Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Kemp "one of the nation's most distinguished public servants. Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades." Kemp represented Western New York for nine terms in Congress, leaving the House for an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988. Eight years later, after serving a term as President George H.W. Bush's housing secretary, he made it onto the national ticket as Bob Dole's running mate. With that loss, the Republican bowed out of political office, but not out of politics. In speaking engagements and a syndicated column, he continued to advocate for the tax reform and supply side policies — the idea that the more taxes are cut the more the economy will grow — that he pioneered.
Kemp played quarterback for the Bills from 1962 to '69, compiling a 43-31-3 record. His name is on the team's Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium. During his 11-year pro career, Kemp was named first-team All-Pro on two occasions. Many of his finest moments as a Bill came during his 1965 MVP season when he led the team to an AFL championship, capped with a 23-0 victory over the host San Diego Chargers — a two-touchdown favorite — in the title game. Kemp also led the Bills to the 1964 AFL title with a 20-7 victory over the Chargers in War Memorial Stadium. Kemp was a 17th round 1957 NFL draft pick by the Detroit Lions but was cut before the season began. After being released by three more NFL teams and playing in the Canadian Football League over the next three years, he joined the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent in 1960. A waivers foul-up two years later would land him with the Bills, who got him at the bargain basement price of $100.
Kemp co-founded the AFL Players Association in 1964 and was elected president of the union for five terms. When he retired from football in '69, Kemp had enough support in blue-collar Buffalo and its suburbs to win an open congressional seat. In his pro career, he sustained a dozen concussions, two broken ankles and a crushed hand — which Kemp insisted a doctor permanently set in a passing position so that he could continue to play. "Pro football gave me a good perspective," he was quoted as saying. "When I entered the political arena, I had already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded, and hung in effigy."
Kemp was born in California to Christian Scientist parents. He worked on the loading docks of his father's trucking company as a boy before majoring in physical education at Occidental College, where he led the nation's small colleges in passing. He became a Presbyterian after marrying his college sweetheart, Joanne Main. The couple had four children, including two sons who played professional football. He joined with a son and son-in-law to form a Washington strategic consulting firm, Kemp Partners, after leaving office.
Through his political life, Kemp's positions spanned the social spectrum: He opposed abortion and supported school prayer, yet appealed to liberals with his outreach toward minorities and compassion for the poor. He pushed for immigration reform to include a guest- worker program and status for the illegal immigrants already here.
At the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, he proposed more than 50 programs to combat urban blight and homelessness and was an early and strong advocate of enterprise zones. In 1993, along with former Education Secretary William Bennett and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Jeane Kirkpatrick, he co-founded Empower America, a public policy organization intended to promote economic growth, job creation and entrepreneurship.
His choice as Dole's 1996 running mate was seen as a way for the Republican Party to reach groups of voter that Dole could not. And it came even after Kemp endorsed Steve Forbes for the nomination — a move many considered political suicide — and declared himself a "recovering politician."
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