Jim Moody

Jim Moody passed away on Friday, March 22, 2019 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland at the age of 83 with his wife, Janice, at his side.

Jim was born in Richlands, Virginia on September 2, 1935. He graduated from Anglo American High School, Athens, Greece, in 1953. He earned a B.A. from Haverford College in 1957, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1967 and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in1973.

Jim devoted his entire professional life to the causes of world peace and economic justice. He became the CARE representative in Yugoslavia in 1959. After two years in Yugoslavia, he was assigned by CARE to Iran to lead a special feeding program assisting hospitals and schools and to direct periodic earthquake relief. Jim became one of the first members of the Peace Corps where he served in Iran, and Pakistan. He set up the Peace Corps’ first programs in Pakistan and Bangladesh—the first two Peace Corps programs in continental Asia. He subsequently became the loan officer for the USAID capital development program for Southeast Asia.

After earning his Masters and PhD, Jim became associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In 1976, Jim entered politics running successfully to become a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. As a member of the Assembly, Jim was instrumental in stopping the planned construction of a freeway along the shore of Lake Michigan preserving Milwaukee’s beautiful lakefront for future generations. He considered this one of the most significant and satisfying achievements of his lifetime.

In 1982, Jim was elected to the US Congress from Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district. He served five terms through 1992. In Congress he was elected to the House Ways & Means Committee and then assigned to the International Trade and Health/Medicare subcommittees. Among the bills he sponsored was the first ever legislation for single-payer universal health care in the United States. He also sponsored bills in wilderness preservation and pro-competition truck hauling and legislation to prevent federal start-up employment incentives from being used for strike breaking. While in Congress, he co-founded the organization that became the National Security Archive Project that continues today as a major force for transparency in federal government actions, especially overseas. Also, based on his experience in Bangladesh, Jim co-founded the Congressional support coalition for International Family Planning. Jim also served as a Congressional observer to the Strategic Arms Limitation negotiations between the United States and Soviet Union.

Jim’s campaign for the Democratic nomination to for the Unites States Senate in 1992 was unsuccessful and he retired from, but never lost interest in, politics and international affairs. He remained an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served as an independent election observer in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Following his political career, Jim worked for the International Fund for Agricultural Development from 1995 to1998 after which he became president of InterAction, an association of international development and relief organizations. From 2000 until his retirement he worked as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer. He also served as an adjunct professor for the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., and resident scholar for American University.

Jim married Janice Boettcher in 1992 and they had two wonderful children; Brad now age 25 and Sarah age 23. Jim is also survived by his brother, Mark Moody and by his sister, Margaret Huston. Jim was predeceased by his brother, Michael Moody.

The family is holding a private memorial. Memorial donations can be made to Relief International at http://www. ri.org.

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