Charles Mathias

Charles Mathias
Mathias in February 1969
Chair of the Senate Rules Committee
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Claiborne Pell
Succeeded by	Wendell Ford
United States Senator from Maryland
In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Daniel Brewster
Succeeded by	Barbara Mikulski
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 6th district
In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by	John R. Foley
Succeeded by	John Glenn Beall Jr.
Personal details
Born	Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. (1922-07-24)July 24, 1922 Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Died	January 25, 2010(2010-01-25) (aged 87) Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ann Bradford
Education	Haverford College (BA) Yale University University of Maryland, Baltimore (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Battles/wars	World War II

Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. (July 24, 1922 – January 25, 2010) was an American politician and attorney. A Republican, he served as a member of the United States Senate, representing Maryland from 1969 to 1987. He was also a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1959 to 1961, and of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 6th congressional district of Maryland from 1961 to 1969.

After studying law and serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Mathias worked as a lawyer and was elected to the state legislature in 1958. In 1960, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Western Maryland. He was re-elected three times (1962, 1964, 1966), serving in the House for eight years, where he aligned himself with the then-influential liberal wing of the Republican Party.

Mathias was elected to the Senate in 1968, unseating the incumbent Democrat, Daniel Brewster, who twenty years earlier had been his roommate while attending the University of Maryland School of Law. He continued his record as a liberal Republican in the Senate, and frequently clashed with the conservative wing of his party. For a few months in late 1975 and early 1976, Mathias considered running an insurgent presidential campaign in an attempt to stave off the increasing influence of conservative Republicans led by Ronald Reagan.

His confrontations with conservatives cost him several leadership positions in the Senate, including chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Despite isolation from his conservative colleagues, Mathias played an influential role in fostering African American civil rights, ending the Vietnam War, preserving the Chesapeake Bay, and constructing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He retired from the Senate in 1987, having served in Congress for twenty-six years (eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives and eighteen years in the U.S. Senate). As of 2024^[update], he remains the last Republican to have served as a U.S. Senator from Maryland.