Everything about Mike Synar totally explained
Michael Lynn "Mike" Synar (
October 17,
1950 -
January 9,
1996) was an American
Democratic politician who represented
Oklahoma's 2nd
Congressional district in
Congress for eight terms.
Early life and career
Synar was born in
Vinita, Oklahoma and was graduated from
Muskogee High School in
1968. He attended the
University of Oklahoma (OU) and graduated in
1972 with a
B.S.; later Synar also earned his law degree from OU in 1977. Synar was also a
Rotary International Scholar and attended the Graduate School of Economics at the
University of Edinburgh (in
Scotland) in 1973, and earned an
M.A. from
Northwestern University in 1974.
While Synar's primary profession was the
practice of law, he also worked as a
rancher and a
real estate broker in the Muskogee area.
Election and service in Congress
He was first elected to Congress in
1978 at the age of 28, by defeating incumbent
Ted Risenhoover. Synar's campaign pulled off an upset victory as they circulated copies of a Washington D.C. media report which said Risenhoover slept on a "heart-shaped waterbed," which didn't play well with the voters back home in Oklahoma.
In the Congress, he may be best known for his successful constitutional challenge to the
Graham-Rudman Act. In the
1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision
[Bowsherv. Synar], the Court struck down the law stating, in part, that the provision granting executive power to Bowsher, a legislative branch officer, did "violate the Constitution's command that Congress play no direct role in the execution of the laws." Synar was also an ardent and persistent foe of the
tobacco industry.
In
1989 Synar served as the
lead prosecutor as Congress conducted an impeachment trial of then
U.S. Federal Judge Alcee Hastings, who was impeached on
bribery charges and removed from the bench. Ironically, Hastings was later elected to the U.S. Congress from
Florida, and was in line to chair the House Select Committee on Intelligence, but was passed over by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In
1994, Synar was narrowly defeated in a Democratic primary run-off election by
Virgil Cooper, a retired
high school principal. Though Cooper's campaign spent less than $20,000 itself, millions were spent by outside interests which were opposed to Synar, including the
National Rifle Association, tobacco companies, and cattlemen.
Cooper won by just 2,609 votes out of 92,987 cast, a 51-49 margin. Cooper was subsequently defeated in the general election by Republican
Tom Coburn by a 52-48 margin.
After Congress
After Congress, Synar served as the Chairman of the Campaign for America Project and of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.
He was also awarded the 1995 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, one of the nation's most prestigious honors for elected public servants.
Synar died of a
brain tumor on January 9, 1996 at the age of 45. The
American College of Physicians offers a national public service award in honor of Rep. Synar's public efforts against tobacco smoking. His name is also attached to the 40,000 square foot Mike Synar Center at
Northeastern State University in
Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Further Information
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