Dick Thornburgh, Former PA Governor, U.S. Attorney General Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA — Dick Thornburgh, who served as both Pennsylvania governor and U.S. attorney general under presidents Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush, died Thursday in a Pittsburgh-area retirement community. He was 88.

Rising from the ranks of a federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh, the moderate Republican served as governor from 1979 until 1987. He perhaps was best known for his deft handling of the 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility near Harrisburg that resulted in radioactive gases being released into the atmosphere.

In 1988, Reagan appointed Thornburgh attorney general to replace Edwin Meese in the wake of the Iran-Contra scandal and was asked to stay on when Bush succeeded Reagan in 1989. He resigned in 1991 to mount an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate, losing to Democrat Harris Wofford.

Current Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf lauded Thornburgh Thursday for his "calm, grounded leadership."

"He guided Pennsylvania through a tumultuous period in our commonwealth’s history following the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station. His was a necessary and steady voice of calm in the midst of crisis," Wolf said.

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said that Thornburgh "dedicated his professional life to public service. He led Pennsylvania and later, the Department of Justice successfully and with integrity. The steady nature in which he guided Pennsylvania through one of its most dangerous crises – the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island – should serve as an example for all elected officials"

Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and the nation's first homeland security secretary, praised Thornburg via Twitter.

Thornburgh grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rosslyn Farms. He obtained his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and was a corporate attorney before joining the U.S. Department of Justice. President Richard Nixon appointed him as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District in 1969.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed him to serve as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division. He spent two years there before returning to Pittsburgh and launching a successful gubernatorial campaign.