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Thomas Kean

Thomas Kean (21 April 1935-) was the Republican Governor of New Jersey from 19 January 1982 to 16 January 1990, succeeding Brendan Byrne and preceding James Florio.

Biography[]

Thomas Kean was born in New York City, New York in 1935, the son of Robert Kean, the grandson of Hamilton Fish Kean, the grand-nephew of John Kean, the second-great-nephew of Hamilton Fish, and a descendant of William Livingston. He worked as a teacher of history and government before moving to Livingston, New Jersey in 1967. Kean served in the General Assembly from 1968 to 1978, and, while his 1978 bid for the governorship was unsuccessful, he was elected in 1982 as a moderate Republican. He promised to foster job creation, clean up toxic waste sites, reduce crime, and to preserve home rule, and he was hugely popular in office and won re-election in 1985 with 70% of the vote. After leaving office, he served as President of Drew University from 1990 to 2005, chaired the 9/11 Commission from 2002 to 2004, and served as President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 2021.

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