Robert H. Steele

Robert Hampton Steele was born in Hartford, Connecticut on November 3, 1938.[1] His father, known as Bob Steele, was host of the state's top-rated morning show on WTIC-AM for more than fifty years.

Steele attended public schools in Wethersfield, Connecticut and obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College, Massachusetts in 1960. He earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1963.[1]

Steele "spent five years as a Soviet expert in the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington and Mexico".[2] Between 1968 and 1970, Steele worked as a securities analyst for the Travelers Insurance Company.[1]

Steele was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the Connecticut's 2nd congressional district from 1970 to 1975. He was elected simultaneously to the Ninety-first and to the Ninety-second Congresses in a 1970 special election to fill a vacancy; that vacancy was caused by the death of Democratic United States Representative William L. St. Onge.[1][2] Steele won the 1970 special election despite running in a district where Democrats outnumbered Republicans.[2]

Steele was re-elected to the Ninety-third Congress by 68,000 votes. In Congress, he developed a moderate-to-liberal record that featured opposition to the Vietnam War.[2]

Steele did not seek re-election to the Ninety-fourth Congress in 1974; instead, he ran for Governor of Connecticut.[1] In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Steele emphasized his support for campaign reform and pledged not to accept political contributions exceeding $100.[2] Steele's gubernatorial campaign was unsuccessful.[1]

Steele is an anti-gambling expert.[3] In 2012, he published The Curse: Big-Time Gambling's Seduction of a Small New England Town.[4]

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Robert Hampton Steele – Brief biography on the House website

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.