Frank Lautenberg

Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 – June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was originally from Paterson, New Jersey.

Lautenberg was elected to five terms as Senator. He first took office in December 1982 and served three terms, retiring from the Senate in 2001. Called upon to run again one year later due to circumstances surrounding his Senate colleague Robert Torricelli's re-election campaign, Lautenberg returned to the Senate in January 2003 and was elected to one additional term in 2008. He died during his fifth term and remains New Jersey's longest serving senator, with a total of 28 years, five months, and eight days in office. As of 2026, he is also the last senator to be elected to serve from both seats of their home state.

Before entering politics, he was an early partner in, and became the chairman and chief executive officer of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. In his early years, he served overseas in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1942 to 1946 as a part of the war effort, and after returning home his interest in American political events increased. He has been called "the last of the New Deal liberals" and was known for his legislative efforts against drunk driving, and his support of spending for Amtrak and urban public transportation, for stronger environmental regulations, greater consumer protections, and investigations of wrongdoing by Wall Street.

Lautenberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Mollie (née Bergen) and Sam Lautenberg, Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia, who had arrived in the United States as infants. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Frank Bergen, and close family friend and Paterson community activist, Raleigh Weintrob.

When Lautenberg was 19, his father, who worked in silk mills, sold coal, farmed, and once ran a tavern, died of cancer. His mother then opened a sandwich shop to support the family.

After graduating from Nutley High School in 1941, Lautenberg served overseas in the 3185th Signal Service Battalion of the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II from 1942 to 1946. Then, financed by the GI Bill, he attended and graduated from Columbia Business School's now-defunct undergraduate program in 1949 with a degree in economics.

He worked as a salesman for Prudential Insurance and was the first salesman at Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a payroll-management company. He became the company's CEO in 1975.

He was the executive commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 1978 to 1982.

Lautenberg contributed to Democratic candidates for years. He donated $90,000 to George McGovern's campaign for president in 1972, earning himself a place on one of Richard Nixon's enemies lists. In 1982, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. He faced nine other candidates: former State Banking Commissioner Angelo Bianchi, former Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, former Congressman Joseph A. LeFante, labor leader Frank Forst, former Congressman Andrew Maguire, Richard McAleer, businessman Howard Rosen, Princeton Mayor Barbara Boggs Sigmund, and Passaic County Freeholder Cyril Yannarelli. Maguire was the favorite but Boggs' entry took votes away from him and Lautenberg spent a considerable amount of his own money. Lautenberg won with a plurality, taking 26% of the vote to Maguire's 23%, LeFante's 20% and Sigmund's 11%.

The seat had been occupied by Democrat Harrison A. Williams, who resigned on March 11, 1982, after being implicated in the Abscam scandal. After Williams' resignation, Republican Governor Thomas Kean appointed Republican Nicholas F. Brady to the seat. Brady served in the Senate through the primary and general elections but did not run for the seat himself. In the general election, Lautenberg faced popular Republican congresswoman Millicent Fenwick. She ran on a very progressive platform and polls in the Summer of 1982 put her ahead by 18 points. Even Lautenberg quipped that she was "the most popular candidate in the country." Lautenberg spent more of his own money, eventually out-spending Fenwick two-to-one. He emphasised President Reagan's unpopularity, reminded the voters that she would be a vote for a Republican majority in the Senate and called Fenwick, who was 72, "eccentric" and "erratic" but denied that he was referring to her age. He did however point out that she would be almost 80 at the end of her first term and was therefore unlikely to gain much seniority in the Senate. Lautenberg won by 51% to 48%, in what was considered a major upset. Brady, who had just a few days left in his appointed term, resigned on December 27, 1982, allowing Lautenberg to take office several days before the traditional swearing-in of senators, which gave him an edge in seniority over the other freshman senators.

In his first term, Lautenberg pushed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which was passed in 1984. The same year, he spoke at the Democratic National Convention, though he was overshadowed by New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who gave the keynote speech.

In his 1988 race, Lautenberg was opposed by Republican Wall Street executive, former college football star Brigadier General Pete Dawkins, who won the 1958 Heisman Trophy for the Army Black Knights. After trailing in early polls, the Lautenberg campaign, headed by Democratic consultant James Carville, ran an aggressive advertising campaign enumerating Lautenberg's legislative accomplishments and raising the possibility that Dawkins' candidacy was intended solely as a stepping stone to the presidency, as well as pointing out his lack of roots in New Jersey. Lautenberg ultimately came from behind to win re-election, 54% to 46%. The race was named the 17th-nastiest in American political history by political scientist Kerwin Swint in his book Mudslingers: The 25 Dirtiest Political Campaigns of All Time.

