[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 134 (Monday, September 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF MR. CHARLES T. MANATT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 12, 2011

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Charles 
``Chuck'' T. Manatt, California lawyer, banker and political visionary 
who recently passed away at the age of seventy-five.
  Manatt was born on June 9, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois to William Price 
Manatt, and Lucille Taylor Manatt. Although born in Chicago, he grew up 
in Audubon, Iowa, helping his father care for the family farm. He was 
an Eagle Scout and a member of the Future Farmers of America. Following 
high school, Manatt attended Iowa State College, where he met fellow 
student Kathleen ``Kathy'' Klinkefus.
  On December 29, 1957 Chuck and Kathy married and moved to Washington, 
DC where Chuck attended the George Washington University School of Law. 
Three years later, the couple moved again to Los Angeles where he 
founded a law firm with his long-time friend and colleague, Thomas 
Phelps. The start-up began as a six-man group of savings and loans 
lawyers and swelled to more than 100 lawyers by the early 1980s. Today, 
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP has over 350 in offices in New York, 
California and Washington, DC.
  While in Los Angeles, Mr. Manatt also began to forge relationships 
with several of the Democratic National Committee's most influential 
leaders. In the aftermath of the 1980 elections, when Ronald Reagan was 
overwhelmingly elected to the White House, Chuck, who had been DNC 
finance chairman, openly campaigned for the position.
  In 1981, Mr. Manatt claimed Chairmanship of the Democratic National 
Committee. He reinvigorated the party. On the eve of the 1984 
Democratic convention in San Francisco, presidential nominee-in-waiting 
Walter Mondale tried to replace Manatt with Carter administration 
official, but backed off after an internal outcry. That year, Ronald 
Reagan handily secured the Presidential nomination, but Manatt and the 
Democrats fared better in 1992, when he was co-chairman of Bill 
Clinton's presidential campaign. Clinton went on to win the Presidency 
and later appointed Manatt as ambassador to the Dominican Republic, 
where he served from 1999-2001.
  During the course of his prestigious career, Manatt served on the 
boards of the Mayo Foundation, the National Museum of American History, 
the Wesley Foundation, the National Legal Center for the Public 
Interest and the National Endowment for Democracy. He was also the 
founding chair of First Los Angeles Bank, was elected chair of the 
California Bankers Association, served on the board of directors of 
FedEx Corp., and was a member of the board of directors of Oak Value 
Management, Inc.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to rise and join me in paying 
tribute to the life of Charles Manatt as we offer our condolences to 
his family and celebrate his memory.

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