Jim Leach, who represented Eastern Iowa in Congress for 30 years and later developed a close relationship with the University of Iowa, where he served on the law school faculty, died Wednesday at 82.
Leach served in the U.S. House from 1977 to 2007, a tenure rivaled only by two other U.S. representatives in Iowa history. Only Iowans Neal Smith at 36 years and Gilbert Haugen at 34 years served longer.
Leach later became a UI chair in public affairs and a visiting professor in the College of Law and Department of Political Science. Starting in 2017, he was named interim director of the UI Museum of Art as a new museum was being planned to replace the former venue damaged in the 2008 flood.
‘A life of service’
“Jim was a relentless advocate for our state, its people, and this university,” said a statement from Peter Matthes, UI vice president for external relations who had worked on Leach’s congressional staff. “He lived a life of service that we should all aspire to emulate.”
Leach was born Oct. 15, 1942, in Davenport. He was a Davenport High School wrestling standout, winning the state championship in 1960 at the 138-pound weight class.
He graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1964 with a degree in political science and studied at Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics.
With a master’s in Russian studies, he enlisted in the U.S. Foreign Service. But in 1968, Leach resigned in protest of the “Saturday Night Massacre” — President Richard Nixon’s firing of Attorney General Eliot Richardson and Archibald Cox, the independent counsel investigating the Watergate scandal.
Instead of going to Moscow, where he’d been assigned, Leach came home to Davenport and began working for his father’s businesses.
He first ran for office in 1974 to challenge Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Mezvinsky for an Eastern Iowa congressional seat. Leach, who had no experience running for elected office, was defeated.
“I’ve always said it was the best race I ever ran,” he told the Quad-City Times in a 2007 interview.
Political career begins
He ran against Mezvinsky again two years later and won — launching his three-decade career in Congress. During that time, he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
He quickly became known as a moderate Republican.
Leach and his family moved from Davenport to Iowa City in 2001.
He was one of six House Republicans who voted against using force against Iraq in 2002. A Congressional Quarterly study in 2005 found he voted with most members of his party against most Democrats at the lowest rate among House members at the time — 63 percent.
In addition to his vote against invading Iraq, he admonished the Republican congressional campaign arm for sending flyers in the 2006 campaign targeting his opponent, Democrat Dave Loebsack of Iowa City, for his stance on same-sex marriage.
His career in Congress ended with a 2006 loss to Loebsack in a Democratic wave across the country.
Leach then taught at Princeton and Harvard. In 2008, he broke with his party to endorse Barack Obama for president. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention in support of the future president.
Obama later appointed him as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. After the appointment, Leach returned to Iowa, where he became the UI chair of public affairs and a visiting professor in the UI College of Law.
“Jim Leach contributed significantly to the College of Law after he left Congress,” Kevin Washburn, dean of the UI College of Law, said in a statement. “Though not a lawyer, he wrote many laws during his 30 years in Congress, and that made his teaching a rich resource for students and faculty. We will miss him.”
The university in 2015 bestowed Leach with a Distinguished Alumni (and friend) Award. He then served as the interim director of the UI Museum of Art from January 2017 to April 2018 — a time when the UI was without an art museum after its former facility was damaged in the historic flood. Leach collaborated with architects and a planning team on the design of a new museum that opened in 2022.
“He guided the museum through a pivotal period, including overseeing the remaining phases of the international tour of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Mural’ and contributing to the planning of a new museum facility, which would become the Stanley Museum of Art,” museum Director Lauren Lessing said in a statement. “Jim and Deba have also donated more than 300 works of art to the museum, including works on paper by Robert Indiana, Oskar Kokoschka, Audrey Flack, and Jacob Lawrence, among many other notable artists.”
Ahead of the 2020 general election, Leach endorsed Joe Biden for president. Afterward, he criticized then-President Donald Trump in the wake of his denial of the 2020 election results and the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“My own view is that there is no excuse whatsoever for an insurrection,” Leach told the Quad-City Times in 2022. “And that we’re in one of the most profound challenges to American democracy ever, excepting the Civil War.”
In 2022, he had changed his party registration to Democrat in a further rebuke to his former party. He endorsed Christina Bohannan for Congress that year over Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Bohannan lost that election, and also a rematch last month.
‘An all around good guy’
Ed Winborn of Davenport wrestled with Leach in high school, and the two remained friends through life milestones and politics. His daughter babysat the Leaches’ children and they talked frequently.
“He’s just absolutely wonderful, extremely bright, very humble, just an all-around great guy,” Winborn said. “And very honest. You know, people say politicians aren’t honest. But Jim’s just an extremely honest fella.”
Winborn hadn’t thought about going into politics until Leach suggested it. Winborn went on to become the mayor of Davenport and a longtime Scott County supervisor.
Debby Stafford, a Bettendorf resident who volunteered, then managed, Leach’s campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s, said the congressman “was everything you would expect a statesman would be.”
“He was honest, articulate, hardworking, he cared deeply about his constituents,” Stafford said. “He had such moral fiber. You never had to doubt he would do the right thing.”
She said he refused to accept money from political action committees and didn’t take more than $500 from an individual, which she said challenged campaign operations because others financed their campaigns with larger donations.
“He wouldn’t give an inch on that,” Stafford said. “… 20 years ago, he was talking about civility in government and importance of civility in government. Every year it seems we get less civil in our politics and I wish more people like Jim would run for office.”
Leach is survived by his wife Elisabeth (known as Deba); son Gallagher (Laura), daughter Jenny (Casey) Dix and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are by Lensing Funeral & Cremation Services. A celebration of life will be held in the spring.
