Warren Rudman

Rudman on the Senate floor, 1986

Rudman defeated incumbent John Durkin in the 1980 election, riding the wave of Ronald Reagan's landslide victory. Durkin resigned and the Governor appointed Rudman to fill the vacancy in late December 1980.[6] Rudman served on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Ethics Committee. His best-known legislative effort was the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.

A moderate Republican, Rudman was conservative on matters of fiscal and defense policy—favoring tax cuts, reduced domestic spending, and higher military spending, but liberal on social issues—supporting a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, gay rights, and opposing a constitutional amendment mandating voluntary school prayer.[7][8] Rudman, along with John H. Sununu, was a key player in the appointment of Rudman's personal friend, Supreme Court Justice David Souter, to both the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The Wall Street Journal later editorialized about the appointment, saying: "Rudman, the man who helped put liberal jurist David Souter on the high court" and who in his "Yankee Republican liberalism" took "pride in recounting how he sold Mr. Souter to gullible White House chief of staff John Sununu as a confirmable conservative. Then they both sold the judge to President Bush, who wanted above all else to avoid a confirmation battle."[9] Rudman wrote in his memoir that he had "suspected all along" that Souter would not "overturn activist liberal precedents."[10] Sununu later said of Rudman, "In spite of it all, he's a good friend. But I've always known that he was more liberal than he liked the world to think he was."[10]

After leaving the Senate, Rudman continued to practice law and be an active member in national politics. Senator John McCain asked Rudman to serve as his campaign chair during McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.[10] On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton.[11]

He was twice considered as a possible vice presidential candidate on the ticket of two parties other than the GOP. In 1996, Ross Perot offered Rudman the slot to be his vice presidential running mate on the Reform Party ticket, but Rudman refused (as did former Democratic Senator David Boren of Oklahoma).[12] Perot eventually selected Pat Choate. In 2004, Rudman was mentioned as possible running mate for Democratic nominee John Kerry.[13] Kerry eventually selected John Edwards.

In 1999, a leaked report by the U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) stated that Carlos Hank González, a Mexican criminal, politician and influential businessman, and his two sons are so involved in drug trafficking and money laundering that they "pose a significant criminal threat to the United States."[14] After the report was disclosed, the Hank family mobilized to rebut the allegations, hiring high-profile lawyers including Rudman.[15] Rudman was an attorney with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and represented Hank Gonzalez's oldest son, Carlos Hank Rhon.[16]

Rudman lobbied the government to disavow the report and in March 2000 Attorney General Janet Reno wrote a letter that said the report "was beyond the substantive expertise and area of responsibility of the NDIC.″ At Rudman's request, a copy of Reno's letter was sent to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan because of the Hank family's banking interests in the United States.[17][18] Carlos Hank Rhon was later fined $40 million to settle charges that he violated banking laws when he bought Laredo National Bancshares in Texas and failed to disclose the sale of a $20 million share in Laredo National to his father.[19]

He was a co-chair, along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright[20] and former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger,[21] of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business consulting and strategy firm based in Washington, D.C.

He died of cancer on November 19, 2012.[22] His death came only a month after his predecessor John Durkin had died.[23]

After his death, President Obama praised Rudman as an early advocate for fiscal responsibility.[24]