Following his re-election, Lautenberg became a member of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST), which was set up in September 1989 to review and report on aviation security policy in light of the sabotage of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988.

Agriculture – In 2007, Lautenberg voted for an amendment to the 2007 farm bill which would have limited the amount of subsidies that a married couple could receive to $250,000; the amendment failed. However, he voted against eliminating farm price supports and eventually voted for the 2007 farm bill as well. He supported increasing the minimum wage.

Civil liberties – Lautenberg was not in the Senate at the time of the original Patriot Act in 2001; when the 2005 re-authorization came to the Senate floor, Lautenberg voted against cloture, but voted in favor of accepting the conference report. In March 2011, he stated to an assembled group of constituents that Tea Party Republicans "don't deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution ... but we'll give them to them anyway".

Environment and energy – Lautenberg, who had a pro-environment voting record, wrote a bill in 1986 that established the Toxics Release Inventory, which required companies to disclose the chemicals they released into the environment. He also co-sponsored the Consumer First Energy Act of 2008, which would have repealed $17 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and re-invested the $17 billion in renewable energy development and energy efficiency technology. However, the Senate rejected a cloture motion on the bill in June 2008. One of his main priorities in his final term was a bill he authored with Republican Senator David Vitter that would overhaul chemical safety laws. Lautenberg favored alternative energy sources, and voted in favor of giving tax incentives to those who use them.

Foreign policy – In 1996, Lautenberg voted against a bill that eliminated the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the United States Information Agency, the Agency for International Development, and the International Development Cooperation Agency and allowed the President to withhold 20% of funds appropriated to the United Nations if any agency of the organization does not implement consensus-based decision-making procedures on budgetary matters that assure that significant attention is given to the specific interests of the United States. He opposed capping foreign aid, and voted to give billions of dollars to the International Monetary Fund. He voted against implementing both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. He called for action to be taken at the World Trade Organization against members of the OPEC cartel which sets production quotas that raise prices for crude oil, and consequently, America's gasoline. Lautenberg was an opponent of the Iraq War, though he was not in office when it was voted on.

Gun control – Lautenberg was a consistent supporter of gun control. He sponsored the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, more commonly known as the "Lautenberg Amendment". This piece of legislation prohibits individuals (including law enforcement officers and military service members), convicted of a state or federal misdemeanor involving the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, among family members, from possessing a firearm. One of his last speeches on the Senate floor was in support of a failed bi-partisan measure for increased gun control.

Frank Lautenberg married Lois Levenson in 1956; they had four children: Ellen, Nan, Lisa, and Joshua. Their 31-year marriage ended in divorce, in 1988. On 25 January 2004, he married his companion of nearly 16 years, Bonnie S. Englebardt. He also had two stepdaughters, Danielle Englebardt and Lara Englebardt Metz with Bonnie; and 13 grandchildren.

Lautenberg resided in Montclair, New Jersey for much of his Senate career and last resided in nearby Cliffside Park. In 2024, Lautenberg was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden, a Senate colleague for over two decades.

Lautenberg died at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on June 3, 2013, of viral pneumonia. He was 89.

Lautenberg was returned to Washington by an Amtrak funeral train. "Amtrak is honored to be chosen to carry him back to Washington, D.C. one final time," wrote Amtrak Chairman Tony Cosica and President/CEO Joseph Boardman in a joint public statement of condolence, "thank you Sen. Lautenberg for your service to the nation."

On June 6, 2013, his body lay in repose atop the Lincoln Catafalque within the Senate chamber at the Capitol. He was buried on June 7, 2013, with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Congress passed on September 20, 2013, a spending bill, H.J.Res.59 – Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014, that included a $174,000 tax-free death benefit payment to his widow. An annual salary payment to the widow or family member of a deceased lawmaker is a long-standing tradition for the United States Congress going back to the 1800s.

On June 4, 2013, Governor Chris Christie announced that a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat would be held on October 16, 2013. A special primary, which was won by Cory Booker as the Democrat and Steve Lonegan as the Republican candidate, was held on August 13, 2013.

On June 6, 2013, Christie appointed Republican New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa to fill the Senate seat until the elected winner could be sworn in.

On October 17, 2013, Democrat Cory Booker was announced the winner of the special election.

The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area is an offshore marine protected area for deep-sea corals off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic states of the United States, established in 2016 and named after Lautenberg.

The Frank Lautenberg Railway Station at Secaucus Junction is named for Lautenberg who was a transit advocate and worked to have federal funds go to the project. His casket was brought to the station on its way to his final resting place.