1.
Carl Levin
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Carl Milton Levin is a former United States Senator from Michigan, having served from 1979 to 2015. He was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and is a member of the Democratic Party, born in Detroit, Michigan, Levin is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School. He worked as the General Counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967, Levin was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1968, serving from 1969 to 1977, and was president of the City Council from 1973 to 1977. In 1978, Levin ran for the United States Senate, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Robert P. Griffin, Levin was re-elected in 1984,1990,1996,2002 and 2008. On March 7,2013, Levin announced that he would not seek a seventh term to the Senate, Levin became Michigans senior senator in 1995. He is the senator in the states history, and was ultimately the fourth longest-serving incumbent in the U. S. Senate. Levin was born in Detroit, and is the son of Jewish parents, Bess, Saul served on the Michigan Corrections Commission. He graduated from Detroit Central High School in 1952, and worked as a taxi driver and he attended Swarthmore College, graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1956. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1959 and he received honorary degrees from Michigan State University in 2004, Wayne State University in 2005, and Michigan Technological University in 2008. After earning his law degree, he was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and he entered private practice as a lawyer for Grossman, Hyman and Grossman and taught law at Wayne State University and the University of Detroit Mercy. He served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan. Levin was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1969, serving two terms from 1970 to 1977. Levin served as president of the City Council throughout his second term. He was close to Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, the citys first African-American Mayor, during his time on the City Council, Levin practiced law part-time, working as a counsel for the Schlussel, Lifton, Simon, Rands and Kaufman law firm from 1971 to 1973. He later served as the counsel at Jaffe, Snider, Raitt, Garratt and Heuer. Levin was elected to the United States Senate in 1978, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Robert P. Griffin, Committee on Armed Services As Chairman of the full committee, Sen. The bill would designate as wilderness about 32,500 acres of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the state of Michigan, the newly designated lands and inland waterways would comprise the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness, a new component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Levin was formerly the chairman of the Armed Services Committee and he has served as the Democratic ranking member on the committee since January 7,1997
2.
John Warner
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John William Warner served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term Republican United States Senator from Virginia from January 2,1979, to January 3,2009. He did not seek reelection in 2008 and he works for the law firm of Hogan Lovells, where he had previously worked before joining the United States Department of Defense. Warner was the husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom he married before being elected to the Senate. He is a veteran of World War II, and was one of five such veterans serving in the Senate at the time of his retirement. John William Warner was born on February 18,1927, in Washington, D. C. to John W. and he grew up in Washington, where he attended the elite St. Albans School before graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in February 1945. He enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II in January 1945 and he served until the following year, leaving as a Petty Officer 3rd Class. He went to college at Washington and Lee University, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, graduating in 1949, he then entered the University of Virginia Law School. He joined the U. S. Marine Corps in October 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War and he continued in the Marine Corps Reserves after the war, eventually reaching the rank of captain. He then resumed his studies, taking courses at the George Washington University and that year, he became a law clerk to Chief Judge E. Barrett Prettyman of the United States Court of Appeals. In 1956, he became an assistant U. S. attorney, in 1960 he entered law practice. In 1957, Warner married banking heiress Catherine Conover Mellon, the daughter of art collector Paul Mellon and his first wife, Mary Conover, by his marriage, Warner accrued substantial capital for investing and expanding his political contacts. The Warners, who divorced in 1973, have three children, Virginia, John Jr, and Mary and his former wife now uses the name Catherine Conover. John Warner married actress Elizabeth Taylor on December 4,1976 and they divorced on November 7,1982. Warner and Larry Fortensky were the living former spouses of Elizabeth Taylor at the time of her death in 2011. On December 15,2003, Warner married Jeanne Vander Myde and she is also the widow of White House official Paul Vander Myde. After giving substantial campaign funds and time to the Nixon Presidential election, on February 1969, on May 4,1972, he succeeded John H. Chafee as Secretary of the Navy. He was subsequently appointed by Gerald Ford to the post of Director of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, following Fords defeat, Warner began to consider political office for himself. He entered politics in the 1978 Virginia election for U. S. Senate, much of this loss was due to his perceived liberal political stances, especially his soft approach to Soviet relations
3.
Mike Mullen
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Michael Glenn Mike Mullen, AO, MSC is a retired United States Navy admiral, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1,2007, to September 30,2011. Mullen previously served as the Navys 28th Chief of Naval Operations from July 22,2005, as Chairman, Mullen was the highest-ranking officer in the United States Armed Forces. He retired from the Navy after over 43 years of service, Mullen is now a Professor at Princeton University. He attended St. Charles Borromeo Church Elementary School in North Hollywood, johnson, former Secretary of the Navy and Senator from Virginia Jim Webb, former NSC staff member, political commentator, and author Oliver North, former Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, and NASA administrator Charles Bolden, as a junior officer, he served in various leadership positions aboard USS Collett, USS Blandy, USS Fox and USS Sterett. Mullen’s last command at sea was as Commander, U. S. Second Fleet/Commander, Mullen served as Company Officer and Executive Assistant to the Commandant of Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy. On the Chief of Naval Operations staff, Mullen served as Deputy Director and Director of Surface Warfare and as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements and he was the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations from August 2003 to October 2004. He was recognized by his peers in 1987 with the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership skill and he is one of 53 naval officers to be recognized by this award since its inception in 1980. As Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Mullen had operational responsibility for NATO missions in the Balkans, Iraq, and the Mediterranean. As Commander, U. S. Naval Forces Europe, he was responsible for providing command, operational control. He assumed these duties on October 8,2004, and was relieved of them upon his becoming Chief of Naval Operations, on October 29,2006, the Honolulu Advertiser published an op-ed by Mullen that defined the concept of the 1, 000-ship navy. On August 3,2007, the U. S. Senate confirmed Mullen as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mullen was sworn in on October 1,2007. On March 18,2009, Gates recommended to President Barack Obama that Mullen be re-nominated for a term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 25,2009, on February 2,2010, Mullen and Gates said that they fully supported President Obama’s decision to end the Dont ask, dont tell law, which prevented openly gay people from serving in the military. “It is my belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. He noted that, there does not appear to be much political progress in Iraq and he also said, If arent making progress in realm, the prospects for movement in a positive direction are not very good. Failure to achieve progress toward reconciliation requires a strategic reassessment. Mullen further told the Senate that the United States needs to bring as much pressure on as possibly can, President Obama, Secretary of Defense Panetta and Admiral Mullen provided the certification required by the Act to Congress on July 22,2011
4.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is, by U. S. The post of a statutory and permanent Joint Chiefs of Staff chair was created by the 1949 amendments to the National Security Act of 1947, the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act elevated the Chairman from the first among equals to becoming the principal military advisor to the President and Secretary of Defense. The National Military Command Center is part of the Joint Staff operations directorate, the Goldwater-Nichols Act places the chain of command from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands. However the services chiefs do have authority over personnel assignments and oversight over resources, the Chairman may also transmit communications to the combatant commanders from the President and Secretary of Defense as well as allocate additional funding to the combatant commanders if necessary. He also performs all other functions prescribed under 10 U. S. C. §153 or allocates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in the joint staff under his name. The principal deputy to the Chairman is the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, another 4-star general or admiral, who among many duties chairs the Joint Requirements Oversight Council. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is assisted by the Joint Staff, led by the Director of the Joint Staff, the National Military Command Center is part of the Joint Staff operations directorate. Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, served as the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief from July 20,1942 to March 21,1949. He presided over meetings of what was called the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chairman is nominated by the President for appointment and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. The Chairman and Vice Chairman may not be members of the armed force service branch. However, the President may waive that restriction for a period of time in order to provide for the orderly transition of officers appointed to serve in those positions. However, in a time of war or national emergency, there is no limit to how many times an officer can be reappointed to serve as Chairman, historically, the Chairman has served two terms. By statute, the Chairman is appointed as a general or admiral while holding office. All pay for officers, however, is limited by Level II of the Executive Schedule which is $15,125.10.1, Functions of the Department of Defense. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 Functions of the Department of Defense, office of the Secretary Defense, Director of Administration and Management, Directorate for Organizational & Management Planning. Official Joint Chiefs of Staff site
5.
