Kemp, Jack French

Kemp, Jack French, 1935–, American politician and government official, b. Los Angeles. He played football while at Occidental College (grad. 1957) and thereafter was a professional quarterback for 13 seasons (1957–69), primarily with the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills. While a player, he was a cofounder of the American Football League Players Association and its president from 1965 to 1970. Kemp was elected a U.S. representative from New York in 1970, serving in the House until 1989. A conservative Republican, he attained national prominence as a champion of supply-side economics and urban enterprise zones. He also cowrote the 1981 Kemp-Roth tax cut bill and ran unsuccessfully for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination. From 1989 to 1993 Kemp was secretary of housing and urban development under President George H. W. Bush. Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole chose Kemp as his running mate in 1996, but they lost to the incumbent Clinton-Gore Democratic ticket.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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