Bob Casey Sr.

Robert Patrick Casey Sr. (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as the Democratic 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 22nd district from 1963 to 1968 and as Auditor General of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1977.

Casey was best known for leading the anti-abortion wing of the Democratic Party, taking the lead in fighting Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a major Supreme Court case that upheld almost all the prohibitions on abortion that Casey signed into law. He championed unions, believed in government as a beneficent force, and supported gun rights.

Quotes

 * "What has become of the Democratic Party I once knew?" 1992
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 * "The pro-life Republicans drop the children at birth and do nothing for them after that" 1994
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 * "...as far as the Republican Party is concerned, the business of government is business" 1994
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Quote about

 * "You have no idea what a deep sense of probity he had.... He was just the kind of person that made the whole Washington establishment completely uncomfortable.... They could never understand him."
 * Former aide James Carville speaking after the governor's death on June 1st 2000.


 * "As for civil rights, under Casey's leadership, more women were appointed to his cabinet than by any other governor in the country. He appointed the first black woman to sit on a state supreme court; and state contracts to women and minority firms increased more than 1,500 percent."
 * Nat Hentoff September 8th 2008