Joe Lieberman
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Joseph Isadore Joe Lieberman is an American politician and former United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an Independent, he closely associated with the Democratic Party. Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Lieberman is a graduate of Yale University and he was elected as a reform Democrat in 1970 to the Connecticut Senate, where he served three terms as Majority Leader. After an unsuccessful bid for the U. S. House of Representatives in 1980, Lieberman defeated moderate Republican Lowell Weicker in 1988 to win election to the U. S. Senate and was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. The U. S. Supreme Court settled the controversy over the Florida vote recount by ruling 5–4 to stop recounting votes. It was the time in history that the Supreme Court has ruled on a case directly related to a presidential election. Lieberman also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Lieberman himself was never a member of that party, but instead remained a registered Democrat while he ran. Lieberman was officially listed in Senate records for the 110th and 111th Congresses as an Independent Democrat and sat as part of the Senate Democratic Caucus, on November 5,2008, Lieberman met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to discuss his future role with the Democratic Party. Ultimately, the Senate Democratic Caucus voted to allow Lieberman to keep chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, subsequently, Lieberman announced that he would continue to caucus with the Democrats. Before the 2016 election, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for President, as Senator he introduced and championed the Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and legislation that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Lieberman announced in January 2011 that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his term, Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Marcia and Henry Lieberman, who ran a liquor store. His family is Jewish, his grandparents emigrated from Congress Poland. He received a B. A. in both science and economics from Yale University in 1964 and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. At Yale he was editor of the Yale Daily News and a member of the Elihu Club and his roommate was Richard Sugarman, a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Vermont and advisor to 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Lieberman later attended Yale Law School, receiving his law degree in 1967, after graduation from law school, Lieberman worked as a lawyer for the New Haven-based law firm Wiggin & Dana LLP. A spokesperson told The Hartford Courant in 1994 that Lieberman received a deferment from the Vietnam War draft when he was an undergraduate. Upon graduating from law school at age 25, Lieberman qualified for a family deferment because he was married and had one child
6.
John McCain
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John Sidney McCain III is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for the 2008 U. S. presidential election, McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became an aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire, in October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973, McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds have left him with physical limitations. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1982, McCain served two terms. He was first elected to the U. S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily five times, while generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a maverick for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. He is also known for his work in the 1990s to restore relations with Vietnam. McCain ran for the Republican nomination in 2000 but lost a primary season contest to George W. Bush of Texas. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, by 2013, however, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. In 2015, McCain became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain was born on August 29,1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and Roberta McCain. He has a brother named Joe and an elder sister named Sandy. At that time, the Panama Canal was under U. S. control, McCains family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors. Both his father and his grandfather, John S. McCain Sr. became four-star United States Navy admirals. The McCain family followed his father to various postings in the United States. Altogether, he attended about 20 schools, in 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
7.
Ray Mabus
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Raymond Edwin Ray Mabus, Jr. is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus was born in Starkville, Mississippi, and is a fourth-generation Mississippian, he grew up in Ackerman, the only child of the owner of the local hardware store. After attending public schools, he graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi. He earned an M. A. in political science from Johns Hopkins University, Mabus began his professional career working in Washington, D. C. as legal counsel to the United States House Committee on Agriculture. In 1983, Mabus was elected auditor and served from 1984 to 1988, during this time. By the time it was finished, Operation Pretense had ensnared 57 county supervisors in 25 counties, at 39 years of age, he defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the 1987 gubernatorial election by 53% to 47%, becoming the youngest governor in the United States. He won on a wave of black votes and lost the vote by about 3 to 2 despite support from what a coalition one Democratic state chairman described as poor whites and yuppies. Mabus, who ran on the slogan Mississippi Will Never Be Last Again, was billed as the face of the New South, much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. Mabus was featured in a 1988 New York Times Magazine cover story titled The Yuppies of Mississippi, during his time as governor, he passed B. E. S. T. Gave teachers the largest pay raise in the nation, and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s ten education governors, Mississippi also had record growth in new jobs, investment, tourism and exports. Mabus was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, on March 27,2009, Mabus was nominated by President Obama as Secretary of the Department of the Navy. He was sworn in on May 19,2009, and held a ceremonial swearing in at Washington Navy Yard on June 18,2009, where he was re-sworn in by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Additional naming controversies occurred due to the naming of auxiliary ship after civil rights activist Cesar Chavez who has described his service in the U. S. Navy as. On April 16,2012, the Navy Secretary returned to Naval tradition of naming certain warships after former U. S. presidents, warships named for presidents have been aircraft carriers. Mabus further stated that particular class of auxiliary ship, of which the John Lewis would be the lead ship. Mabus followed this action with his July 14,2016 naming of the subsequent after gay rights icon and former San Francisco Democratic politician, Secretary Mabus has a presence on Facebook and frequently comments about his daily activities. He is the first branch secretary to maintain a web presence, President Obama has asked him to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, Native American tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, on September 16,2013, gunman Aaron Alexis entered the Washington Navy Yard and killed 13 people and injured 14
8.
U.S. Secretary of Defense
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The Secretary of Defense is the leader and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense, an Executive Department of the Government of the United States of America. The Secretary of Defenses power over the United States military is only to that of the President. This position corresponds to what is known as a Defense Minister in many other countries. The Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, Secretary of Defense is a statutory office, and the general provision in 10 U. S. C. This is also extended to the United States Coast Guard during any period of time in which its command, only the Secretary of Defense can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three Military Departments and the nine Combatant Commands. The current Secretary of Defense is retired United States Marine Corps general James Mattis, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were established in 1775, in concurrence with the American Revolution. Based on the experiences of World War II, proposals were made on how to more effectively manage the large combined military establishment. The Army generally favored centralization while the Navy had institutional preferences for decentralization, the resulting National Security Act of 1947 was largely a compromise between these divergent viewpoints. The Act merged the Department of War with the Department of the Navy to form the National Military Establishment, the Act also separated the Army Air Forces from the Department of the Army to become its own branch of service, the Department of the Air Force. At first, each of the service secretaries maintained quasi-cabinet status, the position of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the number two position in the department, was also created at this time. The last major revision of the framework concerning the position was done in the Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. In particular, it elevated the status of joint service for commissioned officers, making it in practice a requirement before appointments to general officer and flag officer grades could be made. Because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the President, as the head of DoD, all officials, employees and service members are under the Secretary of Defense. All of these positions, civil and military, require Senate confirmation. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the relationships within the Department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987, the name of the principally military staff organization, organized under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the Joint Staff. In addition, there is the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, which is the ribbon and unit award issued to joint DoD activities. While the approval authority for DSSM, DMSM, JSCM, JSAM and JMUA is delegated to inferior DoD officials, Permanent Representative to NATO in recognition of U. S
9.
