 |
| Ken Starr, the man who lead to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. |
The former U.S. Solicitor General who investigated Bill Clinton during the Whitewater controversy and later defended Washed Up 45 during his impeachment trial passed away. He was also a scandal plagued Baylor University president who was ousted over sexual harassment allegations.
Kenneth Starr was an American lawyer and judge. He appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1989 and was the 39th Solicitor General of the United States. He served the term through 1989 until 1993. His deputy was Karen Roberts, the future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Starr received the most attention as the independent counsel to Clinton while he was the president. Starr was appointed to look into the Vince Foster suicide and Whitewater. He would soon become the guy who led the charge to get Clinton impeached for perjury. The 42nd President of the United States had a sexual encounter with intern Monica Lewinsky. Starr filed the Starr Report which Clinton lied under oath about the existence of an affair. The Republicans led the charge to impeach him in the House. Soon in the Senate, 10 Republicans joined the Democrats in saving Clinton from being removed from office and forbidden from running for office.
Starr died in Houston of complications from surgery at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, a statement released by his family said.
"We are deeply saddened with the loss of our dear and loving Father and Grandfather, whom we admired for his prodigious work ethic, but who always put his family first," Starr's son, Randall P. Starr, said in a statement. "The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him. He is now with his Lord and Savior."
Born in Vernon Texas in 1946, Starr was the son of a Congregationalist minister and grew up in San Antonio. He excelled at school, eventually graduating with a bachelor's degree in history from George Washington University in 1968.
Starr earned a master’s degree from Brown University the year after. In the early 1970s, he attended Duke University Law School, where he edited the institution’s law journal.
After graduating from Duke Law in 1973, Starr clerked for a federal appellate court judge. The experience led to a two-year clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger between 1975 and 1977.
The experience helped land Starr a Justice Department job in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan swept into office. Starr excelled in the role, serving as an aide to the attorney general.
 |
| Scandal followed Bill Clinton. |
In 1983 at the age of 37, Starr was nominated by Reagan to serve on the United States District Court of Appeals. Starr served as a judge until 1989 when he was appointed to serve as solicitor general by President George H.W. Bush.
In the role, Starr represented the federal government in front of the Supreme Court 25 times on a bevy of matters. In 1990, he was considered a front-runner to replace Associate Justice William Brennan on the Supreme Court. Bush opted instead to appoint David Souter after concerns emerged that Starr might not be conservative enough.
After Bush lost re-election in 1992 to Clinton, Starr ventured into private practice, joining the firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Starr was at the firm when a special three-judge panel appointed him to oversee the Whitewater affair in August 1994.
He zealously pursued charges against Clinton during the White House sex scandal.
Under Starr’s watch, the probe grew to include hundreds of staffers — costing taxpayers more than $52 million over a six-year time span. It resulted in more than two dozen indictments, a dozen convictions, and Clinton’s impeachment and eventual acquittal for allegedly lying and obstructing justice.
"What one finds out in getting into an investigation is, ‘Oh my word’ — there are different avenues that come to you," Starr told CNN in 2018 while discussing his tenure as investigative counsel.
Clinton’s impeachment backfired on Republicans, with the party losing four House seats in the 1998 midterms. The results defied historical trends, which usually show the president’s party losing seats after six years in office.
After his stint overseeing the Whitewater probe, Starr returned to private practice. In his later years, he served as a high-profile appellate lawyer in front of the Supreme Court, arguing several cases successfully.
In 2010, Starr became the president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. As president, he oversaw the opening of the university’s $250 million football stadium. His administration also prioritized expanding academic, athletic and extracurricular opportunities for students.
"He was not someone who had a history with Baylor, but he was a big name, and they were looking to raise their profile and raise more money for the university and thought that bringing him in would really appeal to the donors," ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne told NPR earlier this year.
Starr’s tenure at the helm of the school was not without blemish, however. Starr resigned from the position in 2016 over the criticism surrounding the university’s handling of alleged sexual assaults by football players on the Baptist university's campus.
"I didn't know about what was happening, but I have to and I willingly do accept responsibility," Starr said at the time. "The captain goes down with the ship."
 |
| Baylor fired him after looking the other way. |
In a statement, university President Linda A. Livingstone called Starr a "dedicated public servant and ardent supporter of religious freedom."
"Judge Starr had a profound impact on Baylor University, leading a collaborative visioning process to develop the Pro Futuris strategic vision in 2012 that placed Baylor on the path to where we are today as a Christian Research 1 institution," Livingstone said. "Baylor University and the Baylor Family express our deepest sympathies to Alice Starr and her family, and our prayers remain with them as they mourn the loss of a husband, father and grandfather. May God’s peace and comfort surround them and give them strength now, and in the days to come."
After exiting academia, Starr returned to law and politics. In 2018, he emerged as a key defender of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh during the latter’s confirmation process.
In 2020, Starr was tapped as a defense attorney for Washed Up 45’s first impeachment trial. The move brought the former investigative counsel full circle.
At the time, Starr said he was pushed to take the job because of the politicization of the impeachment process by congressional Democrats.
"The Senate is being called to sit as the high court of impeachment all too frequently," he said. "Indeed, we are living in what I think can aptly be described as the age of impeachment."
Starr leaves behind his wife, Alice Mendell Starr, three children and nine grandchildren, his family said. He will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
