Senate Days

Following his forced departure from the State Department, Bud decided to seek employment with the United States Senate. During his time representing State Department employees in hearings there, he had made a few valuable contacts.

Bud’s first successful stop in 1957 was with Senator Thomas Hennings, Democrat of Missouri, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who, as a Southerner, had refused to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing civil rights. 

Hennings initially hired Bud as an assistant clerk, but he was soon promoted to the position of Administrative Assistant. At the time, Hennings served as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Rules and Administration. 

In August, 1957, Bud traveled to Japan as an official Congressional observer to the trial of William Girard, a 21 year old Army enlisted man over the controversial death of a Japanese civilian. Additionally, Bud obtained a secret security clearance. 

In 1959, Bud was selected as Counsel to the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, after successfully passing an FBI applicant investigation requested by then Judiciary Chairman, James O. Eastland (D-MS). 

In 1960, Bud traveled to Los Angeles with his family to attend the 1960 Democratic Convention where JFK was nominated for President. At the convention, Bud participated as a member of the DNC’s “750 Club” made up of people contributing $750+ to replenish the party’s badly depleted funds following the 1956 campaign.

In May,1960, Senator Hennings had abdominal surgery, but died in September due to complications of the surgery. 

One of Bud’s most important contributions during his Senate career involved the passage and ratification of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment had to do with the Presidential succession and disability. Throughout our history, concerns were periodically raised when an event requiring Presidential succession occurred. These concerns were exacerbated by the ill health of and the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. 

In his role as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, Bud came under the purview of fellow Tennessean, Senator Estes Kefauver, for whom Bud had provided speeches during the 1956 Kefauver Vice Presidential campaign. In 1963, prior to his death in August, Kefauver introduced the first effort towards passage of the amendment and, as a member of Kefauver’s staff, was instrumental in drafting the initial language (it should be noted that this initial effort failed; a subsequent draft, introduced by Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) passed in 1965). 

In 1961, Kefauver appointed Bud to the staff of the Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee, replacing fellow Tennessean Paul Rand Dixon, who was appointed by President Kennedy as the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. 

In 1962-63, the Kefauver Subcommittee held hearings on the pharmaceutical industry. These hearings resulted in the Kefauver-Harris Drug amendment that was signed into law by JFK in 1962 and which required pharmaceutical companies to prove that drugs were not only safe but also were efficacious. 

This period also involved several changes in Bud’s personal life. First, in February, 1963, his mother, Blanche Lindauer Fensterwald died in Nashville. Shortly thereafter, he separated from his first wife of 16 years, Elizabeth Vosbury Fensterwald. 

Following the death of Senator Kefauver in 1963, Bud continued to work for the Judiciary Committee. However, he was not yet working directly for Senator Edward V. Long (D-MO). Senator Long was the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Practices and Procedures. 

NOTE: it is worthy to note here that in the 1950’s and 60’s, unlike today, there were relatively few Senate staffers. Likewise, committee staff was much smaller too. As a result, while much was accomplished, there was also much “cross pollination” of work and matters of interest. 

Among other things, Long and his subcommittee was very concerned about the twin matters of open government and privacy. As a result, Bud was intimately involved in drafting legislation establishing the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. While the first effort failed, a subsequent bill was passed in 1966, even though President Johnson allegedly hated the idea of open government. To many, Bud became one of the true “fathers of FOIA”. Throughout his private practice career, Bud was consistently recognized as an expert on open government. 

Previously, then Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa had been convicted of jury tampering following the publication of a story in Life magazine. Later, in 1965, during a hearing, Bud confronted then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy of “being a ‘Fink” after Kennedy denied planting the Hoffa story. 

As to privacy, the Long subcommittee was concerned about government invasion of individual privacy. In 1965-66, Bud traveled to the West and conducted hearings concerning invasion of privacy by federal agencies, most notably the Post Office and the IRS. 

In 1965, Senator Long published a book on government wiretapping, entitled The Intruders. At the same time, the Long subcommittee opened hearings on the flagrant use by the government of “bugs”.

Bud employed local investigators to much of the legwork. In San Francisco, he hired Hal Lipset, a fabled investigator known for his expertise in wiretapping. Through Hal, Bud met Patty Lou Peters. In 1966, Patty came East to Virginia with her three children: Patrick, David and Margaret Alice Marlette.

Bud and Patty were married in Arlington, Virginia on August 24, 1966. 

Together, the couple purchased a second home at Deep Creek, Maryland and, later, a formal residence in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

In the Spring of 1967, Life magazine publishing an article alleging that Senator Long was linked to organized crime and the Teamsters, specifically Jimmy Hoffa, and that he had accepted favors from Teamster lawyer, Morris Shenker. Despite the fact that the Senate Ethics Committee found no impropriety, Long lost to a 1968 primary challenger, Thomas Eagleton, who went on to be elected to the Senate in November. (NOTE: in 1966, Long spoke to the Teamster’s in Miami Beach.)

Strike three for Bud. He decided to enter private practice.