Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Robert Lawrence Jr. COUGHLIN
US Congressman. After serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952, he was elected to both the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, serving from 1965 to 1967, and the Pennsylvania State Senate, serving from 1967 to 1969. He was elected to Congress as a Representative from Pennsylvania and served from 1969 to 1993. (bio by: Garver Graver)
By Sally A. Downey INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: December 04, 2001
R. Lawrence Coughlin, 71, the former Republican U.S. representative from Montgomery County whose supporters and foes alike described as an honest politician and a nice guy in a bow tie, died of cancer Friday at his home in Mathews, Va.
Rep. Coughlin served in Congress from 1968 to 1992, at first representing Montgomery County and later parts of Philadelphia. Considered a moderate, he endorsed funding SEPTA and other mass-transit agencies, housing efforts, and antidrug education.
Tall and slim, with a patrician voice and manner, Rep. Coughlin was raised on his father's "gentleman's farm" in Dallas, Pa., near Scranton.
He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., in 1946 and from Yale University in 1950. One of his Yale classmates was George Herbert Walker Bush, the future president and father of President George W. Bush.
While attending Harvard Business School, he was called to active duty with the Marine Corps in Korea, serving as an aide to the legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller.
After his discharge, he returned to Harvard, earning a degree in business administration in 1954.
He came to Philadelphia to attend Temple University Law School, attending classes at night and working as a foreman on an assembly line at Heintz Manufacturing Co., a steel company, during the day. He received his degree in 1958 and became a partner at Saul Ewing Remick & Saul.
During Vice President Richard M. Nixon's first presidential campaign in 1960, Mr. Coughlin decorated an old mail truck with banners and took the Nixon campaign to the streets of Philadelphia.
By the 1960s, he lived in Villanova and was involved in Montgomery County Republican politics. He worked for William W. Scranton's successful gubernatorial campaign in 1962. He won his first election in 1964, capturing a seat in the state House of Representatives. Two years later he moved up to the state Senate, and he was elected to his first term in Congress from the 13th District in 1968.
During his 24 years in Congress, he served on the Judiciary Committee and became a high-ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and its Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. As a member of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, he called for a de-emphasis on efforts to interdict narcotics traffic and instead sought additional funding for the destruction of cocaine processing labs - what he called the "choke points" in the drug trade. He also supported funding for antidrug education programs.
His two most competitive contests for reelection came in 1984 and 1986 against Democratic State Rep. Joe Hoeffel. By the 1980s, Rep. Coughlin's 13th District had been reapportioned to include Chestnut Hill, Roxborough, Manayunk and Overbrook in Philadelphia as well as Montgomery County, adding many more registered Democrats to his district.
Rep. Coughlin mounted successful campaigns against his younger opponent, however, winning comfortably in both contests. Hoeffel, who finally won the 13th District seat in 1998 after Coughlin had retired, said yesterday that "Larry was a moderate who was not at ease with the aggressive wing of the Republican Party. He had a great record in mass transportation and urban matters. Even when his district was entirely suburban, he favored the regional approach."
Unlike some of his colleagues in Congress, Rep. Coughlin shunned the limelight. "He told me there are workhorses in Congress and there are show horses and he described himself as a workhorse," Hoeffel said. "He was a dedicated public servant. There was never a whisper of anything improper or self-serving."
When a magazine writer claimed that men who wore bow ties were not to be trusted, Rep. Coughlin, who never wore anything but bow ties, said: "I've never known one who wasn't trustworthy.
After his retirement, Mr. Coughlin remained in Washington, joining the law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott as senior counsel. Earlier this year, he joined the law firm of Thompson Coburn.
He was president of the Friends of the U.S. National Arboretum, and he enjoyed gardening, hiking and boating. Mr. Coughlin is survived by his wife of 21 years, Susan MacGregor Coughlin; a daughter, Lisa Powell, from his first marriage to the late Helen Ford Swan; and three children from his second marriage to Elizabeth "Betsey" Worrell. They are daughters LynneSamson and Sara Noon; and son Lawrence. He is also survived by five grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at 9 a.m. Dec. 20 at the Old Chapel in Fort Myers, Va. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
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