BALTIMORE — Paul S. Sarbanes, a low-key son of Greek immigrants who fiercely protected the Chesapeake Bay and other Maryland interests during 30 years in the U.S. Senate, died Sunday night, according to his son. He was 87.
The Democrat "passed away peacefully this evening in Baltimore," said a statement by U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, who represents Maryland's 3rd Congressional District.
Sarbanes' office didn't immediately reply to questions about details of the death such as the cause or where he was when he died.
A workhorse with a consistently liberal voting record, the elder Sarbanes in 2000 became the state's first U.S. senator to win a fifth term. Democrat Millard E. Tydings had served four terms, ending in 1951.
"Our family is grateful to know that we have the support of Marylanders who meant so much to him and whom he was honored to serve," John Sarbanes' statement said.
Republicans called him a "stealth senator" — he could be low-profile — but Sarbanes actively worked at bay restoration and the protection of the estuary's trails and waterways, helped protect consumers' privacy in banking, and became a key figure in high-profile congressional investigations from Watergate to Iran-Contra to Whitewater.
His Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to protect investors by establishing an independent oversight board to rein in accounting abuses. It also restricted the ability of accounting firms to provide consulting services to public companies they audit.
The Watergate scandal broke in the middle of his freshman year in the House. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he drafted the first article of impeachment against Republican President Richard M. Nixon, accusing Nixon of obstructing justice. Nixon was accused of multiple abuses of power, including the use of government agencies to harass political enemies and to interfere with an FBI investigation of a break-in at the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.
Born in Salisbury on Feb. 3, 1933, Sarbanes was the prototype of the self-made American.
He grew up around the restaurant owned by his parents, Spyros and Matina, landed a scholarship to Princeton University and went on to become a Rhodes scholar. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960, the same year he married his British-born wife, Christine. They had three children.
Sarbanes entered politics in 1966 with a successful bid for the House of Delegates, and four years later won election to Congress. After three terms in the U.S. House, he moved up to the Senate, defeating former Sen. Joseph Tydings in the primary and unseating Republican Sen. J. Glenn Beall in November.
He was reelected four times by wide margins, despite his reputation as the "phantom senator." It's a moniker Sarbanes was at peace with. He laughed about it during a 2005 Baltimore Sun interview and hinted his invisibility had been part of a strategy over the years. Stealth, Sarbanes said, is "one of the most important weapons in our military arsenal. ... If you let somebody else take the credit, you can get the result."
The elder Sarbanes was a mentor to former Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Baltimore, who said he helped her plot a strategy for landing a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Sarbanes' wife, Christine Sarbanes, a retired educator, died in 2009. The couple had another son, Michael A. Sarbanes, and a daughter, Janet M. Sarbanes.
A private service was planned.
"Following state, local and public health guidance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our family will hold a private service in the coming days," John Sarbanes' statement said.
