Date of Birth: February 12, 1930
Place of Birth: Wichita, Kansas
Date of Death: October 14, 2012
Place of Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Arlen Specter was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 2011. He was a Democrat (from 1951 to 1965), a Republican (from 1965 to 2009), and then a Democrat again. Arlen was a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 1996.
Arlen was the son of Lillie (Shanin) and Harry Aaron Specter. His parents were Jewish immigrants. His father was born in Bachkuryne, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. His mother was also born in the Russian Empire.
Arlen’s paternal grandfather was Avram Specter.
Arlen’s maternal grandparents were Mordecai “Max” Shanin (the son of Yehuda Leb Shanin and Anna Ugel) and Freda Mermowitz (the daughter of Jacob Mermowitz). Mordecai was from Mogilev, Belarus. Yehuda was the son of Ansel Asher Shanin and Rhoda. Freda was born in Ukraine.
Two people of Jewish heritage have been nominated for President of the United States by a major party. Barry Goldwater, nominated by the Republican Party in 1964, was the first (Goldwater was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and was raised an Episcopalian). John Kerry, nominated by the Democratic Party in 2004, was the second (Kerry’s paternal grandparents were born Jewish, though Kerry’s father and Kerry himself were raised Catholic). Goldwater also sought the 1960 Republican nomination.
Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish, was nominated for Vice President of the United States by the Democratic Party in 2000.
Four people of Jewish heritage have won a major party’s Presidential caucus and/or primary:
*Barry Goldwater (1964, the year he was nominated; Republican; won 7 states)
*John Kerry (2004, the year he was nominated; Democratic; won 46 states)
*Wesley Clark (who sought the 2004 Democratic nomination; won 1 state, Oklahoma; Clark was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and is a practicing Catholic)
*Bernie Sanders (who is seeking the 2016 Democratic nomination; has thus far won 5 states)
Of the four, only Bernie Sanders is Jewish by religion, and he is the first person of Jewish religion to win a caucus and/or primary for a major American political party’s Presidential nomination (the 2016 New Hampshire primary).
Other people of Jewish heritage who have mounted major campaigns for President of the United States are:
*Milton Shapp (who sought the 1976 Democratic nomination)
*Larry Agran (who sought the 1992 Democratic nomination)
*Joe Lieberman (who sought the 2004 Democratic nomination)
Shapp, Agran, and Lieberman were/are all Jewish by religion. Shapp was the first person of Jewish religion to mount a major campaign for President of the United States.
Sources: Genealogy of Arlen Specter – http://www.geni.com
Arlen Specter on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org