Javits sponsored the first African-American Senate page in 1965 and the first female page in 1971. His liberalism was such that he tended to receive support from traditionally-Democratic voters, with many Republicans defecting to support the Conservative Party of New York. Javits played a major role in legislation protecting pensioners, as well as in the passage of the War Powers Act; he led the effort to get the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act passed. He reached the position of Ranking Minority Member on the Committee on Foreign Relations while he accrured greater seniority than any New York Senator before or since (). Along with Dwight Eisenhower, he was among the first and most important statesmen in passing legislation promoting the cause of education for gifted individuals, and many know his name from the federal Jacob Javits Grants established for that purpose. Honors and commemoration Javits received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983. New York City's sprawling Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was named in his honor in 1986, as is a playground at the southwestern edge of Fort Tryon Park. The Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan's Civic Center district, as well as a lecture hall on the campus of Stony Brook University on Long Island, are also named after him. The Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988 was named in honor of Javits for his role in promoting gifted education. The United States Department of Education awards a number of Javits Fellowships to support graduate students in the humanities and social sciences. The National Institutes of Health awards the Senator Jacob Javits Award in Neuroscience to exceptionally talented researchers in neuroscience who have established themselves with groundbreaking research. A 1983 US Congressional Act established those awards in honor of Senator Javits as a longtime supporter of research into understanding neurological disorders and diseases. In his memory, NYU established the Jacob K. Javits Visiting Professorship in 2008. Electoral history U.S. House of Representatives, New York 21st District New York State Attorney General U.S. Senate, New York See also List of Jewish members of the United States Congress References Sources Who's Who in America, 1966–1967 External links Archive of Senator Jacob K. Javits at the Special Collections Department at Stony Brook University 1904 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians American people of Russian descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent