Background on the Life of Jack Kemp

Background on Jack Kemp:

? Jack French Kemp was born July 13, 1935 in Los Angeles, CA

? 1957: graduated from Occidental College with a degree in physical education

? 1957-1970: was a professional football quarterback, most notably with the Buffalo Bills

? 1958-1962: served in U.S. Army Reserves (active duty, 1958)

? 1965: named American Football League's Most Valuable Player

? 1970: elected as a Republican as U.S. representative from New York

? Represented the Buffalo area and western New York in the House for 18 years (1971-1989)

? Served for seven years as Chairman of the House Republican Conference

? In Congress, was known as a conservative who championed supply-side economics and tax cuts and argued for deregulation

? 1989-1993: served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George H.W. Bush

? January 1993 to July 2004: co-director of Empower America, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy and advocacy organization

? 1996: ran for Vice-President on the Republican ticket with Bob Dole

? September 2001: founded non-partisan, non-profit think tank, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

? Circa 2003: Kemp founded Kemp Partners, a strategic consulting firm

? Jack F. Kemp Institute for Political Economy at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy was founded in 2007

? Married to the former Joanne Main of Fillmore, CA

? The Kemps have four children (Jeffrey, Jennifer, Judith and Jimmy) and seventeen grandchildren.

? January 2009: Kemp is diagnosed with cancer. Kemp said he would continue to serve as chairman of his Washington-based Kemp Partners consulting firm and would remain involved in business, charitable and political work.