(son of Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr., great-great-grandson of John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, great-great-grandnephew of George Mifflin Dallas, great-great-great-grandnephew of William Charles Cole Claiborne and Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne), a Senator from Rhode Island; born in New York City, November 22, 1918; graduated, Princeton University 1940 and Columbia University 1946; served in the United States Coast Guard 1941-1945; served in United States Coast Guard Reserve; State Department and foreign service officer in Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Washington 1945-1952; businessman; served on a wide variety of government commissions and committees; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1960; reelected in 1966, 1972, 1978, 1984 and 1990 and served from January 3, 1961, to January 3, 1997; was not a candidate for reelection in 1996; chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (One Hundredth through One Hundred Third Congresses); appointed U.S. delegate to the United Nations, 1997.