Jack Kemp
9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
In office February 13, 1989 – January 19, 1993
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Samuel Pierce
Succeeded by	Henry Cisneros
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 31st district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Donald J. Mitchell
Succeeded by	Bill Paxon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 38th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	James F. Hastings
Succeeded by	District 38 eliminated
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 39th district
In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Richard D. McCarthy
Succeeded by	James F. Hastings
Personal details
Born	Jack French Kemp (1935-07-13)July 13, 1935 Los Angeles, California
Died	May 2, 2009(2009-05-02) (aged 73) Bethesda, Maryland
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Joanne Kemp
Children	Jeff ( (1959-07-11) July 11, 1959 (age 52)) Jennifer (c. 1961) Judith (c. 1963) Jimmy ( (1971-06-27) June 27, 1971 (age 40))
Alma mater	Occidental College
Profession	Professional American football player; Politician
Religion	Presbyterian
Website	Kemp Partners: Jack Kemp
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1958–1962
Rank	Private
Unit	Reserves

Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st congressional district from 1971 to 1989. He was the Republican Party's nominee for Vice President in the 1996 election, where he was the running mate of presidential nominee Bob Dole. Kemp had previously contended for the presidential nomination in the 1988 Republican primaries.

Before entering politics, Kemp was a professional quarterback for 13 years. He played briefly in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL), but became a star in the American Football League (AFL). He served as captain of both the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills and earned the AFL Most Valuable Player award in 1965 after leading the Bills to a second consecutive championship. He played in the AFL for all 10 years of its existence, appeared in its All-Star game seven times, played in its championship game five times, and set many of the league's career passing records. Kemp also co-founded the AFL Players Association, for which he served five terms as president. During the early part of his football career, he served in the United States Army Reserve.

As an economic conservative, Kemp advocated low taxes and supply-side policies during his political career. His positions spanned the social spectrum, ranging from his conservative opposition to abortion to his more libertarian stances advocating immigration reform. As a proponent of both Chicago school and supply-side economics, he is notable as an influence upon the Reagan agenda and the architect of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which is known as the Kemp–Roth tax cut.

After his days in political office, Kemp remained active as a political advocate and commentator, and served on corporate and nonprofit organization boards. He also authored, co-authored, and edited several books. He promoted American football and advocated for retired professional football players. Kemp was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 by President Barack Obama.^[1]

Early life[link]

Youth[link]

Born,^[2] raised, and educated in Los Angeles, California,^[3] Kemp was the third of four sons of Frances Elizabeth (née Pope) and Paul Robert Kemp, Sr.^[4][5][6] Paul turned his motorcycle messenger service into a trucking company that grew from one to 14 trucks.^[7][8] Frances was a well-educated social worker and Spanish teacher.^[4][8] Kemp grew up in the heavily-Jewish Wilshire district of West Los Angeles,^[5][9] but his tight-knit middle class family practiced in the Church of Christ, Scientist.^[4][5] In his youth, sports consumed Kemp, who once chose the forward pass as the subject of a school essay on important inventions, although his mother attempted to broaden his horizons with piano lessons and trips to the Hollywood Bowl.^[4]

Kemp attended Melrose Avenue's Fairfax High School,^[3] which was, at the time, known both for its high concentration of Jewish students and concentration of celebrities' children. Over 95% of Kemp's classmates were Jewish, and he later became a supporter of Jewish causes.^[3] His classmates included Herb Alpert, Larry Sherry, and Judith A. Reisman.^[10][11] During his years in high school, Kemp worked with his brothers at his father's trucking company in downtown Los Angeles. In his spare time, he became a rigorous reader, preferring history and philosophy books.^[3]

College[link]

After graduating from high school in 1953,^[12] he attended Occidental College, a founding member of the NCAA Division III Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.^[13] Kemp selected Occidental because its football team used professional formations and plays, which he hoped would help him to become a professional quarterback.^[5] At 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and 175 pounds (79.4 kg), he considered himself too small to play for the USC Trojans or UCLA Bruins, the major Southern California college football programs.^[14]