Robert M. Gates
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Robert Michael Bob Gates is an American statesman, scholar, and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Gates initially began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was recruited by the CIA. Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, after leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, Gates was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush as Secretary of Defense after the 2006 election, replacing Donald Rumsfeld. He was confirmed with bipartisan support, in a 2007 profile written by former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Time named Gates one of the years most influential people. In 2008, Gates was named one of Americas Best Leaders by U. S. News & World Report and he continued to serve as Secretary of Defense in President Barack Obamas administration. Hell be remembered for making us aware of the danger of over-reliance on military intervention as an instrument of American foreign policy, Gates was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian award, by President Obama during his retirement ceremony. According to a Washington Post book review, he is considered the best defense secretary of the post-World War II era. Gates was born in Wichita, Kansas, the son of Isabel V. Gates attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the BSA as an adult. He graduated from Wichita High School East in 1961, Gates is also a Vigil Honor member within the Order of the Arrow, BSAs National Honor Society. Gates then received a scholarship to attend the College of William and Mary, at his William & Mary graduation ceremony, Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate who has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man. Gates then received an M. A. in history from Indiana University in 1966 and he completed his Ph. D. in Russian and Soviet history at Georgetown University in 1974. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William & Mary and he married his wife Becky on January 7,1967. While at Indiana University, Gates was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, on January 4,1967, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force after attending Officer Training School under CIA sponsorship. After fulfilling his obligation, he rejoined the CIA as an intelligence analyst. Gates left the CIA in 1974 to serve on the staff of the National Security Council and he returned to the CIA in late 1979, serving briefly as the director of the Strategic Evaluation Center, Office of Strategic Research. He was named the Director of the DCI/DDCI Executive Staff in 1981, Deputy Director for Intelligence in 1982, Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence in early 1987. He withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra affair, according to Goodman, Gates was part of an agency leadership that proliferated false information and ignored reality
10.
Committee of the United States Senate
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This is a complete list of U. S. congressional committees that are currently operating in the United States Senate. Senators can be a member of more than one committee, as of 2017, there are 88 subsidiary bodies of the US Senate,16 standing committees with 67 subcommittees, and 5 non-standing committees. There are five non-standing, select, or special committees, which are treated similarly to standing committees, Senate committees are divided, according to relative importance, into three categories, Class A, Class B, and Class C. Individual Senators are in limited to service on two Class A committees and one Class B committee. Assignment to Class C committees is made reference to a members service on any other panels. Standing committees are permanent bodies with specific responsibilities spelled out in the Senates rules, twelve of the sixteen current standing committees are Class A panels. There are four Class B standing committees, Budget, Rules and Administration, Small Business, there are currently no Class C standing committees. Other, select and special committees are ranked as Class B or Class C committees and they are created for clearly specified purposes. Joint Committees are used for purposes of legislative and administrative coordination, at present there are four, the Joint Economic Committee, the Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on Printing, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Standing committees in the Senate have their jurisdiction set by three sources, Senate Rules, ad hoc Senate Resolutions, and Senate Resolutions related to committee funding. To see an overview of the jurisdictions of standing committees in the Senate, see Standing Rules of the United States Senate, list of defunct United States congressional committees Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
11.
Military of the United States
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
12.
United States Department of Defense
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The Department is the largest employer in the world, with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women as of 2016. Adding to its employees are over 801,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services and it is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D. C. The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, Military operations are managed by nine regional or functional Unified Combatant Commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the National Defense University, the history of the defense of the United States started with the Continental Congress in 1775. The creation of the United States Army was enacted on 14 June 1775 and this coincides with the American holiday Flag Day. The Second Continental Congress would charter the United States Navy, on 13 October 1775, today, both the Navy and the Marine Corps are separate military services subordinate to the Department of the Navy. The Preamble of the United States Constitution gave the authority to federal government, to defend its citizens and this first Congress had a huge agenda, that of creating legislation to build a government for the ages. Legislation to create a military defense force stagnated, two separate times, President George Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, the President cited both wasteful military spending and inter-departmental conflicts, deliberations in Congress went on for months focusing heavily on the role of the military in society and the threat of granting too much military power to the executive. The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single Secretary of Defense, the National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949, under the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, channels of authority within the department were streamlined, while still maintaining the authority of the Military Departments. Also provided in this legislation was a centralized authority, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Act moved decision-making authority from the Military Departments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and it also strengthened the command channel of the military over U. S. forces from the President to the Secretary of Defense. Written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration, it was signed into law 6 August 1958, because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the President, the statutory authority of the Secretary of Defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the relationships within the Department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is the Secretary and Deputy Secretarys civilian staff. S. Government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, OSD also performs oversight and management of the Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities. OSD also supervises the following Defense Agencies, Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community and these are national-level intelligence services that operate under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the Director of National Intelligence
13.
Research and development
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Research and development, also known in Europe as research and technical development, is a general term for activities in connection with corporate or governmental innovation. Research and development is situated at the front end of the life cycle. R&D differs from the vast majority of activities in that it is not intended to yield immediate profit, and generally carries greater risk. New product design and development is more often not a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In an industry that is changing fast, firms must continually revise their design and this is necessary due to continuous technology change and development as well as other competitors and the changing preference of customers. Without an R&D program, a firm must rely on strategic alliances, acquisitions, a system driven by marketing is one that puts the customer needs first, and produces goods that are known to sell. Market research is carried out, which establishes what is needed, if the development is technology driven R&D is directed toward developing products to meet the unmet need. Statistics on organizations devoted to R&D may express the state of an industry, some common measures include, budgets, numbers of patents or on rates of peer-reviewed publications. Bank ratios are one of the best measures, because they are maintained, public. In the United States, a ratio of research and development for an industrial company is about 3. 5% of revenues. A high technolog company, such as a manufacturer, might spend 7% or a pharmaceutical companies such as Merck & Co.14. 1% or Novartis 15. 1%. That is, gross profits will be as much as 90% of the sales cost, with manufacturing costing only 10% of the product price, most industrial companies get 40% revenues only. On a technical level, high tech organizations explore ways to re-purpose and they often reuse advanced manufacturing processes, expensive safety certifications, specialized embedded software, computer-aided design software, electronic designs and mechanical subsystems. Research from 2000 has shown that firms with a persistent R&D strategy outperform those with an irregular or no R&D investment program. Research and development are very difficult to manage, since the feature of research is that the researchers do not know in advance exactly how to accomplish the desired result. As a result, higher R&D spending does not guarantee more creativity, research is the most risky financing area because both the development of an invention and its successful realization carries uncertainty including the profitability of the invention. One way of reducing the uncertainty of researching know-hows is to obtain already researched know-hows, president Barack Obama requested $147.696 billion for research & development in FY2012. Much of this spending was devoted to research on the mechanisms of disease
14.
Nuclear power
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Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy to generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power plant. The term includes nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion, since all electricity supplying technologies use cement, etc. during construction, emissions are yet to be brought to zero. Each result is contrasted with coal and fossil gas at 820 and 490 g CO2 eq/kWh, there is a social debate about nuclear power. Proponents, such as the World Nuclear Association and Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, contend that nuclear power is a safe, opponents, such as Greenpeace International and NIRS, contend that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the environment. These include the Chernobyl disaster which occurred in 1986, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, there have also been some nuclear submarine accidents. Energy production from coal, petroleum, natural gas and hydroelectricity has caused a number of fatalities per unit of energy generated due to air pollution. In 2015, Ten new reactors were connected to the grid, seven reactors were permanently shut down. 441 reactors had a net capacity of 382,855 megawatts of electricity. 67 new nuclear reactors were under construction, Most of the new activity is in China where there is an urgent need to control pollution from coal plants. In October 2016, Watts Bar 2 became the first new United States reactor to enter commercial operation since 1996. The same year, his doctoral student James Chadwick discovered the neutron, further work by Enrico Fermi in the 1930s focused on using slow neutrons to increase the effectiveness of induced radioactivity. Experiments bombarding uranium with neutrons led Fermi to believe he had created a new, transuranic element and they determined that the relatively tiny neutron split the nucleus of the massive uranium atoms into two roughly equal pieces, contradicting Fermi. Numerous scientists, including Leó Szilárd, who was one of the first, recognized that if fission reactions released additional neutrons, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction could result. In the United States, where Fermi and Szilárd had both emigrated, this led to the creation of the first man-made reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1, which achieved criticality on December 2,1942. In 1945, the pocketbook The Atomic Age heralded the untapped atomic power in everyday objects and depicted a future where fossil fuels would go unused. One science writer, David Dietz, wrote that instead of filling the gas tank of a car two or three times a week, people travel for a year on a pellet of atomic energy the size of a vitamin pill. The United Kingdom, Canada, and the USSR proceeded over the course of the late 1940s, electricity was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor on December 20,1951, at the EBR-I experimental station near Arco, Idaho, which initially produced about 100 kW. Work was also researched in the US on nuclear marine propulsion
15.
