{{Short description|American politician (1943–2013)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Robert W. Edgar.jpg | birth_name = Robert William Edgar | birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|5|29}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|4|23|1943|5|29}} | death_place = Burke, Virginia, U.S. | state = Pennsylvania | district = 7th | term_start = January 3, 1975 | term_end = January 3, 1987 | preceded = Lawrence Williams | succeeded = Curt Weldon | party = Democratic | alma_mater= Drew University | occupation= Politician, administrator, educator, chaplain | spouse = Merle Louise Deaver | children = 3 }} '''Robert William Edgar''' (May 29, 1943 – April 23, 2013) was an American politician, administrator, and religious leader. A native of the Philadelphia area, he began his career as a Methodist pastor and chaplain. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987, representing the 7th district of Pennsylvania. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for United States Senate in Pennsylvania in 1986.
After leaving Congress, Edgar served in various religious and political organizations, including as president of the Claremont School of Theology from 1990 to 2000, and as president and CEO of Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, from 2007 until his death.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Common Cause president Bob Edgar dies|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/common-cause-president-bob-edgar-dies-90500.html?hp=r4|date=April 23, 2013|first=Anna|last=Palmer|work=Politico|access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref>
==Background== Edgar was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Springfield, Pennsylvania.<ref name = Martin>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/politics/bob-edgar-pennsylvania-congressman-dies-at-69.html|title = Bob Edgar, 69, Lawmaker And Liberal Leader, Dies|last = Martin|first = Douglas|newspaper = The New York Times|date = April 25, 2013|page = A29|url-access = limited|accessdate = April 17, 2024}}</ref>
He attended Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then was ordained a minister after graduating with a Master of Divinity degree from the Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He received a certificate in pastoral psychiatry from Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia in 1969. He later served as United Protestant Chaplain of Drexel University, and as a special assistant to Congressman Bill Gray.<ref name="Biographical Directory">''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present''.</ref> He was also the pastor of a Methodist church in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.<ref name = Martin/>
Edgar and his wife, the former Merle Louise Deaver, had three sons.<ref name = Martin/>
==Congressional career== With his 1974 election to the House of Representatives, Edgar became the first Democrat in 36 years to represent this Delaware County-based district.<ref name="Biographical Directory"/>
Serving in the United States Congress from 1975 to 1987, Edgar sought to improve public transportation, authored the community Right to Know provisions of Super Fund legislation, and co-authored the new G.I. Bill for the all-volunteer service.<ref name = Martin/> Among other appointments, he served as chair of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future from 1982 through 1986, and as a member of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, from 1976 through 1978, that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and President John F. Kennedy.
Representing what was then a classic Rockefeller Republican district, Edgar was reelected five times against vigorous Republican opposition. His closest contests came in 1978, when he only survived by 1,300 votes, and in 1984, when he won by only 412 votes. The latter election came in the midst of Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory; Reagan won the district by over 20 points.
Edgar ran for the United States Senate in 1986, defeating Auditor General Don Bailey, a former congressman from western Pennsylvania, in the primary, but lost the general election to incumbent Republican Senator Arlen Specter by more than 12 percentage points. It is this experience that led Edgar to become frustrated with political campaigning and money in politics, moving towards support for clean elections and campaign finance reform, which he dictated at the 2004 Democracy Matters Conference in Albany, New York.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
==Later life== In 1990, Edgar began a ten-year term of service as President of Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California, a graduate-professional school related to the United Methodist Church and part of the Claremont educational consortium east of Los Angeles.<ref name = Martin/> He assumed the role amid a period of financial difficulty for the school, and during his tenure, he oversaw an increased enrollment and endowment.<ref name = Martin/> From 2001 until his death, he was a member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference; he transferred from the California Pacific Conference.<ref>''2012 Journal and Yearbook'', Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, p. 71.</ref>
Edgar served on the boards of several organizations, including Independent Sector, the National Coalition for Health Care, and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. He also served on the board of directors of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, an independent, non-profit organization that is a principal resource for Congress on environmental and energy issues.
He was an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network.{{Clarify|date=February 2010}}
In 2000, Edgar began a seven-year term as chief executive of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.<ref name = Martin/> Under his leadership, the 50-year-old NCC began to reshape its mission, focusing its energies on major initiatives in the areas of overcoming poverty, protecting the natural environment, fostering interfaith understanding, and building international peace.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
Following his retirement from the NCC, he became President of Common Cause in 2007, advocating for publicly funded elections.<ref name = Martin/> He served in this role until his death on April 23, 2013, from a heart attack, at his home in Burke, Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Stunning death of Bob Edgar, an American hero|url=http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/paul_fanlund/paul-fanlund-stunning-death-of-bob-edgar-an-american-hero/article_6f025162-ac3b-11e2-9bf3-001a4bcf887a.html|date=April 23, 2013|first=Paul|last=Fanlund|work=The Capital Times|access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref>
==Honors and awards== Edgar was recognized by several national organizations for his work, including by the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America and the National Taxpayers Union.{{Clarify|date=February 2010}}{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
==References== {{More footnotes needed|date=February 2010}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/items/show/1199 Interview with Robert William Edgar] by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, December 3, 2010 {{CongBio|E000043|Robert W. Edgar}} *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ede-edlin.html#665.61.31 Robert William Edgar entry] at The Political Graveyard *{{C-SPAN|92781}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Robert}} Category:1943 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century United States representatives Category:20th-century Pennsylvania politicians Category:American Christian religious leaders Category:American United Methodist clergy Category:Candidates in the 1986 United States elections Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania Category:Drew University alumni Category:Lycoming College alumni Category:Methodists from Pennsylvania Category:People from Annandale, Virginia Category:People from Burke, Virginia Category:Politicians from Philadelphia Category:Politicians from Williamsport, Pennsylvania Category:Presidents of United Methodist seminaries