Bruce F. Caputo

Bruce Faulkner Caputo
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 23rd district
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Peter A. Peyser
Succeeded by	Peter A. Peyser
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 87th district
In office January 1, 1973 – December 31, 1976
Preceded by	Thomas J. McInerney
Succeeded by	Thomas J. McInerney
Personal details
Born	August 7, 1943 New York City
Spouse(s)	Bonnie Caputo
Residence	[New York, New York]]
Alma mater	Harvard University Georgetown Law School
Occupation	Attorney

Bruce Faulkner Caputo (born August 7, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

Born in New York City, he graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1961, Harvard University in 1965 and Harvard Business School in 1967. After leaving Harvard Caputo went to work in the Office of the Secretary of Defense who at the time was Robert McNamara whose Systems Analysis unit hired recent business school graduates to work on various policy issues. During his first four years of working Caputo went to law school at night and received a law degree from Georgetown Law School in 1971.

In 1969 Caputo was one of the four co-founders and a board member and principal stockholder of ICF, a management consulting company. Initially focusing on energy and health care issues, the company later expanded into environmental businesses and began to build engineering capabilities. In 1988 ICF acquired Kaiser Engineers, which had originated as the engineering unit of Henry J. Kaiser's industrial empire and grew to rank among the largest engineering and construction companies in the world. The following year (1989) the combined company went public and eventually traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The company operated as "ICF Kaiser," with the consulting unit remaining largely intact.

In 1999, ICF Consulting ended its decade-long affiliation with Kaiser Engineers through a leveraged buyout, financed in part by the CM Equity Partners, LP, an equity investment firm based in New York City.

In 2006, ICF Consulting was renamed ICF International to reflect its growing geographic presence and the increased scope of its offerings from advisory services through implementation and improvement. The firm completed an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and now is a publicly traded firm listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol ICFI.

Caputo was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1972, representing a district in Yonkers. He was re-elected in 1974, and sat in the 180th and 181st New York State Legislatures. Caputo served on the Assembly Ways and Means, Housing and Insurance committees.

In 1976, Republican Congressman Peter A. Peyser gave up his seat to challenge U.S. Senator James L. Buckley for the Republican nomination. Caputo ran for the congressional seat and won, defeating Democratic Assemblyman J. Edward Meyer, a former Republican who became a Democrat in 1973. Caputo's district included Yonkers, three towns in lower Westchester and the Woodlawn, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Edenwald, Eastchester and Baychester sections of the Bronx. Caputo served on the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs committee and the Ethics committee.

In 1978, Perry Duryea, the Republican leader of the State Assembly and front runner for the Republican nomination for governor, picked Caputo as his running mate for lieutenant governor. The Republican state convention nominated them both in fall of 1978. Governor Hugh L. Carey, a Democrat who was elected in 1974, and his lieutenant governor running mate, Mario Cuomo, narrowly defeated the Duryea-Caputo ticket.

In 1980, Caputo entered the Republican primary against U.S. Senator Jacob Javits, but withdrew after his main rival on the right, Alfonse D'Amato, secured the crucial nominations of the Conservative and Right to Life parties.^[1] D'Amato defeated Javits in the Republican primary and won the general election in the fall. In his autobiography, "Power, Politics, and Pasta: The World According to Senator Al D'Amato" (1995), D'Amato bitterly criticized Caputo.

In 1981, President Reagan nominated Caputo as an alternate United States delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. The Senate confirmed the nomination and Caputo began serving in the spring of that year.

Early in 1982, Caputo announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was seeking a second term in the 1982 mid-term election. Considered a young rising star in the Republican Party, Caputo raised money around the country but withdrew from the race after failing to get the support of key Republican and Conservative Party county leaders. Tim Russert, who worked for Senator Moynihan as a campaign aide at the time, told several news outlets that Caputo claimed to have served in the military when in fact was a civilian at the Pentagon^[2][3] and that an entry in "Who's Who in American Politics" stated he had been in the military^[4] The entry for Caputo in the official Congressional biography publication, known as the Blue Book, contained no reference to military service. The entry for Caputo in the official New York State Legislature biography publication, known as the Red Book, contained no reference to military service. Caputo's campaign material contained no such reference. Caputo read and approved in advance the Congressional and State Legislature biographies. He did not do so with the Who's Who publication. Although Caputo never said he served in the military, his time in the Pentagon may have given that impression. In fact, Caputo worked as a civilian analyst at the Pentagon.^[5] Later that year, Assemblywoman Florence M. Sullivan of Brooklyn won the Republican primary but was defeated by Moynihan.

Since leaving politics, Caputo has worked as a lawyer. Caputo received attention in June 2008 after the death of NBC News Washington bureau chief (and Meet the Press moderator) Tim Russert. A number of articles noted Russert's role in the 1982 Senate race. In May 2010, Caputo was compared to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who falsely claimed to have served in Vietnam.^[6]

Personal life

Caputo is married to Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo, the first woman pilot for a major airline. They have two children. He is currently a resident of New York, New York.

External links

• Bruce F. Caputo at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

References

1. New York Magazine, May 25, 1981, "Caputo Copies D'Amato Act" in PDF through Google Books
2. New Yorker, June 23, 2008, "Postscript: Tim Russert
3. U.S. News &World Report, June 13, 2008, "Tim Russert, 1950-2008: Gone Much Too Soon"
4. New York Times, February 21, 1982, "Headliners: Caputo's Army
5. New York Times, February 21, 1982, "Headliners: Caputo's Army
6. Hartford Courant, May 19, 2010, "Analysis: Blumenthal's Image Damaged, But Perhaps Not Fatally"