Lee Herbert Hamilton

Home > Social Sciences and the Law > Political Science and Government > Political Science: Biographies

Lee Herbert Hamilton 1931–, U.S. politician, b. Daytona Beach, Fla. A lawyer (J.D. Indiana Univ., 1956), he left private practice after winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964, and served 17 terms as an Indiana Democrat. In Congress he was a leading Democratic spokesman on foreign policy and served as chair of the foreign affairs committee (1993–95). He retired in 1999, and became president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Hamilton also has served, among other posts, as vice chair of the 9/11 Commission (officially the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States; 2002–4), which assessed the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States and made recommendations based on its assessments; and as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group (2006), commissioned by Congress to assess the situation in U.S.-occupied Iraq.