Claiborne Pell, Ex-Senator, Dies at 90
Claiborne Pell, the quirky, patrician former senator from Rhode Island who created the college grant program that bears his name and wrote the legislation that established the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, died just after midnight Thursday at his Newport, R.I., home. He was 90.
Mr. Pell was stricken with Parkinson’s disease at the end of his Senate career, and his illness forced him to retire in January 1997 after six terms in the Senate. His death was confirmed by Thomas G. Hughes, his former chief of staff.
Mr. Pell, a Democrat, was widely regarded as the most formidable politician in Rhode Island history; in six statewide victories over Republican opponents, he received an average of 64 percent of the vote.
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Mr. Pell was stricken with Parkinson’s disease at the end of his Senate career, and his illness forced him to retire in January 1997 after six terms in the Senate. His death was confirmed by Thomas G. Hughes, his former chief of staff.
Mr. Pell, a Democrat, was widely regarded as the most formidable politician in Rhode Island history; in six statewide victories over Republican opponents, he received an average of 64 percent of the vote.