Pete McCloskey Paul Norton " Pete " McCloskey , Jr . ( born September 29 , 1927 ) is a former Republican politician from the U . S . state of California who served in the U . S . House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983 . He ran on an anti - war platform for the Republican nomination for President in 1972 but was defeated by incumbent President Richard Nixon . In April 2007 , McCloskey switched his affiliation to the Democratic Party . He is a decorated United States Marine Corps veteran of combat during the Korean War , being awarded the Navy Cross , the Silver Star , and two awards of the Purple Heart . He published a book called " Truth and Untruth : Political Deceit in America " in 1972 . One of McCloskey ' s enduring legacies is his co - authorship of the 1973 Endangered Species Act . Early life . Pete McCloskey ' s great - grandfather was orphaned in the Great Irish Famine and came to California in 1853 at the age of 16 . He and his son , McCloskey ' s grandfather , were farmers in Merced County . The family were lifelong Republicans . McCloskey was born on September 29 , 1927 , in Loma Linda , California , and attended public schools in South Pasadena and San Marino . He was inducted into South Pasadena High School Hall of Fame for the sport of baseball . He attended Occidental College and California Institute of Technology under the U . S . Navy ' s V - 5 Pilot Program . He graduated from Stanford University in 1950 and Stanford University Law School in 1953 . Military service . McCloskey voluntarily served in the U . S . Navy from 1945 to 1947 , the U . S . Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952 , the U . S . Marine Corps Reserve from 1952 to 1960 and the Ready Reserve from 1960 to 1967 . He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1974 , having attained the rank of Colonel . He was awarded the Navy Cross and Silver Star decorations for heroism in combat and two Purple Heart s as a Marine during the Korean War . He then volunteered for the Vietnam War before eventually turning against it . In 1992 , he wrote his fourth book , " The Taking of Hill 610 " , describing some of his exploits in Korea . Political career . McCloskey served as Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County , California , from 1953 to 1954 and practiced law in Palo Alto , California , from 1955 to 1967 , cofounding the firm that eventually became Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati . He was a lecturer on legal ethics at the Santa Clara and Stanford Law Schools from 1964 to 1967 . He was elected as a Republican to the 90th Congress , by special election , to fill the vacancy caused by the death of U . S . Rep . J . Arthur Younger and was reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses , serving from December 12 , 1967 to January 3 , 1983 . In a 1981 interview , he stated that he thought he " was the first Republican elected opposing the war " despite the fact that his " constituency , two to one , favored the war in 1967 . " He sought the 1972 Republican Presidential nomination on a pro - peace / anti - Vietnam War platform , and obtained 11 % of the vote against incumbent President Richard M . Nixon in the New Hampshire primary . At the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach , Florida , Rep . McCloskey received one vote ( out of 1324 ) from a New Mexico delegate . All other votes cast went to President Nixon , thus McCloskey finished second place in the race for the Presidential nomination . Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio had also challenged President Nixon ' s bid for re - nomination , albeit on a conservative platform . McCloskey was not a candidate for reelection in 1982 , but was instead an unsuccessful Republican candidate for nomination to the United States Senate . The 1982 California Republican Senatorial primary was a contentious battle between Rep . McCloskey , Maureen Reagan ( daughter of then - President Ronald Reagan ) , Rep . Barry Goldwater Jr . ( son of Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater ) , and San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson . Wilson was the eventual victor . His book " The Taking of Hill 610 " put an end to Pat Robertson ' s 1988 Presidential run . McCloskey was the first member of Congress to publicly call for the impeachment of President Nixon after the Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre . He was also the first lawmaker to call for a repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that allowed for the War in Vietnam . He chose , in early 1975 , to see for himself the effects of US bombing in Cambodia , stating afterwards that his country had committed " greater evil than we have done to any country in the world , and wholly without reason , except for our benefit to fight against the Vietnamese . " An opponent of the Iraq War , McCloskey broke party ranks in 2004 to endorse John Kerry in his bid to unseat George W . Bush as President of the United States . In 1989 , McCloskey co - founded the Council for the National Interest along with former Congressman Paul Findley . He taught political science at Santa Clara University in the early 1980s . For many years , he practiced law in Redwood City , California and resided in Woodside , California . 2006 run for Congress . On January 23 , 2006 , McCloskey announced at a press conference in Lodi , California that he would return to the political arena by running against seven - term incumbent Republican Richard Pombo in the Republican primary for California ' s 11th congressional district . Earlier in the year , he formed a group called the " Revolt of the Elders " to recruit a viable primary candidate to run against Pombo . McCloskey ' s aging campaign bus sported the slogan " Restore Ethics to Congress . " McCloskey said , " Congressmen are like diapers . You need to change them often , and for the same reason . " McCloskey was endorsed in the Republican Party primary by the " San Francisco Chronicle " and the " Los Angeles Times " . In the June 6 , 2006 , primary , McCloskey was defeated by Pombo . McCloskey received 32 % of the vote . On July 24 , 2006 , McCloskey endorsed Jerry McNerney , a Democrat who would go on to unseat Pombo in the 2006 midterm elections . McCloskey spent most of Election Night at McNerney ' s victory party . The Sierra Club recognized McCloskey for helping to unseat Pombo with their 2006 Edgar Wayburn Award . Change of political affiliation . In the spring of 2007 , McCloskey announced that he had changed his party affiliation to the Democratic Party . In an email and letter to the " Tracy Press " , McCloskey stressed that the " new brand of Republicanism " had finally led him to abandon the party that he had joined in 1948 . He followed this up with an op - ed column in which he explained that " Disagreement [ with party leadership ] turned into disgust " and " I finally concluded that it was fraud for me to remain a member of this modern Republican Party " , although it was a " decision not easily taken . " Political positions . McCloskey is pro - choice , supports stem cell research and Oregon ' s assisted suicide law . He was a co - chair of the first Earth Day in 1970 . IHR controversy . Pete McCloskey gave an address to the Institute for Historical Review ( IHR ) in 2000 . When he ran in the 2006 Republican Party primary for congress , there was controversy over exactly what he said about the Holocaust at the event . According to the " San Jose Mercury News " McCloskey said at the time , " I don ' t know whether you are right or wrong about the Holocaust , " and referred to the " so - called Holocaust " . McCloskey replied that he has never questioned the existence of the Holocaust , and the 2000 quote referred to a debate over the number of people killed . McCloskey said in an interview with the " Contra Costa Times " on January 18 , 2006 that the IHR transcript of his speech was inaccurate . Journalist Mark Hertsgaard of " The Nation " , in response to criticism of an article he wrote praising McCloskey ' s campaign against Pombo , stated that a tape he had viewed of McCloskey ' s speech to the IHR did not contain the " right or wrong " wording present in the transcript . Family and personal life . McCloskey ' s first marriage was to Caroline ; they had four children , Nancy , Peter , John , and Kathleen , before divorcing . He later married Helen V . Hooper .