Whitewater controversy

The rural town of Salisbury, Maryland is an unlikely place from which a young man imbued with the high ideals and values of Hellenism would make his way to the world stage. It is in this small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore that on February 3, 1933, Panagiotis Spyros Sarbanes was born, who would in time grow into the legendary Senator Paul S. Sarbanes.

Hellenism recently lost one of its most important representatives in the United States, Paul Sarbanes, who died at 87. The iconic politician left behind more than an extremely important body of work in American politics and a great contribution to the Greek-American community.

US Senator Paul Sarbanes, who passed away at the age of 87 on December 6, is a major reason we Hellenes are held in such high regard in the United States. The powerfully positive impression he made for decades on hundreds of influential American policymakers and opinion leaders is unsurpassed.

Paul Sarbanes was one of the most prominent figures of the Greek diaspora. If you didn't know him in person, you might get the impression that he was an all-too-quiet, perhaps even indifferent man. Big mistake. Sarbanes had what one might call stealth power.

I had the honor and good fortune to work closely with Paul Sarbanes, the late Greek-American US congressman for the state of Maryland. Our acquaintance began soon after I assumed the post of ambassador in Washington and continued with weekly meetings throughout my four-year tenure.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said he mourns the death of Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat who served in the US Congress for more than three decades, calling him "a true giant of the omogeneia (diaspora) and the nation."

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday tweeted her condolences on the death of Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat who served in the US Congress for more than three decades, describing him as a "staunch supporter of Greek interests until the end."

Greece's Foreign Ministry has expressed its "sadness" over the death of former US Senator and prominent member of the Greek American community, Paul Sarbanes.

Paul Sarbanes, one of the most significant Greek-American politicians - and certainly the most effective in terms of influence on US decision-making - has died at the age of 87.

Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat who served in the US Congress for more than three decades, helped clean up the Chesapeake Bay and corporate scandals and pressured Richard Nixon to resign as president, died on Sunday at 87.