Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman papers

Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman (b. 1939) represented Delaware in the United States Senate from January 15, 2009 - November 15, 2010. Democrat Ted Kaufman was appointed by Governor Ruth Ann Minner to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the resignation of newly elected Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; Senator Ted Kaufman did not seek election to the office in a special election for the seat in November 2010.

Edward E. Kaufman, known personally and professionally as "Ted," was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 1939, to Helen Carroll and Manuel Kaufman. His mother was a teacher and his father, a social worker, was Deputy Commissioner of Public Welfare. Ted Kaufman attended Central High School in Philadelphia. He received a bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University in 1960. The same year, he married his wife, Lynne Mayo, and they eventually had three daughters. Kaufman began his career as a sales engineer in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, working for the American Standard Industrial Division, which deepened his interest in marketing and business.

Kaufman then pursued a business degree at the University of Pennsylvania where he received an MBA from the Wharton School in 1966. Following graduation, he moved to Delaware to work for the DuPont Company in various technical, marketing, and finance positions. He worked as a technical representative for engineering products in Boston and Los Angeles before returning to Wilmington to work on financial analysis. Back in Delaware, Kaufman became involved in politics.

In 1972 Kaufman volunteered to work on the Senate campaign of Democratic candidate Joseph R. "Joe" Biden, Jr. At age 29, Biden was successful in the first of seven elections to represent Delaware in the United States Senate. Kaufman began working on Biden's staff full time in 1973, managing his state office in Wilmington. Kaufman initially planned to stay on Biden's staff for one year with a leave of absence from his work at DuPont. Kaufman stayed on and served as state director in charge of the Wilmington office until 1976 and became Senator Biden's chief of staff from 1976-1995. From the 1980s until 1994, Kaufman also served as an advisory board member of the Congressional Management Foundation, an organization working directly with staff and members of Congress to enhance operations and citizen engagement.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton appointed Kaufman as a charter member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent, federal agency in charge of all U.S. government and government-sponsored non-military international broadcasting. Kaufman's appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and he served until 2008.

Also during the period 1995-2008, Kaufman was president of Public Strategies, a political and management consulting firm in Wilmington, Delaware. Beginning in 1991, Kaufman was also active teaching in three of Duke University's programs: the School of Law (Duke in D.C.), the Sanford School of Public Policy, and the Fuqua Graduate School of Business.

Throughout this period, Kaufman remained engaged with politics. Between 1997-2001, he was the Democratic National Committeeman from Delaware, and during the 2000 Delaware gubernatorial elections, he served on the strategy committee to elect Ruth Ann Minner. When Minner was elected, Kaufman also served on her transition committee. Kaufman continued to serve as a senior advisor to Joe Biden, and in late 2008, he was co-chair of Biden's vice presidential transition team.

On November 4, 2008, incumbent Senator Joe Biden won re-election to his seat in the United States Senate, but he also was elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket with presidential candidate Barack Obama. Biden was sworn in to his seventh Senate term, but he resigned his seat on January 15, 2009 and was inaugurated to the vice presidency on January 20, 2009.

On November 24, 2008, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced her decision to appoint Ted Kaufman to fill the Senate seat that would be vacated when Biden assumed the office of Vice President. Governor Minner explained that she wanted to appoint someone whose policies closely matched Biden's. She also wanted someone who would not run in the November 2010 special election to complete the rest of Biden's unfinished Senate term.

Senator Kaufman's first committee appointments were on those which Joe Biden had previously served (and also chaired): the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In March 2010, Kaufman was appointed to two additional committees: Armed Services, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. His appointment to Armed Services marked the first time a Delawarean had served on that committee.

In Kaufman's work on foreign relations, he supported international press freedom, public diplomacy, and civilian-military cooperation. His work on the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Armed Services Committee, took him on six trips to the Middle East. Kaufman was an active proponent of the Middle East peace process and human rights in Iran, joining with several other Senators to pass the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act, signed into law in July 2009. Kaufman also was co-chair and founder of the Senate Global Internet Freedom Caucus.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Kaufman participated on two Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Justices Sonia Sotomayor (2009) and Elena Kagan (2010). As a member of the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee, Kaufman sat on the 2010 impeachment trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., United States Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Financial sector reform came to be a signature issue for Kaufman. Although he was not a member of the Banking Committee, he addressed issues of too-big-to-fail financial institutions, financial fraud, high frequency trading, and other market and financial structure issues. Kaufman co-introduced the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) in April 2009; the bipartisan proposal received broad support and was signed into law. Senator Kaufman was a vocal supporter of reinstituting the Glass-Steagall Act (the Banking Act of 1933) to limit affiliations between commercial banks and securities firms. Kaufman also co-introduced the Safe, Accountable, Fair and Efficient (SAFE) Banking Act of 2010, which would have limited the size of banks.

As the only serving Senator who worked as an engineer, Kaufman was an active promoter of the expansion of education and programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). He worked to procure funds for research and extension grants through the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, particularly to encourage women and minorities from rural areas to participate in STEM opportunities. In April 2010, Kaufman received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) prestigious President's Award, presented to companies and individuals who have made significant contributions to the engineering profession.

In October 2010, Kaufman was appointed to the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP). COP, a bipartisan organization created by Congress in 2008, was charged with overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the $700 billion the Treasury was authorized to spend to stabilize the U.S. economy. Kaufman was elected as the panel's second chairperson, and he oversaw the panel as it conducted hearings, evaluated official data, and released reports. Kaufman served as chair until the committee ceased operation in March 2011.

After his time in the Senate, Kaufman continued to engage with issues, such as financial reform, and write editorials for various news outlets, including the Wilmington News Journal and Forbes.

Duke Law. "Ted Kaufman: Visiting Professor of the Practice." http://law.duke.edu/fac/kaufman/ (Accessed January 2014).Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman interview with Dr. James Stocker, 29 August 2012, Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society: www.sechistorical.org: the Virtual Museum and Archive of the History of Financial Regulation. http://www.sechistorical.org/museum/oral-histories/h-k/ (accessed January 2014)"Kaufman, Edward E. (Ted), (1939- )." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000373 (accessed January 2014)."Ted Kaufman: United States Senator for Delaware. Biography." Ted Kaufman papers, Archived Website captured November 2010, University of Delaware Library. http://green.lib.udel.edu/webarchives/kaufman.senate.gov/senator/index.htm (accessed January 2014)."UD Special Collections receives Sen. Kaufman's papers," UDaily (University of Delaware). http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2011/nov/senator-kaufman-papers-112410.html (accessed January 2014).United States Congress. Joint Committee on Printing.Official Congressional Directory 2009-2010: 111th Congress. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2009.