Robert Guy Torricelli, nicknamed "the Torch," is an American politician who served as the United States senator from New Jersey from 1997 to 2003 and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997. From 1999 to 2000, he served as the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Raised in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, the son of a librarian and an attorney, Torricelli's interest in politics was fueled by history lessons that he took from his mother's school library. As a teenager he visited Georgia to see the reality of segregation and traveled to Israel to visit the holy city of Jerusalem. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor at Rutgers University and a Master of Public Administration at Harvard University. While at Rutgers, he was elected class president his junior and senior year and worked on Brendan Byrne's 1973 campaign for governor and as deputy legislative counsel to Governor Byrne. During the Carter administration, Torricelli served as a counsel to Vice President Walter Mondale. He was a member of the Rutgers University Board of Governors from 1977 to 1982. 

August 27th, 1951 in Paterson (Age 72)