Ken Starr, the prosecutor in the Clinton Whitewater investigation, died at the age of 76. Let’s take a closer look at how he died and Ken Starr’s cause of death.
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Ken Starr died in what manner?
Ken Starr, the prosecutor who oversaw the arduous Whitewater investigation into then-President Bill Clinton’s administration and whose report on the case revealed intimate details of Clinton’s extramarital affairs, died on Tuesday in Houston as a result of surgical complications.
His death was announced in a statement by his family.
Starr is survived by his wife of 52 years, Alice Mendell Starr, as well as his children Randall P. Starr, Carolyn S. Doolittle, and Cynthia S. Roemer, as well as their spouses and nine grandchildren.
Cause of death for Ken Starr
His wife, Alice Starr, stated that he had spent the previous 17 weeks in Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center battling an unspecified ailment and died as a result of surgical complications, but provided no further details.
On behalf of the family, son Randall Starr issued the following statement: “We are deeply saddened by the death of our dear and loving Father and Grandfather, whom we admired for his extraordinary work ethic but who always put his family first.”
We cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to share with Dad because of his love, enthusiasm, endearing sense of humor, and genuine interest in each of us. He is currently with his Lord and Savior. Starr will be laid to rest in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. As a result, the cause of death for Ken Starr was revealed to be post-surgical complications.
Kenneth Winston Starr’s Biography
Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American attorney best known for his leadership of the Whitewater investigation into Clinton administration officials from 1994 to 1998.
Starr was a federal appellate judge before joining the United States Supreme Court. During George H. W. Bush’s presidency, he served as the United States solicitor general from 1989 to 1993, as well as the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals from 1983 to 1989.
Starr received the most public attention during his tenure as independent counsel to President Bill Clinton. Starr was initially appointed to investigate Clinton’s Whitewater real estate investments as well as the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster.
Later, the three-judge panel in charge of enforcing the Ethics in Government Act expanded the investigation to include possible perjury in connection with Clinton’s liaison with Monica Lewinsky. After more than four years of investigation, Starr issued the Starr Report, which claimed that Clinton lied under oath about the nature of the relationship. Clinton was impeached as a result of the accusation, and his legal license was suspended for five years.
Dean Starr was in charge of Pepperdine University’s law school. He was president and chancellor of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, from June 2010 to May and June 2016. At Baylor Law School, he also held the Louise L. Morrison chair of constitutional law.
Following an investigation into Starr’s improper handling of several sexual assaults at the institution, the Baylor University Board of Regents announced on May 26, 2016, that Starr’s term as university president would end on May 31, 2016. The board stated that he would remain chancellor, but on June 1, Starr told ESPN that he would resign immediately.
Following allegations of “ignoring sexual assault issues on campus,” as reported by NPR, Starr announced on August 19, 2016, that he will resign from his tenured professor position at Baylor Law School and cut all ties with the institution in a “mutually agreed separation.”
Starr joined President Donald Trump’s legal team in his initial impeachment trial on January 17, 2020.
Ken’s childhood
Starr, the son of Vannie Maude (Trimble) and Willie D. Starr, was born and raised in Vernon, Texas. His father was a minister of the Church of Christ who also ran a barbershop.
Starr was a straight-A student at San Antonio’s Sam Houston High School. According to his classmates, Starr was the most likely to succeed. He married Alice Mendell, a Jewish woman who had converted to Christianity, in 1970. The couple was the parents of three children.
Education
Starr attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, which was affiliated with the Churches of Christ, and was an outspoken supporter of the Vietnam protesters as well as a member of the Young Democrats. He later changed schools and enrolled at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1968. When he was there, he joined Delta Phi Epsilon.
Starr was given the military classification of 4F due to his psoriasis and was thus exempt from recruitment during the Vietnam War. He took part in the Southwestern Advantage entrepreneurial program before attending Brown University and earning a Master of Arts degree in 1969. Following that, Starr attended the Duke University School of Law, where he served as the editor of the Duke Law Journal and earned his Juris Doctor in 1973.
