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Birch Evans Bayh was born January 22, 1928 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He attended public schools in Indiana; served in the United States Army, stationed in Germany, from 1946-1948; and after Army service attended Purdue University, graduating with a B.S. in 1951. Following graduation he married Marvella Hern in August 1952, and attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute for two years while also running the family farm. In 1954 he was elected to the Indiana State Assembly, serving there until his election to the United States Senate in 1962. Meanwhile he entered Indiana University, Bloomington's School of Law in 1957, receiving his J.D., awarded with distinction, in 1960. While a law student he continued as a state representative and served as Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1959.
In 1962 Bayh ran as a Democrat for the office of United States Senator, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Homer Capehart. During his eighteen years serving Indiana in the Senate, Bayh participated in the drafting of three amendments to the United States Constitution. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, concerning presidential succession and disability, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which set the voting age at eighteen rather than the previous twenty-one, were ratified. The third, the Equal Rights Amendment, was defeated.
Bayh sponsored and co-authored Title IX of the Higher Education Act. Title IX is the section that pertains to equal opportunity for women in all programs and activities, including sports, in educational institutions that receive federal funding. He was chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1977 through 1980. As a member of the Judiciary Committee's Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee, he was the chief architect of the Juvenile Justice Act. He was closely involved in the efforts seeking District of Columbia representation in Congress and played an important role in reforming laws pertaining to patent, antitrust, and alternative energy development. He served on the Senate Public Works Subcommittee on the Environment for a decade, participating in decisions that led to federal criteria for clean air and clean water regulations. He also provided leadership within Congress in forming programs for the assistance of disabled citizens and the mentally ill. Throughout his professional career he championed causes relating to senior citizens, the handicapped, women, and all minorities. He has worked strenuously to increase cancer research and has served as chairman of AIDS Action Council.
Bayh ran for reelection in 1980 but was unexpectedly defeated by the Republican candidate Dan Quayle. Following this election he formed a law firm in Washington, D.C., served as Chairman of the Institute Against Prejudice and Violence from 1984 through 1994, and was appointed to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board by President Clinton in 1995. Birch Bayh continues to practice law in Washington as a partner with the firm Venable, Baetjer, Howard, and Civiletti.
