Robert Schwarz Strauss (October 19, 1918 – March 19, 2014) was an influential figure in American politics, diplomacy, and law whose service dated back to future President Lyndon Johnson's first congressional campaign in 1937. By the 1950s, he was associated in Texas politics with the faction of the Democratic Party that was led by Johnson and John Connally. He served as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee between 1972 and 1977 and served under President Jimmy Carter as the U.S. Trade Representative and special envoy to the Middle East. He later served as the Ambassador to Russia under President George H.W. Bush. Strauss also served as the last United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union. An accomplished lawyer, Strauss founded the law firm now known as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in 1945, which had grown to be one of the largest in the world with offices in 15 cities and employing over 900 lawyers and professionals worldwide. His business activities included serving on the Texas Banking Commission and as Chairman of the U.S.-Russia Business Council. Strauss was inducted into the Academy of Achievement in 2003 and was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award, on January 16, 1981. He was a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and The Forum for International Policy and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. Strauss occupied academic chairs and lecture positions, including one as the Lloyd Bentsen Chair at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. He was also the namesake of The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas. He was interested in biomedical issues and endowed two chairs at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas: the Helen and Robert S. Strauss Professorship in Pediatric Neurology and the Helen and Robert S. Strauss Professorship in Urology. Background Strauss was born in Lockhart, Texas, south of Austin. He was the son of Edith Violet (née Schwarz) and Charles H. Strauss. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Germany. When he was one year old, his family moved to the small town of Hamlin, north of Abilene, and later to the slightly larger nearby town of Stamford. Strauss's father opened a small general store in Stamford. In his sophomore year at