Kit Bond

Early life, education, and law career

A sixth-generation Missourian, Bond was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth (née Green) and Arthur D. Bond.

His father was captain of the 1924 Missouri Tigers football team and a Rhodes Scholar. His maternal grandfather, A.P. Green, founded A.P. Green Industries, a fireclay manufacturer and a major employer for many years in Bond's hometown Mexico, Missouri. Kit Bond graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1956, Princeton University in 1960 with an A.B. (while at Princeton he was a member of the Quadrangle Club), and the University of Virginia School of Law in 1963. Bond served as a law clerk (1963–64) to the Honorable Elbert Tuttle, then Chief Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. Bond practiced law (1964–67) at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.

Early political career

Bond moved back to his hometown of Mexico, Missouri in the fall of 1967, and ran for Congress in 1968 in Missouri's 9th congressional district, the rural northeastern part of the state. He defeated Anthony Schroeder in the August Republican primary, 56% to 44%, winning 19 of the district's 23 counties.

In the November general election, Bond nearly defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bill Hungate, 52% to 48%. Bond won eight of the district's 23 counties. Out of Hunsgate's five re-election campaigns, that 1968 election against Bond was his worst performance.

State Attorney General John Danforth hired Bond as an Assistant Attorney General in 1969, where Bond led the office's Consumer Protection Division. In 1970, at the age of 31, Bond was elected Missouri State Auditor.

Governor of Missouri

Bond won election for governor by a margin of 55% to 45%, making him, at 33 years of age, the youngest governor in the history of Missouri. Bond was the first Republican in 28 years to serve as governor of Missouri.

Bond's residency qualifications to be governor were challenged but upheld the Missouri Supreme Court in 1972. Missouri law said the governor had to be a resident for 10 years. In the 10 years before his run, he had attended law school in Virginia, clerked for a federal appeals court judge in Atlanta, worked for a firm in Washington, D.C., applied to take the bar in Virginia and Georgia, registered a car in Washington, D.C., and applied for a marriage license in Kentucky. The Court sided with him noting that residence "is largely a matter of intention" and did not require "actual, physical presence." The court ruled that a residence was "that place where a man has his true, fixed and permanent home and principal establishment, and to which whenever he is absent he has the intention of returning."

In 1976, he was on the short list to be Gerald Ford's vice presidential running mate.

In many ways Bond governed as a moderate during his first term as governor: for example, he drew criticism from conservatives for his support of the Equal Rights Amendment. While governor, on June 25, 1976 he signed an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order against Mormons issued by Governor Lilburn Boggs on October 27, 1838.

In 1976, in a surprising upset, Bond was narrowly defeated for re-election by Democrat Joseph P. Teasdale, then Jackson County Prosecutor. Four years later, in 1980, Bond made a successful comeback, defeating fellow Republican and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Bill Phelps in the primary, and Teasdale in November. Among Bond's most noted accomplishments was taking the Parents As Teachers program statewide.

Bond served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association in 1977 and 1983.

Bond was succeeded as governor in 1985 by John Ashcroft, also a Republican (and whom Bond had appointed to complete his vacated term as State Auditor upon election as governor in 1972). Ashcroft later served alongside Bond in the Senate.

Elections

After Sen. Thomas Eagleton decided not to run for re-election, Bond was elected Senator in 1986, defeating Lieutenant Governor Harriett Woods by 53% to 47% . Bond was re-elected in 1992 by less than expected over St. Louis County Councilwoman Geri Rothman-Serot. In 1998 Bond decisively defeated Attorney General (and future Governor) Jay Nixon and Libertarian Tamara Millay after a hard-fought campaign, and in 2004 he won re-election over Democratic challenger State Treasurer Nancy Farmer with 56 percent of the vote.

Facing the expiration of his fourth full term in January 2011, Bond announced on January 8, 2009 that he did not plan to seek a fifth term and would not run for re-election in November 2010. Rep. Roy Blunt held the seat for the Republicans, defeating Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Environmental record

The environmental watchdog group Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) has given Bond an exceptionally low rating of −2 for the 109th United States Congress, citing anti-environment votes on seven out of seven issues deemed critical by the organization. According to the 2006 REP scorecard, Bond supported oil drilling both offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while opposing a bill for “efficiency and renewable-resource programs to improve energy security, lower costs, and reduce energy-related environmental impacts". He strongly favors zero-carbon energy from nuclear power.

Taxes

"If the IRS wants to know why they are the most hated federal agency in America, they need look no further than this." – Bond, commenting on an IRS spokesman's claim that a person catching a record-breaking home run ball from Mark McGwire could be "responsible for paying any applicable tax on any large gift" (thought to be close to $140,000 in this circumstance).

