Alan Cranston

Cranston married twice - around 1940, he married Geneva McMath with whom his two sons, Robin and Kim, were born. However, he divorced Geneva and later married Norma Weintraub.

In the early period of 1990s, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His son Kim claimed that Cranston overcome his illness and died of natural causes. He died at the age of 86.

Belonging to an affluent family of real estate developers of Palo Alto, California, Alan Cranston was born to father Carol and mother William MacGregor Cranston. After his graduation from Stanford University, Palo Alto in 1936, he studied at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.

After completing his studies, he joined the International News Service as its foreign correspondent. As part of his job, he went to Europe and North Africa. Though he was much delighted for this job earlier but found it frustrating later.

After returning to the US, he read Hitler’s Mein Kampf which, according to him, excluded information about Hitler’s anti-Semitism and militancy. So, he published an unauthorized and fuller translation of this book.

He also served as the editor and writer of the magazine Common Ground. Later, he worked in the Office of War Information. During this time, he authored The Killing of the Peace.

In 1944, he joined the armed forces as a private. In the next year, he attended the 1945 conference that played active role for Dublin Declaration. In 1947, he took the responsibility of his father’s real estate firm in Palo Alto. In 1948, he became the president of the World Federalist Association.

He played an important role in getting passed the World Federalist California Resolution in 1949. He appealed to the Congress to amend the Constitution so that U.S. participation in a federal world government can be made possible.

During his college days, he was a part of the nation’s fastest quarter - mile sprint relay team. He is also credited for holding the world record for the 100-yard dash among 55 year old.

He was in the midst of a controversy when he translated Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf into English and was sued for it by Hitler. He added this information proudly in his resume.

During his tenure as Democratic whip, he used to take pride in his ability to count votes before they had been cast. He dedicated his retirement towards abolition of nuclear weapons.