At Occidental, Kemp was a record-setting javelin hurler and played several positions on the football team: quarterback, defensive back, place kicker, and punter.^[14] Although he was near-sighted, Kemp was tenacious on the field.^[14] During his years as starting quarterback the team posted 6–2 and 3–6 records. Kemp was named a Little All-America player one year in which he threw for over 1,100 yards.^[14] That year, he led the nation's small colleges in passing.^[15] He and close friend Jim Mora, who later became an NFL head coach, were members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.^[14] Another teammate in college was Ron Botchan,^[16] who was a NFL umpire for years (record five Super Bowls).^[17] Kemp declined to become involved in student government.^[14] After graduating from Occidental with a degree in physical education, he pursued postgraduate studies in economics at Long Beach State University and California Western University, and served in the military from 1958 to 1962.^[5][14]

Marriage and family[link]

Kemp graduated from Occidental in 1957 and married Joanne Main, his college sweetheart,^[8] after she graduated from Occidental in 1958.^[5] Main had grown up in Fillmore, California, and attended Fillmore High School in Ventura County.^[18] Her father was a teacher and football coach in the Fillmore Unified School District before becoming vice principal and eventually superintendent of the district.^[19] Kemp's Biblical Literature professor, Keith Beebe, presided over the wedding,^[14] after which Kemp converted to his wife's Presbyterian faith.^[5][19] Jack Kemp was a 33rd degree Freemason in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.^[20][21]

They had two sons, who were both professional football quarterbacks: Jeff Kemp played in the NFL from 1981 to 1991,^[22] and Jimmy Kemp played in the CFL from 1994 to 2002. Significantly for a man with his demanding schedule, Jack never missed one of their games as children or in college.^[23] They also had two daughters: Jennifer Kemp Andrews and Judith Kemp.^[24] Joanne once suffered a miscarriage, which Kemp later said made him re-evaluate the sanctity of human life and affected his opposition to abortion.^[25] Kemp is survived by his wife of fifty years, his four children and 17 grandchildren.^[26]

Football career[link]

After being drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 17th round of the 1957 NFL Draft, Kemp was cut from the team before the 1957 NFL season began.^[14][27] He spent 1957 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and 1958 on the taxi squads of the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants. The 1958 New York Giants played in that year's NFL Championship Game, known as the "Greatest Game Ever Played" and the first overtime NFL playoff game,^[28][29][30] but, as a third-string quarterback member of the taxi squad, Kemp did not take the field.^[4]

After his time in the NFL, Kemp served a year as a private in the United States Army Reserve.^[5] During his service, he played one game for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, which made him ineligible for the NFL in 1959. According to his older brother Tom, his parents drove him from California to Calgary, Alberta only to see him cut.^[4] By this time Kemp had been cut from five professional teams (Lions, Steelers, Giants, 49ers, and Stampeders)^[14] and his family encouraged him to get on with his life.^[4]

On February 9 and February 11, 1960, the newly formed AFL agreed to "no tampering" policies with the NFL and CFL respectively, protecting each league's players. Players like Kemp, with modest NFL experience, were often signed by the AFL at the time.^[31] Kemp signed as a free agent with the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers.

Sid Gillman era (1960–1962)[link]

In 1960, Kemp led the Chargers to a Western Division Championship with a 10–4 record.^[32] He finished second in the league to Frank Tripucka in passing attempts, completions, and yards (making him and Tripucka the league's first 3,000-yard passers),^[33] led the AFL in yards per completion and times sacked, and finished one rushing touchdown short of the league lead.^[34] Under Kemp, the Chargers' offense averaged 46 points over its last four games and scored more than 41 points in five of its last nine games.^[35] In the 1960 AFL Championship Game, he led the team to field goals on its first two possessions, but after the Houston Oilers posted a touchdown in the second quarter for a 7–6 lead, the Chargers never recovered.^[36]

