| Peter Hoyt Dominick was born in Stamford, Connecticut,
on July 7, 1915. He was educated in public schools and graduated
from St. Mark's School, Southborough, Massachusetts. He attended
Yale University, where he received his A.B. in 1937, and LL.B. in
1940. After graduation he married Nancy Parks. The Dominicks had
three sons and a daughter, Peter Jr., Michael, Sandy and Lynne.
During World War II, Peter Dominick served in the Army Air Corps
as a pilot. His war service included flying the “hump” between India
and China, and earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and the
Air Medal and Cluster. After the war, Dominick remained in the Air
Force Reserve, reaching the rank of colonel. He maintained his private
pilot's license until health concerns in the late 1960s forced him
to stop flying. The flexibility afforded by his flying greatly increased
the scope of both his political appearances and his speaking throughout
the country.
World War II also introduced him to Colorado, when he spent time
at Lowry Air Base. In 1946, the family moved to Denver, Colorado,
and Dominick joined the law firm of Holland and Hart. He resigned
as a partner in 1961 after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Prior to that, he was elected to the Colorado State Legislature
as a Representative from Arapahoe County. After spending two years
as a U.S. Representative, Dominick ran for the U.S. Senate as a
Republican, and won, defeating an incumbent Democrat.
Dominick served as Senator from 1963 to January, 1975. Those years
saw momentous national events such as the assassination of President
Kennedy, the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights legislation. Dominick
was active in the Republican Party, serving on the Republican Policy Committee.
He was also one of nine Republican Senators to support the Kennedy
Civil Rights Bill. He was the ranking minority member of the Education
Subcommittee of the Labor and Public Welfare Committee. He was an
advocate for giving tax credits for higher education. He was also
very involved with the fight to move the Head Start program from
the Office of Economic Development to the Education Department,
and in the development of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
During his tenure he made two trips to Vietnam as a member of the
Armed Services Committee.
He was defeated for reelection in 1974, and served in 1975 as Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Switzerland until failing health
caused him to resign. He returned to his home in Cherry Hills, Colorado
to battle multiple sclerosis. He died in Hobe Sound, Florida on
March 18, 1981.
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