(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who was a leading defender of the state’s first-in-the-nation Caucuses has died. Steve Roberts, a Des Moines attorney, served as chairman of the Iowa Republican Party for four years in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He later served 20 years on the Republican National Committee, repelling attempts to dislodge Iowa’s Caucuses from their starting spot in presidential campaigns.

As news of his death, at the age of 80, spread on Twitter, Roberts was remembered as a kind and generous man, with a knack for telling some epic campaign stories.