until 1968. In each of his 14 years in the Illinois legislature, Simon won the Best Legislator Award from the Independent Voters of Illinois, a nonprofit organization dedicated to government activism and honesty. Simon was elected lieutenant governor in 1968, becoming the first person to hold this office while belonging to a different party than the governor. He served as lieutenant governor until 1972.

After Simon lost a Democratic primary for governor, he taught at Sangamon State University in Springfield, Illinois, where he created the Public Affairs Reporting Program. He also taught at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. But his time out of public office was short-lived. In 1975, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served until 1985. His tenure there was marked by leadership positions in education and [Page 740]foreign affairs and an interest in care for the disabled, especially children. In the House, he sponsored the Missing Children Act, paving the way for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also supported the reauthorization of the Bilingual Education Act of 1978.

Simon moved to the Senate in 1984, and was reelected in 1990, serving until 1996. He also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. In the Senate, Simon continued his work in language education and minority language advocacy, supporting legislation such as the Foreign Language Competence for the Future Act of 1989, the Native American Languages Act of 1991, and the Voting Rights Act Language Assistance Amendments of 1992. He was also the main Democratic sponsor of the Balanced Budget Amendment.

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