Америкалық саяхатшы Филлип Крейннің өмірі мен қызметі

American politician (1930 2014)

Philip Miller Crane (November 3, 1930 – November 8, 2014) was an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 2005, representing the 8th District of Illinois in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. At the time of his defeat in the 2004 election, Crane was the longest serving Republican member of the House.

Crane was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Cora Ellen (née Miller) and George Washington Crane III, a physician and college professor. He was educated at Hillsdale College, the University of Vienna, and Indiana University, where he received a PhD in history in 1961. Crane served in the United States Army. He also attended DePauw University and the University of Michigan. Crane was a faculty member at Indiana University and at Bradley University in Peoria, a staff member for the Republican National Committee and a director of research for the 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. His brother Dan Crane served alongside him as the Congressman from another Illinois district for three terms. Another brother, David Crane, ran for Congress from Indiana a few times simultaneously with Phil and Dan. The brothers were dubbed "the Kennedys of the Right". However, David never won a seat in Congress, and Dan ended up being defeated for re election in 1984 due, in part, to his having sexual relations with a 17 year old girl. Phil began to battle alcoholism, which he publicly acknowledged after winning reelection in 2000.

Crane was first elected to the United States Congress in what was then the 13th District in a 1969 special election, succeeding Donald Rumsfeld, who was appointed to a position in the Nixon administration. He remained a member of the group for the remainder of his time in Congress. In 1970, Crane visited the South Vietnamese prison at Côn Sơn Island, and stated that the "tiger cages" were "cleaner than the average Vietnamese home." In 1974, Crane helped initiate the only public and filmed audit of the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox in Kentucky. This experience was shared by 12 congressmen and 100 journalists, and hosted by Mary Brooks, then director of the United States Mint. In 1976, he was appointed Chairman of the Illinois Citizens for Reagan, in which capacity he made numerous speaking engagements throughout the midwest on behalf of the conservative California governor's unsuccessful GOP primary bid for the Presidential nomination. From 1977 to 1979, Crane was the chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), a Washington, D. C. based conservative citizens' lobby and political action group.

In 1978, shortly before the midterm election, Crane announced that he would be a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1980. As chairman of its trade subcommittee, he was effective in his efforts to promote his staunch free trade views. When the full committee's chairman, Bill Archer of Texas, retired after the 2000 elections, Crane made a bid for the highly coveted post of Ways and Means chairman. He was the committee's most senior member, having been on the panel since 1975. However, he was passed over in favor of Bill Thomas of California for the Chairman's job. Some believe that Crane was not chosen because prior to the vote he had admitted to being an alcoholic and sought a leave from the House to get treatment. Others believe that Thomas's ability to raise money for congressional candidates helped him win the chairmanship. Crane did earn the vice chairmanship of the powerful committee. Crane is also noted for the role he played in ending the chewing gum ban in Singapore, as part of negotiations during the US Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

In 2002, Crane's Democratic opponent, business consultant Melissa Bean, accused Crane of being out of touch with his constituents. Indeed, even some Republican voters claimed they had not seen him in decades. He was one of the few congressmen whose Washington office lacked a public email address. Despite being dramatically outspent (she received almost no funding from the national party), Bean surprised both parties by garnering 43 percent of the vote. It was only the second time that Crane had been held below 60 percent of the vote. Bean sought a rematch in the 2004 election. Crane's lack of enthusiasm, perceptions that he was on the verge of retirement, combined with Bean's stance as a moderate Democrat by Chicago area Democratic standards, placed what had long been a very safe Republican seat in jeopardy. Bean raised almost as much money as Crane, mainly from small donors. In contrast, Crane received most of his donations from political action committees. Despite Republican efforts to help Crane, Bean defeated him by roughly four percentage points even as George W. Bush carried the district in the 2004 election by 12 percentage points. Coinciding with the growing Democratic trend in the Chicago suburbs, the 8th has been in Democratic hands for all but one term since. The Almanac of American Politics described Crane as "an unusually bitter loser, refusing to speak to Bean or to arrange for the usually routine post election transfer of district cases and other office files."

Crane died of lung cancer at the home of his daughter, Rebekah, in Jefferson, Maryland, on November 8, 2014, five days after his 84th birthday.

Crane is portrayed by actor James Marsden in the 2020 television miniseries Mrs. America, which aired on the Hulu Network.