Charles Ellsworth Goodell was a U.S. Representative and a Senator from New York. In both cases he came into office following the deaths of his predecessors, first in a special election and second as a temporary appointee. He was elected to four terms in Congress after winning his first race in 1960. He resigned on September 9, 1968, to accept an appointment by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller to fill the vacancy caused by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Having earned the support of both the Republican and Liberal parties in 1970 he lost in a three-way race to a Conservative, having split the liberal vote with a similar leaning Democratic candidate.

Goodell is the father of National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell.