Dick Thornburgh, former Pennsylvania governor and US attorney general, dies

AP - ABC ^ | 12/31/20

[Borges]

PITTSBURGH -- Dick Thornburgh, who as Pennsylvania governor won plaudits for his cool handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis and as U.S. attorney general restored credibility to a Justice Department hurt by the Iran-Contra scandal, has died. He was 88.

Thornburgh died Thursday morning at a retirement community facility outside Pittsburgh, his son David said. The cause is not yet known. He suffered a mild stroke in June 2014.

Thornburgh built his reputation as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh and as a moderate Republican governor. As the nation's top law enforcement official, he prosecuted the savings and loan scandal. He also shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act; one of his sons had been severely brain damaged in an auto accident.

[Zhang Fei]

Never Trumper croaks. A consolation prize for 2020.

[rdl6989]

They will say he died of covid

[VeniVidiVici]

Wasn’t this the guy on DieHard?

[nickcarraway]

He was on a Forensic Files.

[lightman]

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

[Striperman]

Lots of that going around these days

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Joe 6-pack]

I was 10 years old at the time of Three Mile Island. Even then, the leftist media was inflammatory, but I do recall Gov. Thornburgh on TV, pretty much daily, maintaining calm, cool leadership in spite of the anti-nuke throngs and dems trying to use the situation to discredit him.

He may have been more establishment than I would grow to care for later in life, but I do credit him for the way he dealt with Three Mile Island. It may not be saying much, but probably the best PA governor in my lifetime.

[tallyhoe]

He probably died of Natural causes.. Like Heart attack or Pneumonia.. They will probably say Covid-19.. RIP Dick..

[Clarancebeaks]

Undoubtly working out the details with his family before announcing he had covid.

[tomkat]

Well said.

[DoodleBob]

Personally, I believe Harris Wofford's senate race against Thornburgh in 1992 launched the nation's anti-career politician movement. Yes, healthcare was an issue, but my memory was that Wofford pounded the fact that Thornburgh was a lifetime bureaucrat. Wofford, relying on a pair of young, unheralded political consultants named James Carville and Paul Begala, ran a populist campaign that focused on the economy and health care reform.