David Gartner, 74, a key aide to Hubert Humphrey, died of esophageal cancer on Sept. 29 at his home in Arlington, Va.
Gartner, a former Iowa journalist, joined the staff of Sen. Humphrey, D-Minn., in 1961. He ran Humphrey's office when he was vice president and became his chief of staff after he was again elected senator in 1970. He stayed with the senator until Humphrey died in 1978.
Gartner was appointed that year by President Jimmy Carter as a commissioner on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an independent agency that serves as a watchdog over the commodities and futures market.
Before his appointment, his children were given stock worth $72,000 by Dwayne Andreas, chairman of Archer Daniels Midland and a longtime Humphrey supporter. During a televised news conference in 1978, Carter asked Gartner to resign because of the "image of impropriety" in the face of new ethics rules for congressmen and their staffs. Gartner refused to step down, saying that the gifts to his children did not constitute a conflict. Because the president had the power to appoint CFTC commissioners with the approval of the Senate but lacked direct authority to remove them, Gartner remained a commissioner until 1982.
Ben Ali, 82, the founder of Ben's Chili Bowl diner, a landmark in Washington's black business and entertainment district and a frequent stop for politicians and celebrities, died Wednesday night at his home of natural causes.
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