Voting Station

Charles H. Percy

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U.S. Senator

The Resume

    (September 27, 1919-September 17, 2011)
    Born in Pensacola, Florida
    President of Bell & Howell Corporation (1949-64)
    US Senator from Illinois (1967-85)
    Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1981-85)
    Republican
    Father-in-law of Senator Jay Rockefeller

Why he might be annoying:

    He tried to get Illinois business men to contribute a total of $100,000 a year to cover his office expenses as a Senator; the plan was dropped when it inevitably led to comparisons with Nixon's 'Checkers fund.'
    He described himself as 'fervently moderate.'
    Despite being a Republican, he averaged a 52% rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action and only 30% from the American Conservative Union.
    He so ticked off his own party's right wing that the Illinois Conservative Union endorsed his Democratic opponent (1978).
    He saved his bacon during that campaign by making a weepy appearance on TV telling voters, 'I got your message.'
    He then adopted more conservative positions on foreign policy and defense spending, only to have his next opponent, Paul Simon, run ads asking 'Where will Charles Percy stand tomorrow? Only his pollster knows for sure.'
    Conservative Republicans declined to campaign for him against Simon, since Percy's defeat allowed Jesse Helms to head the Foreign Relations Committee.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served with the Navy during WWII.
    His first wife, Jeanne Dickerson, died from an allergic reaction to penicillin (1947).
    He was married to his second wife, Loraine Guyer, for 61 years until his death.
    When he was president of Bell & Howell, annual sales increased from $13 million to $148 million.
    During his first Senate campaign, his daughter Valerie was murdered at the family home by an intruder. The killing was never solved.
    During a fact-finding tour in Vietnam, he came under mortar fire (1967).
    He was the first Senator to request an independent investigator into Watergate, saying 'A simple and very basic question is at issue: Should the executive branch investigate itself? I do not think so.'
    He described himself as 'a conservative on money issues and a liberal on people issues.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 22 Votes: 68.18% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 30 Votes: 6.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 9.09% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 28 Votes: 32.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 73 Votes: 72.60% Annoying