National security
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The concept developed all in the United States after World War II. Accordingly, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess economic security, energy security, environmental security, the variety of definitions provide an overview of the many usages of this concept. National security objectively means the absence of threats to acquired values and subjectively, in 1990, Harvard University history professor Charles Maier defined national security through the lens of national power, National security. The variety of definitions provide an overview of the usages of this concept. National security objectively means the absence of threats to acquired values and subjectively, in 1990, Harvard University history professor Charles Maier defined national security through the lens of national power, National security. To be truly secure, a nation needs other forms of security, authorities differ in their choice of nation security elements. Besides the military aspect of security, the aspects of diplomacy or politics, society, environment, energy and natural resources, the elements of national security correlate closely to the concept of the elements of national power. Romm lists security from narcotic cartels, economic security, environmental security, military security is traditionally the earliest recognised form of national security. Military security implies the capability of a nation to defend itself, alternatively, military security implies the capability of a nation to enforce its policy choices by use of military force. The term military security is considered synonymous with security in much of its usage, diplomacy, negotiation and other interactions form the means of interaction between the objects. Historically, conquest of nations has made conquerors rich through plunder, access to new resources, economic security today forms, arguably, as important a part of national security as military security. The creation and protection of jobs that supply defense and non-defense needs are vital to national security, third world countries are less secure due to lack of employment for their citizens. Environmental security deals with issues which threaten the national security of a nation in any manner. The scope and nature of environmental threats to security and strategies to engage them are a subject of debate. While all environmental events are not considered significant of being categorised as threats, many transnational issues, romm classifies these as, Transnational environmental problems that threaten a nations security, in its broad defined sense. These include global environmental problems such as climate change due to warming, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Environmental or resource problems that threaten a nations security, traditionally defined and these would be problems whose outcomes would result in conventional threats to national security as first or higher order outcomes. Environmentally threatening outcomes of warfare, e. g. Prabhakaran Paleris 2008 definition of a resource is. a support inventory, biotic or abiotic, renewable or expendable. for sustaining life at a heightened level of well-being
16.
Selective Service System
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The Selective Service System is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. A2010 GAO report estimated the rate at 92% with the names and addresses of over 16.2 million men on file. The Selective Service System provides the names of all registrants to the Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies program for inclusion in the JAMRS Consolidated Recruitment Database, the names are distributed to the Services for recruiting purposes on a quarterly basis. Regulations are codified at 32 C. F. R, owing to very slow enlistment following the U. S. The Act gave the President the power to men for military service. All men aged 21 to 30 were required to register for service for a service period of 12 months. As of mid-November 1917, all registrants were placed in one of five new classifications, Men in Class I were the first to be drafted, and men in lower classifications were deferred. Dependency deferments for registrants who were fathers or husbands were especially widespread, the age limit was later raised in August 1918 to a maximum age of 45. The military draft was discontinued in 1920, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by the 76th United States Congress on September 16,1940, establishing the first peacetime conscription in United States history. It required all men between the ages of 18 to 64 to register with Selective Service and it originally conscripted all men aged 21 to 35 for a service period of 12 months. In 1941 the military service period was extended to 18 months, the Selective Service System created by the 1940 Act was terminated by the Act of March 31,1947. The Selective Service Act of 1948, enacted in June of that year, created a new and separate system, all men 18 years and older had to register with Selective Service. All men between the ages of 19 to 26 were eligible to be drafted for a requirement of 21 months. Conscripts could volunteer for service in the Regular Army for a term of four years or the Organized Reserves for a term of six years. Due to deep postwar budget cuts, only 100,000 conscripts were chosen in 1948, in 1950, the number of conscripts was greatly increased to meet the demands of the Korean War. The outbreak of the Korean War fostered the creation of the Universal Military Training and this lowered the draft age from 19 to 18 1⁄2, increased active-duty service time from 21 to 24 months, and set the statutory term of military service at a minimum of eight years. Students attending a college or training program full-time could request an exemption, a Universal Military Training clause was inserted that would have made all men obligated to perform 12 months of military service and training if the Act was amended by later legislation. Despite successive attempts over the several years, however, such legislation was never passed
17.
Second World War
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
18.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
19.
National Security Act of 1947
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The National Security Act of 1947 was a major restructuring of the United States governments military and intelligence agencies following World War II. The majority of the provisions of the Act took effect on September 18,1947, the Act merged the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment, headed by the Secretary of Defense. It also created the Department of the Air Force, which separated the Army Air Forces into its own service and it also protected the Marine Corps as an independent service, under the Department of the Navy, prohibiting it from ever being absorbed into the Army. Aside from the reorganization, the act established the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency. The National Security Act of 1947 was a restructuring of the United States governments military. The act and its changes, along with the Truman Doctrine, the bill signing took place aboard Trumans VC-54C presidential aircraft Sacred Cow, the first aircraft used for the role of Air Force One. The majority of the provisions of the Act took effect on September 18,1947 and his power was initially limited and it was difficult for him to exercise the authority to make his office effective. This was later changed in the amendment to the act in 1949, the Act merged the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment, headed by the Secretary of Defense. It also created the Department of the Air Force, which separated the Army Air Forces into its own service and it also protected the Marine Corps as an independent service, under the Department of the Navy, prohibiting it from ever being absorbed into the Army. Initially, each of the three service secretaries maintained quasi-cabinet status, but the act was amended on August 10,1949, at the same time, the NME was renamed as the Department of Defense. The purpose was to unify the Army, Navy, and Air Force into a federated structure. S. s first peacetime intelligence agency. The councils function was to advise the president on domestic, foreign, and military policies, the 1949 Revolt of the Admirals. The Story Behind the National Security Act of 1947, underlying assumptions of the National Security Act of 1947. The National Security Act of 1947, Its Thirtieth Anniversary, enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, compiled 1789 -2008. U. S. National Archives and Records Administration
20.
Jim Inhofe
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James Mountain Jim Inhofe is the senior United States senator from Oklahoma and a member of the Republican Party. Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Blanche and he moved with his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was a child. He was a member of the Class of 1953 at Tulsa Central High School, Inhofe received a B. A. degree when he was nearly 40 years old from the University of Tulsa in 1973. Inhofe worked as a businessman for 30 years before becoming a full-time politician and he worked in the field of aviation, as a real estate developer, and in insurance, eventually becoming the president of the Quaker Life Insurance Company. During the time he worked for Quaker Life, the company went into receivership, Inhofe became active in Oklahoma Republican politics in the mid-1960s. He was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1967 to 1969, and a member of the Oklahoma Senate from 1969 until 1977, in 1974, he ran for Governor of Oklahoma. In October 1974, then-President Gerald Ford visited Oklahoma to campaign for him, a late October poll by the Daily Oklahoman showed Boren leading 74%–25%. He lost to Democratic State Representative David Boren 64%–36%, Inhofe won only four counties in the election. He lost 57 pounds during the campaign and was down to 148 pounds, in 1976, he ran for Oklahomas 1st congressional district. In the Republican primary, he defeated State Senator Frank Keating, in the general election, he lost to incumbent Democrat James R. Jones 54%–45%. In 1978, he ran for mayor of Tulsa, defeating Democrat Rodger Randle 51%–46%, in 1980, he won re-election unopposed and in 1982, he won re-election with 59%. In 1986, when Congressman Jones decided to retire to run for the U. S. Senate, Inhofe ran for the 1st District, in the general election, he defeated Democrat Gary Allison 55%–43%. In 1988, he won re-election against Democrat Kurt Glassco, Governor George Nighs legal counsel, in 1990, he defeated Glassco in a rematch 56%–44%. After redistricting, the 1st District contained only two counties, all of Tulsa and some parts of Wagoner, in 1992, he won re-election with 53% of the vote. In 1987, he voted against President Ronald Reagans budget, which included tax increases and he first came to national attention in 1993, when he led the effort to reform the Houses discharge petition rule, which the House leadership had long used to bottle up bills in committee. Inhofe was elected Senator Borens successor in this election cycle saw the Republican Party take both houses of Congress and the Oklahoma governorship. Inhofe took the office on November 16 and took the day, his 60th birthday. After serving the last two years of Borens term, he won his first full term in 1996 and he was reelected in 2002,2008 and 2014
21.
