Kenneth Keating

Kenneth Keating
United States Ambassador to Israel
In office
August 28, 1973  May 5, 1975
Preceded by Walworth Barbour
Succeeded by Malcolm Toon
United States Ambassador to India
In office
1969–1972
Preceded by Chester Bowles
Succeeded by Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States Senator
from New York
In office
January 3, 1959  January 3, 1965
Preceded by Irving Ives
Succeeded by Robert F. Kennedy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 38th district
In office
January 3, 1953  January 3, 1959
Preceded by John Taber
Succeeded by Jessica M. Weis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 40th district
In office
January 3, 1947  January 3, 1953
Preceded by George F. Rogers
Succeeded by William E. Miller
Personal details
Born Kenneth Barnard Keating
(1900-05-18)May 18, 1900
Lima, New York
Died May 5, 1975(1975-05-05) (aged 74)
New York City, New York
Political party Republican

Kenneth Barnard Keating (May 18, 1900 – May 5, 1975), was a United States Representative and a U.S. Senator from New York and later an appellate judge and a diplomat representing the United States as ambassador to India and later to Israel.

Life and career

Keating was born in Lima, New York, the son of Louise (Barnard), a schoolteacher, and Thomas Mosgrove Keating, a businessman.[1] He attended public school and was graduated from Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in 1915. When the United States entered World War I, he joined the United States Army and served as a sergeant. He attended the University of Rochester, graduating in 1919, and while there he joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He then attended Harvard University and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1923. He was admitted to the bar in 1923 and commenced practice in Rochester. During World War II, he again joined the US Army, served overseas as an officer, and was promoted to brigadier general in 1948. On returning to the United States, he resumed his law practice.

Keating was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican to the 80th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th and 85th United States Congresses, representing Rochester-area districts, and served from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959. In 1958, he defeated New York County District Attorney Frank Hogan for the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Irving Ives, and served from January 3, 1959, to January 3, 1965. Before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Senator Keating accused the Soviets and Cuba of building IRBMs in Cuba and urged President John F. Kennedy to take action.

Keating was a moderate, like many prominent New York Republicans of his era.[2] When he was running for re-election in 1964 Keating refused to endorse his party's presidential nominee, the conservative Senator Barry Goldwater, who was highly unpopular in New York as too extreme.[3] Keating did a lot better than Goldwater in New York but was still defeated for re-election in 1964 by Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, after a campaign in which Keating labelled Kennedy, who had spent only part of his childhood in New York, as a "carpetbagger." William Safire wrote: "Since both candidates were liberals, there was little ideological argument; Keating, to overcome Kennedy's fame and name, played on his opponent's reputation for ruthlessness."[4]

In 1965, Keating was elected to the New York Court of Appeals but resigned in 1969 to become United States Ambassador to India where he stayed until 1972. Keating then served as Ambassador to Israel from August 1973 until his death in 1975.

References

  1. http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0700449
  2. Safire, William (1978). Safire's Political Dictionary. Random House. p. 558. ISBN 0-394-50261-2.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
George F. Rogers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 40th congressional district

19471953
Succeeded by
William E. Miller
Preceded by
John Taber
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 38th congressional district

19531959
Succeeded by
Jessica M. Weis
United States Senate
Preceded by
Irving Ives
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York
19591965
Served alongside: Jacob K. Javits
Succeeded by
Robert F. Kennedy
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Chester Bowles
United States Ambassador to India
19691972
Succeeded by
Daniel P. Moynihan
Preceded by
Walworth Barbour
United States Ambassador to Israel
19731975
Succeeded by
Malcolm Toon
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