In 1961, San Diego Union editor Jack Murphy convinced Barron Hilton to move the Chargers from Los Angeles to San Diego.^[37] Kemp led the relocated team to a 12–2 record and a repeat Western Division Championship.^[38] He again finished second in passing yards (this time to George Blanda).^[39] The Chargers earned an AFL Championship Game rematch against the Oilers. However, this time the Chargers were unable to score until a fourth quarter field goal in a 10–3 loss.^[38][40]

The Berlin Wall was erected in August 1961. On October 15, 1961, President John F. Kennedy activated Kemp's San Diego-based 977th Transportation Company reserves unit for duty in response. In September, the right-handed Kemp had injured his left shoulder while playing football. Medical examiners found swelling and muscle spasms and described his voluntary range of motion at 80%. In a decision that was reviewed and upheld by the Surgeon General of the United States Army, Army doctors found him as unfit for active duty. That year, he led the Chargers to a division title, passing for 2,686 yards and 15 touchdowns. Years later, Kemp's 1961 Chargers roommate, Ron Mix, recalled that Kemp needed "ten or so" shots of painkillers before each game and commented that "it sounds weird, but he could play football and not be fit to serve in the Army."^[41]

In 1962, Kemp broke his middle finger two games into the season and was unable to play. He persuaded his doctors to set his broken finger around a football, so that his grip would not be affected once the finger healed. Chargers coach Sid Gillman put Kemp on waivers to try to "hide" him.^[42] Buffalo Bills coach Lou Saban noticed that Kemp was available and claimed him for a $100 waiver fee on September 25, 1962,^[43] in what sportswriter Randy Schultz has called one of the biggest bargains in professional football history.^[27] The Dallas Texans and Denver Broncos also attempted to claim Kemp, but he was awarded to Buffalo by AFL commissioner Joe Foss.^[44]

Lou Saban era (1962–1965)[link]

According to Billy Shaw, Kemp's acquisition solved the Bills' quarterback problem,^[27] but Kemp was not excited about coming to Buffalo. According to Van Miller, "Jack's a skier, and he wanted to go to Denver and play for the Broncos. He hated the thought of coming to Buffalo."^[45] In Buffalo, he would become known for his love of reading a broad range of books including those by Henry Thoreau, which led to chidings from Saban.^[3]

Injuries, including the broken finger,^[43] kept Kemp from playing for most of 1962. That season, Kemp received a military draft notice for service in the Vietnam War but was granted a draft waiver because of a knee problem. The injuries healed, and Kemp debuted for Buffalo on November 18, 1962, by directing the only touchdown drive in a 10–6 win over the Oakland Raiders.^[43] He played only four games for Buffalo in 1962, but made the AFL All-Star team.^[43] The Bills won three of their last four games to finish 7–6–1.^[46]

On December 14, 1962, the Bills outbid the Green Bay Packers for Notre Dame quarterback Daryle Lamonica.^[43] In 1963, a four-season starting quarterback battle began that continued until Lamonica left for the Raiders. Lamonica felt he "... learned a lot from Jack about quarterbacking. And I truly believe that we were a great one-two punch at the position for the Bills."^[27] In 1963, Kemp led the Bills from a slow start to a tie for the AFL Eastern Division lead with a 7–6–1 record.^[47] Kemp again placed second in passing attempts, completions, and yards, and he also finished second to teammate Cookie Gilchrist in rushing touchdowns.^[48] The Bills played the Boston Patriots in an Eastern Division playoff game to determine the division title on December 28, 1963, at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York, in 10 °F (−12 °C) weather. During the game, Buffalo replaced Kemp with Lamonica after falling behind 16–0, but still lost 26–8.^[49]