Roger Wicker
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Roger Frederick Wicker is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who serves as the junior United States Senator from Mississippi, in office since 2007. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, Wicker served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980, Wicker served in the House from January 1995 to December 2007, when he was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott. He subsequently won the 2008 special election for the remainder of the term and was re-elected to a term in 2012. He served as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 114th U. S. Congress, Wicker was born on July 5,1951, in Pontotoc, Mississippi, the son of Wordna Glen and Thomas Frederick Wicker. In 1967, the 16-year-old Wicker worked as a United States House of Representatives Page for Democratic Congressman Jamie L. Whitten of Mississippis 1st congressional district. He earned a degree in journalism and political science and a law degree from the University of Mississippi where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Wicker was the student body president at Ole Miss, after graduation, Wicker served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980. Starting in 1980, he was a member of the Air Force Reserve, Wicker served as a judge advocate. Wicker began his career in 1980 as House Rules Committee counsel to Republican Congressman Trent Lott. He was then elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1987 and he represented the 6th district from 1988 to 1994, which included Tupelo. Representative Jamie L. Whitten declined to seek re-election, he had represented the 1st District for 54 years, Wicker ran to succeed him, spending $750,000 over the course of the election. He finished first in a crowded six-way Republican primary with 7,156 votes and proceeded to a runoff with attorney Grant Fox, in the runoff, Wicker defeated Fox by 11,905 votes to 10,527. In the general election, Wicker defeated Fulton attorney Bill Wheeler by 80,553 votes to 47,192, however, this was not considered an upset, as the 1st has always been a rather conservative district. The district had only supported the official Democratic candidate for president once since 1956, although Whitten had a nearly unbreakable hold on the district, it had been considered very likely that he would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. Wicker was re-elected six times without serious difficulty, never dropping below 65 percent of the vote, in 2004, he was unopposed by a Democratic candidate, facing only Reform Party nominee Barbara Dale Washer, whom he defeated by 219,328 votes to 58,256. Assuming office in 1995, he was President of the freshman class and he was a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He was also deputy Republican whip, in Congress, Wicker worked on issues related to medical research and on economic development for his home state. He advocated private-public partnerships to bring investment to rural areas, Wicker also worked for veterans issues while serving as a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee
22.
Deb Fischer
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Debra Deb Strobel Fischer is the senior United States Senator from the state of Nebraska. Previously, she was a member of the Nebraska Legislature. She defeated former United States Senator Bob Kerrey in the held on November 6,2012. Fischer is a member of the Republican Party, Fischer was born Debra Strobel in 1951, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of Florence M. and Gerold Carl Jerry Strobel. Her father was the State Engineer/Director of the Nebraska Department of Roads under governors Kay Orr and Ben Nelson, in 1972, she married Bruce Fischer, from Valentine, whom she had met while both attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She and her husband raised three sons on the Fischer family cattle ranch south of Valentine, in 1988, she returned to the university and completed her B. S. degree in education. In 2004, Fischer ran for the Nebraska legislature from the 43rd legislative district, in the nonpartisan primary, she came in second in a field of seven, receiving 2226 votes, front-runner Kevin T. Cooksley received 2264 votes. In the general election, she defeated Cooksley with 8178 votes to his 8050, in 2008, she won re-election unopposed. Nebraskas term-limits law precluded her running for re-election in 2012, Fischers district was geographically the largest in the Nebraska Legislature, comprising 12 counties and part of a 13th. During her tenure in the legislature, she did a radio show on seven stations covering her district. In 2007, she helped to filibuster a bill created a statewide smoking ban for indoor workplaces. In 2009, Fischer was one of fourteen co-sponsors of L. B,675, which required abortion providers to display ultrasound images of the fetus at least one hour prior to the abortions, in a position where the abortion seeker could easily view them. The measure passed by a 40–5 vote, and was signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman. S, opponents of federal grazing leases argued that she should relinquish her familys permit if she wants to remain morally consistent with her message of less government. Fischer argued that the quality of federal lands, plus the restrictions that come with federal leases. In the campaign, Fischer was outspent by Bruning, who raised $3.6 million, and Stenberg, however, Bruning and Stenberg spent much of their resources attacking one another, Fischer benefitted from the damage that each did to the others approval ratings. She was also aided by $725,000 in television ads bought by the Club for Growth attacking Bruning, shortly before the election, she was endorsed by Nebraska U. S. Fischer won the primary election with 40% of the vote. Bruning ranked second with 35%, and Stenberg ranked third with 18%, Fischer took a plurality of votes in 75 of Nebraskas 93 counties. Bruning won 15 counties and Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn received a plurality in his home Colfax County, Fischer and Bruning tied in Kimball and Sioux counties
23.
Tom Cotton
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Thomas Bryant Tom Cotton is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, Cotton has served in the Senate since January 3,2015, at age 39, he is currently the youngest U. S. Senator. Prior to the election of Cotton, Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut was the youngest incumbent U. S. Senator, Cotton was first elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating two-term Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor. He previously served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 until 2015, Tom Cotton was born on May 13,1977 in Dardanelle, south of Russellville. He is the son of Thomas Leonard and Avis Cotton, and he graduated from Dardanelle High School in June 1995. He attended Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Crimson, graduating in 1998, in summer 1997, Cotton attended the Publius Fellowship program of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank. In 1998, he was accepted into a degree program at Claremont Graduate University. He left in 1999, saying that he found life too sedentary, enrolling at Harvard Law School. Immediately after finishing law school in 2002, he served for a year as a clerk for Judge Jerry Edwin Smith at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then entered practice, working at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for a few months. On January 11,2005, Cotton enlisted in the United States Army, in March 2005, he entered Officer Candidate School, and in June 2005 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He was initially stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he entered a 14-week Officer’s Basic Course, after completing OBC in November 2005, Cotton attended the U. S. Army Airborne School as well as Ranger School and Air Assault School. In May 2006, Cotton deployed to Baghdad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a leader with the 101st Airborne Division. In Iraq, he led a 41-man air assault infantry platoon in the 506th Infantry Regiment, the Times did not publish the letter, but it was published on Power Line, a conservative blog which had been copied on the email. In the letter, Cotton called for the responsible for the newspaper article to be imprisoned for espionage. He asserted that the newspaper had gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers, the article was widely circulated online and reprinted in full in several newspapers. Cotton said in an interview that after meeting with his commander, he was nervous and worried all night long about losing his position and even worse. When he finally met the commander, he was simply told Well, here’s a piece of advice
24.
