Brock Adams

Brockman Adams (January 13, 1927 - September 10, 2004), commonly referred to as "Brock Adams," was a Representative and a Senator from Washington.

Adams was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended the public schools in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with the class of 1949, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1952. Adams served in the United States Navy from 1944-1946, was admitted to the Washington State bar in 1952, and began legal practice in Seattle. He taught law at the American Institute of Banking from 1954-1960, and served as United States attorney for the Western District of Washington from 1961-1964.

Adams was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-ninth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1965, until his resignation on January 22, 1977. He acted as chairman for the Committee on the Budget (Ninety-fourth Congress). He held the position of Secretary of Transportation in the Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter from 1977-1979 and then resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C.. Adams was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1986, and served from January 3, 1987, to January 3, 1993.

Adams chose not to be a candidate for reelection in 1992 after eight women made statements to the Seattle Times alleging that Adams had sexually harassed them. Adams denied the allegations, but his popularity statewide had weakened considerably from the scandal, and Adams chose to retire rather than risk losing the seat for his party. Adams retired having never lost an election. He was then a resident of Stevensville, Maryland until his death due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

Adams was a member of the American Bar Association and Phi Beta Kappa.

The content in this article is largely derived from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress's article on Brock Adams. [1]