Robert Michel

Robert Michel (born March 2, 1923, Peoria, Illinois, U.S.—died February 17, 2017, Arlington, Virginia) was an American politician who served as a Republican representative from Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives (1957–95) and as house minority leader (1981–95); he served as Republican leader longer than any previous representative. He was very conservative but worked with Democrats as well as Republicans to get legislation passed, and U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton praised him by saying that he “never put his party’s political interest ahead of the national interest.”

Michel grew up in Peoria, and after graduating from high school he enlisted (1942) in the U.S. Army. He participated in the Normandy Invasion and in the Battle of the Bulge, and he fought in France and Belgium. He received two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart and in 1946 was given a disability discharge. He graduated in 1948 from Bradley University and almost immediately went to work as an assistant to Rep. Harold Velde. Velde became chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and while he was busy in Washington, D.C., Michel tended to Velde’s constituents in Illinois. When Velde chose not to run again in 1956, Michel ran in his place and succeeded him.

As a legislator, he opposed Great Society social programs and made himself an expert in procedure and in appropriations for health, education, and welfare. Michel played a key role in getting Pres. Ronald Reagan’s economic agenda approved in the House of Representatives, and he was known to be frank with the president on the chances of proposed legislation being approved. He was chosen as minority whip (the second-ranking leadership position) in 1975.

Michel disliked the confrontational style ushered in by some younger colleagues, such as Newt Gingrich, and he decided not to seek reelection in 1994—just before the Republicans won a majority in the House for the first time in 40 years. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and was honoured in 2003 with the Congressional Distiguished Service Award.