Mike Rounds
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Marion Michael Mike Rounds is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from South Dakota, since January 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Rounds served as the 31st Governor of South Dakota from 2003 to 2011 and he holds the U. S. Senate seat previously held by retired Democrat Tim Johnson. Rounds, the eldest of eleven siblings, was born in Huron, South Dakota and he has German, Belgian, Swedish, and English ancestry. Rounds has lived in the capital of Pierre since he was three years old. He was named for an uncle, Marion Rounds, who was killed in the Pacific theater during the Second World War, several members of the Rounds family have been involved in state government. His father worked at times as state director of highway safety. Rounds brother, Tim Rounds, is a member of the South Dakota State Legislature representing District 24, Rounds attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he earned his B. S. in political science. Rounds is a partner in Fischer Rounds & Associates, an insurance and real estate firm with offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Mitchell, Watertown. Rounds represented District 24, which was based in Pierre, in 1990, Rounds defeated incumbent state Senator Jacqueline Kelley, 53%-47%. He won re-election in 1992,1994,1996, and 1998, Rounds was barred from seeking re-election in 2000 by legislative term limits, which South Dakota voters had passed in 1994. He represented Hughes, Lyman, Stanley, and Sully counties, in 1993, Rounds became Senate Minority Whip. In 1995, Rounds was selected by his peers to be Senate Majority Leader, until late in 2001, then-Congressman John Thune was the front-runner for the nomination. When Thune passed on the race to challenge Senator Tim Johnson, state Attorney General Mark Barnett, however, the contest between Kirby and Barnett soon became very negative and dirty. Kirby invested in the company after the scandal broke and Barnett attacked him for it in television advertisements, however, the advertisements backfired because the claims were so outlandish, that people thought for sure that they were exaggerated or completely fabricated. After winning the Republican nomination, Rounds selected state senator Dennis Daugaard of Dell Rapids to be his running mate and their Democratic opponents were University of South Dakota President Jim Abbott of Vermillion and his running mate, former state representative Mike Wilson of Rapid City. Rounds was elected governor on November 5,2002, billion easily defeated Wiese for the nomination and selected Rapid City school board member Eric Abrahamson as his running mate. The Rounds/Daugaard ticket was reelected on November 7,2006, Rounds served as the 2008 Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association. Roundss 2010 Initiative established 10 research centers at state-supported universities, on February 22,2006, the state legislature of South Dakota passed an act banning all medical abortions except those necessary to save the mothers life
25.
Joni Ernst
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Joni Kay Ernst /ˈdʒoʊni ˈɜːrnst/ is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Iowa, elected in the November 2014 election. She previously served as a Republican member of the Iowa Senate from 2011 to 2014, Ernst is the first woman to represent Iowa in the United States Congress and the first female veteran from any state to serve in the United States Senate. Ernst was born Joni Kay Culver in Montgomery County, Iowa and she was valedictorian of her class at Stanton High School. Ernst earned a degree in psychology from Iowa State University. While in college, Ernst took part in an exchange to the Soviet Union. Ernst served as officer and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard. Near the end of her career, she served as the officer of the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Camp Dodge. Upon her retirement from the military in 2015, Ernst had served 23 years between the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard and she spent 12 months in Kuwait in 2003–04 as the company commander of the 1168th Transportation Company during the Iraq War. Ernst was elected the Montgomery County Auditor in 2004 and re-elected in 2008, Ernst was elected to the Iowa State Senate in a special election in 2011 and re-elected in 2012. She represented District 12, which serves the southwest part of the state, Ernst was a member of the Education, Appropriations, Veterans Affairs, Rules and Administration and Health and Human Services committees of the Iowa State Senate. Following her election to the U. S. Senate, she resigned from the Iowa State Senate effective November 28,2014, in July 2013, Ernst announced that she would seek the Senate seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Tom Harkin. Ernst received the endorsement of Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds in October 2013 and she was also endorsed by 23 current and former state legislators. In March the Ernst campaign was endorsed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in May 2014, she was endorsed by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. After it aired, a Suffolk University poll in early April showed her with a narrow lead, by May, she was being described by the media as the strong front-runner. Ernst stated, If had any sort of service like I have, I have not been AWOL, I will never be AWOL. The other 105 missed votes represented 57 percent of the Iowa Senate votes that session, on October 23, Ernst cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Des Moines Registers editorial board, citing as a reason the newspapers negative editorials about her. The newspapers editorial board endorsed Ernsts opponent, Democrat Bruce Braley, on June 16,2014, in an event organized by Americans for Prosperity, at a panel titled The Senate, A Window of Policy Opportunity for Principled Leaders, Ernst thanked the group for its fundraising. In July 2014, Ernsts campaigning was temporarily paused while she participated in two weeks of National Guard duty, on August 29, Ernst and Braley announced their agreement to hold three televised debates in Davenport, Des Moines, and Sioux City
26.
Thom Tillis
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Thomas Roland Thom Tillis /ˈtɒm/ is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from North Carolina. Tillis was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Margie and Thomas Raymond Tillis and he was the oldest boy among six children with three older sisters. His family moved around 20 times when he was in school, in high school, Tillis was elected student body president and graduated near the top of his class. In 1978, after graduating school at 17, Tillis left home to get a job, telling The Charlotte Observer that he. Wang eventually hired Tillis to work in their Boston office and he spent two and a half years there, before being transferred back to Chattanooga, and then Atlanta. In 1990, he was recruited to work for accounting and consulting firm PriceWaterhouse and he enrolled in an extension program, graduating from the University of Maryland University College in 1997, with a B. S. in technology management to meet job requirements. His client was Charlottes NationsBank Corp, which in 1998 became Bank of America Corp, in 1998, Tillis moved his wife and two children from Fairfax, Virginia to Cornelius, North Carolina, a northern suburb of Charlotte, saying he was sick of commuting. Tillis began his career in 2002 in Cornelius, where he lived. He ran for town commissioner in 2003 and tied for place in the voting. After a two-year term as commissioner, Tillis ran for the General Assembly in 2006. He defeated incumbent John W. Rhodes in the Republican primary, Tillis ran unopposed in three subsequent reelection bids, in 2008,2010 and 2012. Tillis formally left IBM in 2009 and he was campaign chairman for the House Republican Caucus in 2010. In that years elections, Republicans won a majority in the House for the first time in almost 20 years, the House Republican Caucus selected Tillis to be the next Speaker over Paul Stam. When the legislative session opened on January 26,2011, he was elected the fifth Republican Speaker of the North Carolina House in the states history. In May 2011, Governing magazine named Tillis one of 17 GOP Legislators to Watch selected on the basis of such perceived qualities as leadership, ambition, in the 2012 elections, the Republican Party added nine seats to its majority, winning 77 of the 120 House seats. In January 2013, Tillis was unanimously re-elected Speaker of the House by the Republican Caucus and it passed legislation to sunset existing state rules and regulations and limit new regulations to a ten-year duration, unless renewed by the state government. Instead, he chose to run for U. S. Senate in the 2014 election against first-term incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan, tilliss primary candidacy was also endorsed by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. However, he participated in televised debates with the four major Republican primary candidates
27.
David Perdue
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Perdue won the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn on November 4,2014, taking office on January 3,2015. He is a first cousin of Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia, Perdue, Jr. started his business career with more than a decade as a management consultant. In 1992 he became a VP at Sara Lee Corporation, during the next decade, he worked with Haggar Clothing, and Reebok. He was unable to correct problems at Pillowtex, which he joined in 2002, Perdue next worked for Dollar General, where he did achieve a turnaround, and later for the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. which interests in India included textile mills. Before entering politics, Perdue set up a trading firm in Atlanta. David Perdue was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of David Alfred Perdue, Sr. and he was raised in Warner Robins, Georgia. Perdue has a degree in industrial engineering and a masters degree in operations research. At Georgia Tech, Perdue was a brother of the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity, the couple now lives in the resort town of Sea Island. The couple have two sons, David A. Perdue III and Blake Perdue, and three grandchildren, David Perdue, Jr. is the first cousin of former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue. Perdue began his career at Kurt Salmon Associates, a consulting firm. His first major job was as senior vice president of Asia operations for Sara Lee Corporation. His time at Sara Lee was followed by a stint at Haggar Clothing, in 1998, Perdue joined Reebok as a senior vice president, eventually rising to president and CEO. Perdue is credited with reducing the companys debt and reviving its sneaker line. Perdue negotiated a contract with the National Football League that a former Reebok executive referred to as revolutionary for repositioning the companys shoe brand, in 2002, Perdue left Reebok for Pillowtex, a North Carolina textile company. The company had emerged from bankruptcy with a heavy debt load. Perdue was unable to obtain funding from the companys investors. He left the company in 2003 after nine months on the job, Pillowtex closed several months later, leaving 7,650 workers out of work nationwide. With more than 4,000 jobs lost statewide, the closing of Pillowtex resulted in the largest single-day job loss in North Carolina history at the time, after leaving Pillowtex, Perdue became CEO of Dollar General
28.
