Senator (R-NH) 1980-1993

Warren B. Rudman (May 18, 1930 – November 19, 2012) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented New Hampshire in the United States Senate from 1980 to 1993. A Korean War veteran and former amateur boxer, Rudman was known for his blunt style, independence, and commitment to bipartisan governance.

Elected to the Senate in 1980, Rudman quickly became a leading voice on fiscal responsibility and national security, sitting on the Appropriations, Ethics, and Intelligence committees. He is best remembered as co‑author of the Gramm‑Rudman‑Hollings Balanced Budget Act of 1985, which sought to impose automatic spending cuts to reduce the federal deficit.

After leaving the Senate in 1993, Rudman remained active in public policy, co‑chairing the Hart‑Rudman Commission on national security and warning of the likelihood of a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil before 9/11. Rudman was also a founding co‑chair of the Partnership for a Secure America, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to rebuilding bipartisan consensus on U.S. national security and foreign policy. He later served on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, led investigations into corporate accounting practices, and helped found the Concord Coalition to promote fiscal discipline and bipartisan national‑security policy.

Born in Boston and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, Rudman attended Valley Forge Military Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University before serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After law school at Boston College, he built a reputation as a tough prosecutor and served as New Hampshire attorney general from 1970 to 1976.