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Dodd Fights to Redeem Dad

Father's letters illuminate Nuremberg prosecutor turned disgraced US senator

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 24, 2007 11:50 AM CDT

(Newser) – Chris Dodd is not only running for president, he's on a mission to fix his father's reputation. Dodd's late father, Thomas, also a US senator, was censured in 1967 for making personal use of campaign funds. Years earlier, he made his name at the Nuremberg trials, and his son's new book paints him as a decisive defender of civil liberties.

The elder Dodd was second in command of the prosecution of top Nazis, and the book reprints his letters home. Chris Dodd, who managed his father’s ill-fated 1970 re-election campaign, doesn't want his dad's legacy defined by the later transgression. “Every time I walk on the Senate floor,” he said, “I feel that he’s vindicated.”

[Images (7)]

[Videos (1)]

This photo released by the Dodd Family shows Thomas Dodd, reading to his youngest son Christopher in Lebanon, Conn. Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., reflects on his father's... (Associated Press)

Thomas Dodd, assistant U.S. prosecuting attorney at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany, holds a human shrunken head, Dec. 20, 1945, that he introduced as evidence of cruelty in... (Associated Press)

This photo released by the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center shows U.S. prosecutor Thomas Dodd, left, and lead prosecutor Robert H. Jackson reviewing evidence from the Nuremburg Trial, between 1945 asnd... (Associated Press)

Democratic Presidential hopeful, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., listens as Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker testify on the... (Associated Press)

Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007 following his meeting... (Associated Press)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut listens to questions during an Associated Press Newsmaker interview Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. David Ake) (Associated Press)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut answers questions during an Associated Press interview Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, in Washington. The Democrats who are running for president... (Associated Press)

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Dodd Fights to Redeem Dad