Ted Cruz
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Rafael Edward Ted Cruz /ˈkruːz/ is an American politician and attorney, who has served as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election, Cruz graduated from Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1992, and from Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, in 1995. Bush on the 2000 George W. Bush Presidential campaign, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas, from 2003 to 2008, appointed by Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott. He was the first Hispanic, and the longest-serving, Solicitor General in Texas history, from 2004 to 2009, Cruz was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas, where he taught U. S. Supreme Court litigation. Cruz ran for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison and, in July 2012, defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst during the Republican primary runoff and he defeated former State Representative Paul Sadler in the November 2012 general election, winning 56–41%. He is the first Hispanic American to serve as a U. S, Senator representing Texas, and is one of three senators of Cuban descent. He chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Activities, in November 2012, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cruz began campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in March 2015, Cruzs victory in the February 2016 Iowa caucuses marked the first time a Hispanic person won a U. S. presidential caucus or primary. He eventually emerged as the challenger to frontrunner Donald Trump. He suspended his campaign for president on May 3,2016, Rafael Edward Cruz was born on December 22,1970, at Foothills General Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, to parents Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson and Rafael Bienvenido Cruz y Díaz. Cruzs mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware and she is of three-quarters Irish and one-quarter Italian descent. She earned a degree in mathematics from Rice University in the 1950s. Cruz paternal grandfather, Rafael, immigrated to Cuba as an infant with his parents from the Canary Islands of Spain. Cruzs father is a Cuban American, he was born in Cuba and grew up in the middle class and he obtained political asylum in the U. S. after his four-year student visa expired, as the Cuban Revolution had changed the government. He earned Canadian citizenship in 1973 and he became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 2005. Eleanor and Rafael Cruz divorced in 1997, at the time of his birth, Cruzs parents had lived in Calgary for three years and were working in the oil business as owners of a seismic-data processing firm for oil drilling. Cruz has said, Im the son of two mathematicians/computer programmers, in 1974, his father left the family and moved to Texas. Later that year, his parents reconciled and relocated to Houston, Cruz has two older half-sisters, Miriam Ceferina Cruz and Roxana Lourdes Cruz, from his fathers first marriage
29.
Lindsey Graham
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Lindsey Olin Graham is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as a United States Senator from South Carolina since 2003. A native of Central, South Carolina, Graham graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1977 and he received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981. He served in the United States Air Force from 1982 to 1988 and served as a Guardsman first in the South Carolina Air National Guard then in the Air Force Reserves, attaining the rank of colonel. He worked as a lawyer in practice before he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992. He then served in the United States House of Representatives, representing South Carolinas 3rd congressional district from 1995 to 2003 and he was elected to four terms, receiving at least 60% of the vote each time. In 2002, Graham ran for the U. S. Senate after eight-term Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond announced his retirement, Graham won the primary unopposed and defeated Democratic opponent Alex Sanders in the general election. Graham was re-elected to a term in 2008, defeating Bob Conley. He won a term in 2014, defeating Democrat Brad Hutto. Graham is known in the Senate for his advocacy of a national defense, his support of the military. He is also a critic of the Tea Party movement, arguing for a more inclusive Republican Party. On May 18,2015, Graham informally announced his candidacy for President of the United States, followed by an announcement on June 21,2015, in his hometown of Central. On December 21,2015, he ended his campaign for the presidency and he later endorsed Jeb Bush for President. After Bush suspended his campaign on February 20, Graham subsequently endorsed Ted Cruz, when it seemed certain that Donald Trump would become the Republican Presidential candidate in early May 2016, Graham announced he would not vote for Trump. Lindsey Olin Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, where his parents, Millie and Florence James F. J. Graham, ran a restaurant-bar-pool hall-liquor store, the Sanitary Cafe. After graduating from D. W. Daniel High School, Graham became the first member of his family to attend college, when he was 21, his mother died of Hodgkins lymphoma aged 52, and his father died 15 months later of a heart attack aged 69. Because his then-13-year-old sister was left orphaned, the service allowed Graham to attend University of South Carolina in Columbia so he could be home and care for his sister. During his studies, he became a member of the Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B. A. in Psychology in 1977, upon graduating, Graham was commissioned as an officer and judge advocate in the United States Air Force in 1982
30.
Ben Sasse
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Benjamin Eric Ben Sasse is an American politician. Sasse, a member of the Republican Party, is the junior United States Senator from the state of Nebraska, Sasse earned a doctorate in history from Yale University. He taught at the University of Texas, and served as an assistant secretary in the U. S. Department of Health, in 2010, he was named president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. In 2014, he was elected to fill the U. S Senate seat being vacated by Mike Johanns, a fifth-generation Nebraskan, Sasse was born on February 22,1972, in Plainview, Nebraska, the son of Linda K. and Gary Lynn Sasse. He graduated from Fremont Senior High School, Fremont, Nebraska in 1990, Sasse graduated from Harvard University in 1994 with a bachelors degree in government. He also studied at the University of Oxford during the fall of 1992 on a year abroad program. From September 1994 to November 1995, Sasse worked as a consultant at the management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. For the next year, Sasse served as director for the Christians United For Reformation. During his tenure, CURE merged with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Sasse left the Department of Justice in 2005 to serve as chief of staff to Representative Jeff Fortenberry from January 2005 to July 2005. Sasse then advised the U. S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC, Sasse moved to Austin, Texas, to resume his professorship full-time from September 2005 to December 2006. In July 2007, Sasse was nominated by President George W. Bush to the post of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate in December 2007 and served until the end of the Bush Administration in January 2009, during his tenure at HHS, Sasse took unpaid leave from the University of Texas. During 2009, Sasse was advising private equity clients and health care investors, in October 2009, he officially joined the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs’ Center for Politics and Governance as a fellow, before being appointed president of Midland University. Sasse was announced as the 15th president of Midland University in October 2009, at the age of 37, he became one of the youngest chief executives in American higher education when he took over leadership of the 128-year-old institution in the spring of 2010. Sasses grandfather, Elmer Sasse, worked for Midland for 33 years, Sasse was officially installed as president on December 10,2010. When he was appointed, enrollment was at a historic low, during his tenure as president, enrollment grew from 590 to 1,300 students. When nearby Dana College was forced to close, Sasse managed to hire much of the faculty, when Sasse announced his intention to run for U. S. Senate, he offered to resign his post at Midland. Instead, the Board asked him to stay at Midland under a partial leave of absence, in October 2013, Sasse stepped down as president of Midland in January 2015
31.
