Paul Sarbanes, senator from Maryland who led overhaul of corporate accounting rules, dies at 87

Source: Washington Post

Paul S. Sarbanes, who as a young Maryland congressman drafted and introduced the first article of impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon and as a five-term U.S. senator tightened the regulation of corporate accounting practices after corruption scandals at Enron and other businesses, died Dec. 6 in Baltimore. He was 87.

The death was confirmed by his son Rep. John Sarbanes, who represents Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District.

Unlike many of his contemporary officeholders, Mr. Sarbanes was uncomfortable with the backslapping, glad-handing and grandstanding that often go with public office. He avoided the social and party circuit in the nation’s capital and rarely spent a night in Washington, preferring instead to drive home to his wife and children in Baltimore.

Sometimes described as a “phantom senator,” he often shunned even perfunctory self-promotion tactics such as issuing news releases and holding news conferences. He was widely recognized for a superb intellect and a quick and nimble mind, but he had “an odd lack of sparkle for one so brilliant,” journalist Peter A. Jay once wrote in the Baltimore Sun.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2020/12/07/a31ca0ac-385a-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html