Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp was a professional quarterback who became a congressman, cabinet secretary and vice-presidential nominee, and the principal political salesman of supply-side economics. Born in Los Angeles in 1935, he played thirteen seasons of professional football, most of them for the Buffalo Bills, whom he led to American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965. He co-founded the AFL Players Association and served five terms as its president. He was elected to Congress for a Buffalo-area district in 1970 and served eighteen years. He became convinced by the argument, associated with the economist Arthur Laffer, that cutting marginal tax rates would expand economic activity enough to offset much of the revenue lost. The Kemp-Roth bill, proposing a thirty per cent across-the-board cut, became the basis of Ronald Reagan's 1981 tax act. He was unusual on the Republican right for campaigning actively for black and urban votes. He argued that conservatism should compete in inner cities rather than concede them, promoted enterprise zones and tenant ownership of public housing, opposed the 1994 California proposition denying services to undocumented immigrants, and criticised his own party's tone on immigration and welfare. He was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, taking over a department mired in scandal, and clashed with the administration over its 1990 tax increase. He was Bob Dole's running mate in 1996, an awkward pairing given their long disagreement over tax policy, and the ticket lost to Bill Clinton. He is credited with shaping the outlook of Paul Ryan, who worked for him. He died of cancer in 2009.
- Lived: 1935 CE – 2009 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: congressman
