John B. Anderson

John B. Anderson

"Former United States presidential candidate John B. Anderson, who received 6 million votes as an independent candidate in 1980, has served as chair of the Center for Voting and Democracy since 1996 after four years as chair of the Center's Advisory Board.

"He is an accomplished speaker and his recent media appearances include the BBC, NPR and C-SPAN among others. He is a frequent lecturer and expert commentator on issues of electoral reform, United Nations reform, foreign affairs, American politics, and independent candidacies. He also writes regularly on the role of Congress in both domestic and international affairs. He is president of the World Federalist Association.

"Mr. Anderson has taught political science as a visiting professor at numerous universities, including Bryn Mawr College, Brandeis University, Stanford University, Oregon State University, the University of Illinois, the Washington School of Law and Nova Southeastern University. He taught constitutional law at Nova Southeastern University in the fall of 2001.

"Between 1961 and 1981, Mr. Anderson served ten terms as U.S. Representative to Congress from the 16th District of Illinois. He served on the House Rules Committee and for a decade was Chairman of the House Republican Conference. He served as States Attorney in Winnebago County, Illinois for four years.

"During World War II, Mr. Anderson was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Field Artillery. In foreign service between 1952 and 1955, he was Economic Reporting Officer in the Eastern Affairs Division.

"Mr. Anderson earned his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, received an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School in 1949, and has since been awarded honorary doctorates of law from Wheaton College and Trinity College."

Anderson "served ten terms as U.S. Representative to Congress from the 16th District of Illinois [between 1961 and 1981]. He served on the House Rules Committee and for a decade was Chairman of the House Republican Conference. In 1980, Anderson ran an independent campaign for president, participating in a presidential debate with Republican nominee Ronald Reagan and receiving over six million votes. Anderson has served as the Chair of the Center for Voting and Democracy since 1996."


 * Board of Sponsors, Center for War/Peace Studies
 * Director, Open Debates

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