Torture

Bond has opposed setting forth interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency to conform to the U.S. Army Field Manual. While drawing criticism for being one of only nine senators to oppose such a bill, Bond said on the floor that he does not favor or approve of torture.

In a memo to CIA director John Brennan and others, he suggested banning specific techniques that could be considered torture in order to encourage servicemen to invent others on their own. He does not approve of making interrogation techniques public information on the basis that it would allow enemy combatants to train and prepare themselves for what they might go through if captured. He drew criticism when, during a debate he made a comment comparing waterboarding to swimming, stating "There are different ways of doing it. It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke", in response to the question "do you think that waterboarding... constitutes torture?"

Free trade

Bond has been a great supporter of expanding free trade to the third world, and he believes in giving presidential authority to fast track trade relations. He has voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and believes in permanently normalizing trade relations with China and Vietnam.

Government reform

While Bond voted in favor in banning members of Congress from receiving gifts from lobbyists, he has generally opposed campaign reform. He voted against the McCain Feingold Act for bipartisan campaign finance solutions. Bond also voted against limiting contributions from corporations or labor.

Social issues

Bond received an 11% rating from the NAACP. He has voted consistently against same-sex marriage, supporting the proposed constitutional ban of it.

On June 25, 1976, Bond officially ordered the recension of Executive Order Number 44 issued by Lilburn W. Boggs that ordered the expulsion or extermination of all Mormons from the State of Missouri and issued an apology to the Mormons on behalf of all Missourians.

As governor of the state of Missouri in 1983, Bond signed a declaration of recognition in support of the group known as the Northern Cherokee, now called the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory attempting to grant a form of State recognition by way of executive order. This act was part of the group's attempt to gain Federal Recognition and to receive the related benefits for the group.

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

In October 2008, Bond apologized to former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, after a U.S. Justice Department report cited Bond for forcing Graves out over a disagreement with Representative Sam Graves. Following the report, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a progressive activist group, filed an Ethics Committee complaint against Bond over his role in the ouster of Graves.

In 2009, it was revealed according to White House documents that Graves was put on a dismissal list a month after White House e-mail indicated that his replacement was part of a deal between Bond and the Bush administration. The e-mail suggested that Graves was replaced with a candidate favored by Bond for clearing the way for an appointment of a federal judge from Arkansas on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Committee assignments

Post-government career

After leaving office in January 2011, Bond joined the law firm of Thompson Coburn.

Bond serves as a co-chair of the Housing Commission at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

In August 2011, Bond announced that he would join alliantgroup's strategic advisory board and serve as a senior adviser for the firm.

Bond formally launched his own firm, Kit Bond Strategies, in November 2011.

Missouri Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock

In the last few days of his long political career, Kit Bond and his staff solved a mystery that had intrigued the press, Missouri politicians, and members of academia for much of 2010. Missouri state officials had wrongly believed that the state museum held a rare and valuable Apollo 17 lunar sample display containing a "goodwill moon rock". On June 8, 2010, the state realized that what they actually had was only the Missouri Apollo 11 lunar sample display containing small samples of moon dust rather than the 5 million dollar piece of Apollo 17 history. In cleaning out his Senatorial office in December 2010, it was discovered that Bond had inadvertently taken the Apollo 17 display when he had left the governor's office. He subsequently returned the display to the current governor of Missouri. Bond was one of four former governors who had taken their states' lunar sample displays upon leaving office; the other three were the former governors of Colorado, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

Personal life

Bond's son Sam returned in the fall of 2007 from his second tour of duty in Iraq, and is an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

In 1994, Bond's wife, Carolyn, filed for a divorce, which was finalized the following year. Bond married Linda Pell, now Linda Bond, in 2002. She grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone and works as a consultant to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She and Bond had dated for about a year before they were engaged on May 17, 2001, and had also dated in 1996 and 1997. It is her second marriage as well.

After winning his second term as governor, Bond sued his investment manager and Paine Webber, alleging his $1.3 million trust fund had been drained. He was one of several clients who sued, and he settled in 1996 for $900,000.

In 2009, Bond co-authored a book with Lewis Simons entitled The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam.

Bond has permanent vision loss in one eye, which he attributes to undiagnosed amblyopia during childhood.

Places named after

Electoral history

After over 40 years in politics, Senator Bond announced on January 8, 2009 that he would not seek re-election in 2010. Results of elections in which he was a candidate are summarized as follows:

U.S. Senator

United States Senate election in Missouri, 2004

United States Senate election in Missouri, 1998

United States Senate election in Missouri, 1992

United States Senate election in Missouri, 1986

As Governor of Missouri

Missouri gubernatorial election, 1980

Missouri gubernatorial election, 1976

Missouri gubernatorial election, 1972