Kemp was said to be the "clubhouse lawyer" for the Bills because of his role in mediating conflicts.^[27] In 1964, he managed personalities such as Gilchrist, who walked off the field when plays were not being called for him, and Saban, who he kept from cutting Gilchrist the following week.^[27] He also managed the politics of his quarterback battle with Lamonica, who engineered four winning touchdown drives in the Bills' first seven games.^[50] Kemp was the first and only Professional Football player to pass for three touchdowns in the first quarter of a season-opening game, against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1964 AFL season, until the record was tied but not broken, 57 years later in 2011 by Aaron Rodgers.^[51][52] The 1964 team won its first nine games and went 12–2 for the regular season, winning the Eastern Division with a final game victory over the Patriots at Fenway Park. Kemp led the league in yards per attempt and finished one rushing touchdown short of the league lead, which was shared by Gilchrist and Sid Blanks.^[53] In the 1964 AFL Championship Game, he scored the final touchdown with just over nine minutes left in a 20–7 victory.^[54]

According to Lamonica, the 1965 team had a new emphasis: "In '64 we had depended a lot on Gilchrist and our running attack to carry us. . .But that all changed in '65. The Bills had traded Gilchrist in the off season to the Denver Broncos. So we went to a pass-oriented game more that season than we ever had before. We not only went to our receivers, but we threw a lot to our running backs. And I really think it brought out the best in Jack that year."^[27] In 1965, the Bills finished with a 10–3–1 record.^[55] Kemp finished the season second in the league in pass completions.^[56] In the 1965 AFL Championship Game, Buffalo defeated the Chargers 23–0; for Kemp, the victory was special because it came against his former team.^[57] Kemp's role in leading the Bills to a repeat championship without Gilchrist and with star receiver Elbert Dubenion playing only three games earned him a share of the AFL MVP awards that he split with former Charger teammate, Paul Lowe.^[53][58] Kemp also won the Associated Press award and the Championship Game Most Valuable Player award.^[59][60]

Joe Collier and John Rauch eras (1966–1969)[link]

Following the championship game, Saban resigned to coach the Maryland Terrapins and defensive coordinator Joe Collier was promoted to head coach for the 1966 AFL season.^[61] That year, Kemp led the Bills to their third consecutive division title with a 9–4–1 record. However, in the 1966 AFL Championship Game, which was played for the right to represent the AFL in Super Bowl I, the Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31–7.^[62] Kemp was named an AFL All-Star for the sixth consecutive year.^a[›][63] The 1967 Bills endured a 4–10 1967 AFL season, in which Kemp was not named to the All-Star game for the first time in his AFL career.^[63][64]

On August 23, 1968, the Bills suffered a blowout preseason loss to the Houston Oilers. On August 26, Collier put the Bills through a 40-play scrimmage. During the scrimmage, Ron McDole fell on Kemp's right knee and injured it, forcing Kemp to sit out the entire 1968 AFL season.^[65] The Bills went 1–12–1 without Kemp.^[66]

Despite Kemp's return from injury and the arrival of running back O. J. Simpson, the Bills only compiled a 4–10 record during the 1969 AFL season under new coach John Rauch.^[67] Kemp was named an AFL All-Star in 1969 for the seventh time in the league's 10 years.^[63] He advocated recognition of the league, and in its last year, 1969, lobbied Pete Rozelle to have AFL teams wear an AFL patch to honor it. In 1969, the Erie County Republican Party approached him about running for the United States Congress.^[27] After the January 17, 1970, AFL All-Star game, Kemp returned home and talked to his wife before deciding to enter politics.^[68] Kemp said, "I had a four-year no-cut contract with the Bills at the time. ... I figured that if I lost I could always come back and play. But the fans had their say and I was elected to Congress."^[27]

Career summary[link]

Kemp led Buffalo to four straight years in the AFL playoffs, three consecutive Eastern Division titles and two straight AFL Championships.^[9] He led the league in career passes attempted, completions, and yards gained passing.^[33] He played in five of the AFL's 10 Championship Games, and holds the same career records (passing attempts, completions, and yardage) for championships. He is second in many other championship game categories, including career and single-game passer rating.^[33] A Sporting News All-League selection at quarterback in 1960 and 1965, and the AFL MVP in 1965. He was the only AFL quarterback to be listed as a starter all 10 years of the league's existence and one of only 20 players to serve all 10 of those years. His number 15 was retired by the Bills in 1984.^[69]