Robert Daniel

Robert Williams Daniel, Jr. (March 17, 1936 – February 4, 2012) was a Virginia farmer, businessman, teacher, and politician who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican. He was first elected in 1972 and served until 1983.

Daniel was born in Richmond, Virginia. He was a graduate of Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts, at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia., where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi. He then received a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army and CIA from 1964 to 1968.

While in Congress, Daniel was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and various subcommittees. Following an unsuccessful bid for a sixth term, he served as deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 1984 to 1986; and director of intelligence for the Department of Energy from 1990 to 1993. He was a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.

Daniel was the son of Robert Williams Daniel, a bank executive who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and later served in the Senate of Virginia. He was also a descendant of Peter V. Daniel, an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and, Edmund Randolph, who was the seventh Governor of Virginia, the first Attorney General of the United States and Secretary of State.

He was the owner and operator of Brandon Plantation, in Prince George, Virginia a U.S. National Historic Landmark and one of the oldest continuous agricultural operations in the United States.

Daniel died of a heart attack at his Jupiter Island, Florida vacation home on February 4, 2012 and was buried with military honors at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.