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Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) has been appointed by President Barack Obama to be the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent federal agency dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.
Leach, who represented Iowa in Congress for 30 years before a surprising 2006 defeat [...]

Former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madelein Albright have been tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to meet with delegations at the G-20 summit this weekend on behalf of the future administration.

Former Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat who was one of Hillary Clinton’s most outspoken advocates in the caucuses, and long-time former Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican who broke with his party to support Barack Obama, are both getting mentions in major national publications as potential selection for Secretary of Agriculture.
Obama is widely reported to be [...]

Although the Iowa City Press-Citizen editorial board says Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack is no Jim Leach, they chose to endorse his candidacy – making the case that it would be wrong for second district voters to again replace a sitting Congressman with an untried challenger.

“Obviously, successful administrations build successful parties while weaker administrations weaken parties,” Leach said. “It would be hard to consider this a successful administration at this stage.”

Like most speeches delivered by people not named Obama, Biden, or Clinton, Republican Jim Leach’s lecture to the Democratic National Convention was largely ignored by delegates. A media watchdog group is complaining that Leach’s speech backing Barack Obama was ignored by the press corps as well, despite its prime time slot.

DENVER — True to form, former congressman Jim Leach, R-Iowa, delivered a speech to the Democratic party’s 2008 convention that was part endorsement, part treatise on American government.

Jim Leach is taking his Barack Obama endorsement on the cable news circuit, appearing Tuesday night on Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” on MSNBC in a “Republicans for Obama” segment.
“Do we want a new direction rooted in historical American values, or one that might be described as aberrational, that is unusual, in which we attack countries that [...]

In yesterday’s conference call endorsing Barack Obama, Jim Leach suggested a fellow Republican, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, as Obama’s running mate.

Jim, you were always a modest guy. If Obama’s going to go with a Republican, how about you?

Congressman Dave Loebsack praised his predecessor, Jim Leach, for crossing party lines to endorse Democrat Barack Obama for president today.
“I believe that Jim Leach sees Barack Obama as a candidate who is following in his footsteps, one that is working to change the way business is done in Washington by putting aside party affiliations and [...]