Line and, in the 1980s, was reapportioned to include parts of Philadelphia. After winning the Republican nomination, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Robert D. Gates, by a margin of 62%-37%. During his tenure in Congress, Coughlin earned a reputation as a moderate to liberal Republican. A member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, he supported increased funding for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and other mass transportation agencies, housing programs, and anti-drug education. He was also a member of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, in which capacity he supported additional funding for the destruction of cocaine processing labs and reducing efforts to interdict narcotics traffic. He also became known for always wearing a bow tie. Coughlin was re-elected eleven times, but declined to run again in 1992. His two most competitive campaigns for re-election came in 1984 and 1986, facing Democratic state Representative Joe Hoeffel both times. Later life and death After retiring from Congress, Coughlin remained in Washington, D.C. and joined the law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott. He joined the law firm of Thompson Coburn in 2001, and also served as president of the Friends of the United States National Arboretum. Coughlin died from cancer at his home in Mathews, Virginia, at age 71. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Personal life He was married three times, first to Elizabeth Poole Sellers Worrell. He married Helen Combs Swan in 1950. They had one daughter Elizabeth Swan Coughlin. After Helen died in 1953, he married Susan MacGregor Coughlin and they had four children: Lisa, Lynne, Sara, R. Lawrence Coughlin III. References External links |- |- 1929 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American politicians United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Harvard Business School alumni Hotchkiss School alumni Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Military personnel from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Mathews, Virginia People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni United States Marines Yale College alumni 20th-century American lawyers