Ken Starr’s remarkable career as an attorney general and a federal judge
On September 13, 1983, Ronald Reagan nominated him to succeed George MacKinnon on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On September 20, 1983, he was confirmed by the United States Senate and given his commission. His employment ended on May 26, 1989, as a result of his resignation. From 1989 to 1993, Starr served as the United States’ solicitor general under George H. W. Bush.
Disputed cases
Starr argued 36 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including 25 as U.S. Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993. From 1983 to 1989, he served as a United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, as Counselor and Chief of Staff to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, and as a law clerk to both Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (1975-1977) and Fifth Circuit Judge David W. Dyer (1973-1974). From 1994 to 1999, he was appointed by a three-judge panel to serve as Independent Counsel for five investigations, including Whitewater.
Starr taught constitutional law as an adjunct or visiting professor at New York University, George Mason School of Law, Pepperdine School of Law, Chapman Law School, and as the Louise L. Morrison Professor at The Baylor Law School.
Starr most recently taught at Hillsdale College and Regent Law School. Starr was a partner at two large national law firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and specialized in appellate law. In 2017, he was promoted to Of Counsel at The Lanier Law Firm.
Baylor University’s president and chancellor
He was the Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of the Pepperdine School of Law from 2004 to 2010. He was President and Chancellor of Baylor University from 2010 to 2016. Starr served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including Advocates International, Christian Legal Society, and the Alliance Defending Freedom Advisory Board. According to Jim Gash, Pepperdine’s current president, “Starr’s vision for Pepperdine was global… “I am eternally grateful to Ken for his friendship, mentorship, counseling, guidance, and encouragement.” Throughout his professional career, he fought for everyone’s right to exercise their conscience and practice their religion.
Ken served on a number of boards
He also served on the boards of the American Judicature Society, the American Law Institute, the American Association of Law Schools, the American Bar Association Journal of Editors, the American Inns of Court, the Institute for United States Studies, and the Supreme Court Historical Society. He served as president of the Council for Court Excellence, the Institute of Judicial Administration, the Southern Presidents Conference, the Philosophical Society of Texas, and the Council for Judicial Excellence.
Best-selling book author
Religious Liberty in Crisis: Exercising Your Faith in an Age of Uncertainty, praised by best-selling author Os Guinness, was “seasoned, wise, magisterial, and gracefully written — a comprehensive judge’s tour of the religious freedom horizon;” First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, praised by the U.S. Bear Country: The Baylor Story and Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation, according to Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle, are “eminently readable and informative…not just the best treatment of the Court to-date after Chief Justice Earl Warren, it is likely to have that distinction for a long, long time;” (In 2018, it was a New York Times best-seller.)
Honors and awards
He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Edmund Randolph Award for Outstanding Service in the Department of Justice, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society’s 2005 Distinguished Service Award, the 2004 Capital Book Award, and the FBI’s Jefferson Cup. Honorary doctorates were bestowed upon him by American University, Hampton Sydney College, Shenandoah University, and Pepperdine University.
Obituary
Starr will be laid to rest at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. On Friday, September 23, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., there will be a visitation at Wilkirson Hatch Bailey in Waco. On Saturday, September 24, at 3:00 p.m., a memorial service for family members only will be held at Antioch Community Church in Waco.
Condolences from his fans and friends
“The world will remember Ken Starr as a brilliant thinker, leader, and defender of truth and justice,” said Jimmy Seibert, senior pastor of Antioch. Ken Starr will be remembered as a devoted personal friend and a man of deep faith. Thank you for your love of God, love of family, and love for all of us, Ken. You will be remembered in American history, but you will be remembered especially in our hearts.”
Chaom posted on Twitter
Ken Starr has passed away. I’ll never forget how he made a woman wear a wire so he could humiliate her friend on national television for giving a blowjob, then got fired as university president after it was revealed he’d covered up the football team’s years-long rape spree.
For a long time, he was a major figure in American politics. RIP. Devastated by Ken Starr’s death.
