Strong defender of the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Lebanon and firm supporter of a just peace in the Middle East, Rahall is a third-generation Lebanese American. His grandfather and namesake, Nicholas, came to the U.S. from Kfier, Lebanon, in 1903, settling in Beckley, WV, where he began a pack-peddling business. Since then, the family has remained in Beckley, where Nick Rahall was born and raised, and has branched out into the retail, real estate, and broadcasting fields. Nick received his B.A. degree from Duke University and worked as a staff assistant to Senator Robert Byrd before his own successful run for Congress in 1976.
Asked whether he had ever been targeted by the Israeli lobby because of his voting record against foreign aid and his reputation for promoting U.S. interests over those of Israel, He replies that he couldn’t really say that he had. “For the most part, they recognize that I am of Lebanese descent and that I am proud of it”, he explains.
Rahall rarely fails to quote the Lebanese American for whom he had the greatest respect, Danny Thomas, the patron saint of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital: “He who denies his heritage has no heritage.”
Rahall has traveled frequently to Lebanon as well as to Israel and several other countries in the Middle East. Most recently he traveled with congressional delegations to Israel in June 1995, and separately to Lebanon in August 1995. In Lebanon, the high point of his trip was a visit with his son to their ancestral village of Kfier, where he received a hero’s welcome.
A Democrat, Rahall is unopposed in the 1996 elections, and will return for an 11th term representing West Virginia’s third congressional district.
