BREAKING: Former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a leader on nuclear disarmament and other foreign affairs issues, dies at age 87.
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican foreign policy sage known for leading efforts to help the former Soviet states dismantle and secure much of their nuclear arsenal, but whose reputation for working with Democrats cost him his final campaign, died Sunday. He was 87.
He served for decades on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, twice as chairman, where he helped steer arms reduction pacts for the presidential administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, supported an expansion of NATO and favored aid to Nicaragua’s Contra rebels. “I don’t know what that means,” he said. “Is it better to have someone stupid? Or mediocre? Or halfway there?”
As mayor, he was referred to as “Richard Nixon’s favorite mayor” for backing the move of federal programs to local governments. In another break with Reagan, Lugar pushed through Congress — over the president’s veto — the economic sanctions that Nelson Mandela said played a crucial role in overthrowing white minority rule in South Africa.
Obama frequently cited his work with Lugar during the 2008 presidential campaign as evidence of his bipartisanship and foreign policy experience. Lugar endorsed John McCain but didn’t distance himself from Obama at the time, saying “I’m pleased that we had the association that Sen. Obama described.” In conceding defeat, Lugar said he knew some of his positions had been considered “heretical” by some, including his opposition to earmarks and support for immigration reform.
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