Edward Mezvinsky

Edward Maurice Mezvinsky, born on January 17, 1937, is an American politician and lawyer with a career spanning several decades. He is originally from Ames, Iowa, where he was raised by Jewish immigrant parents from the Russian Empire. His father, Abram, emigrated from Kyiv and was a grocery store owner, while his mother, Feiga "Fanny" Grundman, was from Lashanovka in Volhynia, now part of Ukraine.

Mezvinsky attended the University of Iowa, earning his undergraduate degree in 1960. He subsequently obtained a master's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1965. After completing his education, he briefly practiced law in Iowa, then began a career in politics.

In 1965, he worked in Washington, D.C., for former Representative Neal Smith, focusing on lobbyist disclosure and ethics legislation. Mezvinsky was elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1968, where he gained recognition as a consumer advocate. He ran for U.S. Congress in 1970 but narrowly lost to incumbent Republican Fred Schwengel, losing by 765 votes out of over 120,000. Following reapportionment, he secured a congressional seat in Iowa's 1st district in 1972, defeating Schwengel in a rematch. He was re-elected in 1974.

During his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1977), Mezvinsky served on the House Judiciary Committee. He was among eight Democrats who voted in favor of all five articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, related to the Watergate scandal. In the 1974 election, he defeated Jim Leach but was defeated by Leach in 1976. He was married to Myra Shulman for ten years; they divorced shortly after his first re-election. Later, he married television journalist Marjorie Margolies, with whom he moved to suburban Philadelphia.

From 1977 to 1979, Mezvinsky served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1980 but was unsuccessful, losing to Pete Flaherty. He then became chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 1988 and for lieutenant governor in 1990.

In 2001, Mezvinsky was indicted and subsequently pleaded guilty to 31 federal charges of bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud, involving nearly $10 million. The criminal activities stemmed from being scammed by West African con men via online advance-fee schemes. During this period, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but mental illness was not accepted as a defense during his trial. He was incarcerated from February 2003 until his release in April 2008 after serving five years. He remained on federal probation until 2011 and owed restitution of approximately $9.4 million.

He and Marjorie Margolies, who also served in Congress from 1993 to 1995, have eleven children, including three adopted children and four from Mezvinsky’s first marriage. Margolies was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 1998 and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2000; her campaign was affected by their financial difficulties and subsequent bankruptcy. They eventually divorced.

In the 1990s, during the Clinton administration, Mezvinsky and his wife cultivated relationships with President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, frequently attending White House events. The Clintons and the Mezvinskys first met at the Renaissance Weekend gathering. President Clinton acknowledged that Marjorie Margolies’s vote in Congress was instrumental in passing his 1993 budget and tax legislation, despite her previous opposition to tax increases.

In 2010, Mezvinsky’s son, Marc Mezvinsky, married Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton.