US Congressman, US Senator. He served in the United States Senate from the state of California from January 2, 1971 to January 1, 1977. He also served in the United States House of Representatives from the 38th District of California from January 3, 1965 to January 2, 1971. The son of former world heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney, he graduated from Yale University in 1956. He later attended the Academy of International Law at the Hague and graduated the University of Virginia Law School in 1959. He would go on to commence a law practice in New York City. He later joined the United States Air Force as a judge advocate and served until he was discharged as a captain in 1963. He also taught business law at the University of California-Riverside from 1961 to 1962. He was admitted to practice law in California in 1963. He served on the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime from 1963 to 1968. In 1964 he was elected, as a Democrat, to the United States House of Representatives from California's 38th District. He would go on to serve in the House for six years before deciding to challenge Republican Sen. George Murphy in 1970. He defeated Sen. Murphy in the November general election and went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1971 to 1977, after losing to Republican S.I. Hayakawa in November of 1976. During his Senate tenure, he wrote antitrust legislation and shepherded two difficult and important bills onto the books — the Noise Pollution Control Act of 1972 and the 1975 extension and expansion of the landmark Voting Rights Act. His 1970 Senate campaign was the basis for the 1972 Robert Redford film "The Candidate". When he lost in 1976, he was the youngest senator in recent history to lose his seat. After leaving the Senate, he resumed his law practice in Los Angeles. He passed away after a battle with prostate cancer.