Luther Strange
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Luther Johnson Big Luther Strange III is an American attorney and politician, who is currently serving as the Junior Senator from the state of Alabama. He previously served as the 47th Attorney General of the U. S. state of Alabama from 2011 until 2017, Strange was a candidate for public office in both 2006 and 2010. In 2006, Strange ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama and defeated George Wallace, Strange then lost the general election to Democrat Jim Folsom, Jr. In 2010, Strange defeated incumbent Attorney General Troy King in the Republican primary, before going on to win the election on November 2,2010. Strange was appointed as Senator on February 9,2017, by Alabama governor Robert J. Bentley to fill out the vacancy caused by Sessionss resignation. Luther Strange was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and lived in Sylacauga until the age of six, Strange graduated from Shades Valley High School in 1970. He received his degree from Tulane University, where he was a scholarship reserve basketball player nicknamed The Big Bunny. He then graduated from Tulane University Law School, Strange was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1981. Stranges first job after graduating law school was at Sonat Offshore, in 1985, Strange became head of Sonats Washington, D. C. office. He left the company in 1994, in the 1980s and 1990s, Strange was a registered lobbyist in Washington for Sonat and Transocean Offshore Drilling Co. Prior to being elected Attorney General, Strange was the founder of the law firm Strange LLC, before establishing his own law firm, Strange was a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. Strange also joined a suit brought by some states against the government that challenged the Obama administrations Clean Power Plan. Strange is an opponent of same-sex marriage and he expressed disagreement with the U. S. Supreme Courts ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges which found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. His tenure in office included the conviction and removal from office of the Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard in June 2016, however, Strange recused himself from that case, appointing Van Davis as Acting Attorney General to oversee it. As attorney general, Strange was the counsel for the Gulf Coast states in litigation in the litigation on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In April 2014, Strange argued before the U. S. Supreme Court in Lane v. Franks, the case involved a whistleblower who reported corruption within the Alabama community college system. This was Stranges first argument before the Court, in March 2014, Strange brought Alabama into a lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster against Californias egg production standards as embodied in Prop 2. Strange served as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2016 and 2017, the appointment of Senator Jeff Sessions as U. S. Attorney General in November 2016 created a potential opening for a U. S. Senate seat that Governor Bentley would fill by appointment
32.
Jack Reed (politician)
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John Francis Jack Reed, is the senior United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives for Rhode Islands 2nd congressional district from 1991 to 1997. Reed was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, the son of Mary Louise, Reed graduated from La Salle Academy and the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1971. Following graduation, he spent several years in active duty military service, Reed earned the Ranger Tab and was a paratrooper. He served as a paratrooper in the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division where he was a Platoon Leader, Company Commander, Reed attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received a Master of Public Policy. He returned to West Point in 1978 as a professor in the Department of Social Sciences. He left active duty in 1979 after earning the rank of Captain, however, he would remain a member of the United States Army Reserve until 1991. After leaving active duty, Reed enrolled in Harvard Law School, in 1982, he graduated with his Juris Doctor and worked as an associate at the Washington, D. C. office of law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Afterwards, he returned to Rhode Island and joined Edwards and Angell and he worked with this group until 1990. Reed was elected as a senator in 1984 and served three terms. Reed married professional Senate staffer Julia Hart in a Roman Catholic ceremony in the Catholic chapel on the United States Military Academy campus on April 16,2005, on January 5,2007, Mrs. Reed gave birth to a daughter, Emily. In 1990, Reed was elected to the United States House of Representatives, for the next six years, Reed focused on education and health care. Reed won the Democratic primary with 86% of the vote and beat the Republican nominee, Rhode Island General Treasurer Nancy Mayer,2002 Reed ran for re-election to a second term. 2008 In 2008, ran for re-election to a third term and he faced a primary challenge which he easily turned aside, winning with 87% of the vote. In the general election, he faced a rematch with Robert Tingle, Reed again won a landslide victory, by 73% to 27%. 2014 Reed announced in May 2014 that he would run for re-election to a term in office. Polling showed him leading prospective Republican opponents by margins of between 29% and 65%, Reed, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, faced only former Congressional nominee and former Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Mark Zaccaria in the general election. Reed defeated him in another win, by 71% to 29%
33.
Bill Nelson (politician)
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Clarence William Bill Nelson II is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party who serves as the senior United States Senator from Florida, in office since 2001. Nelson began his career in the Florida House of Representatives, where he served from 1973 to 1979 and he then served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In January 1986, Nelson became the first sitting member of the United States House of Representatives to fly in space and he flew as a Payload Specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia. He retired from Congress in 1990 to run for Governor of Florida but was unsuccessful and he was appointed as Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida, serving from 1995 to 2001. In 2000, Nelson ran for and was elected to the U. S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Connie Mack III and he was re-elected in 2006 with 60% of the vote and in 2012 with 55% of the vote. In the Senate, he is considered a moderate Democrat. Nelson was born September 29,1942, in Miami, Florida and his ancestry includes Scottish, Irish, English, and Danish. His father died of an attack when Nelson was 14. Nelson grew up in Melbourne, Florida, where he attended Melbourne High School and he attended Baptist and Episcopal churches but later was baptized through immersion in a Baptist church. He served as President of Kiwanis-sponsored Key Club International in 1959–60, in 2005, he joined the First Presbyterian Church in Orlando. Nelson attended the University of Florida, where he was a member of Florida Blue Key, and he transferred to Yale University, where he was a member of the Book and Snake secret society. He received a law degree from the University of Virginia, in 1965, he joined the U. S. Army Reserve during the Vietnam War. He served on duty from 1968 to 1970, attaining the rank of captain. Nelson was admitted to the Florida bar in 1968, and began practicing law in Melbourne in 1970, in 1971, he worked as legislative assistant to Governor Reubin Askew. In 1972, Nelson married Grace Cavert, the couple have two adult children, Charles William Bill Jr. Nelson, and Nan Ellen Nelson. In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress to travel into space and he went through NASA training with Senator Jake Garn of Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbias STS-61-C mission from January 12 to 18,1986, Columbia landed at Edwards AFB at 5,59 a. m. Mission elapsed time was 6 days,2 hours,45 minutes,51 seconds and it was the last successful Space Shuttle flight before the Challenger accident, as the disaster occurred only 10 days after Columbias return
34.
Claire McCaskill
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Claire Conner McCaskill is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who serves as the senior United States Senator from Missouri. The first woman elected to the U. S. Senate from Missouri in her own right, she defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent in the 2006 election and she became the states senior U. S. Senator upon the retirement of Kit Bond in 2011 and won a bid for re-election in 2012, before her election to the U. S. Senate, McCaskill served as the State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. She previously served as Jackson County Prosecutor from 1993 to 1998 and she ran for Governor of Missouri in the 2004 election, beating Democratic incumbent Bob Holden in the primary election but losing to Republican Matt Blunt in a close general election. A native of Rolla, she graduated from the University of Missouri, in the 115th Congress, McCaskill will serve as ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. McCaskill was born in Rolla, Missouri, McCaskills father, William Young McCaskill, served as a state Insurance Commissioner during the administration of Governor Warren E. Hearnes. Her mother, Betty Anne, was the first woman elected to the City Council of Columbia, Betty Anne McCaskill lost a race for a seat in the state House of Representatives to Leroy Blunt, the father of U. S. Senator Roy Blunt and grandfather of former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, McCaskill spent her early childhood in the small Missouri town of Houston, later moving to Lebanon, and eventually Columbia. McCaskill attended David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, where she was a cheerleader, Pep Club president, member of the club, musical cast member. While attending the University of Missouri, McCaskill joined Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1978. In the summer of 1974, before graduating from the University of Missouri, McCaskill studied at the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University. McCaskill, following her graduation from law school, spent one year as a law clerk on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District, thereafter, McCaskill joined the Jackson County prosecutors office, where she specialized in arson cases. In 1982, McCaskill was elected to represent the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City in the Missouri House of Representatives, in 1990, McCaskill was elected to the Jackson County Legislature. In February 1991, McCaskill testified for a Missouri Senate bill that would prohibit a man accused of raping his wife from using marriage as a defense and this is simply an issue of fundamental justice. Its embarrassing that we live in a state where its okay to rape your wife, in December 1991, McCaskill announced her intention to run for county prosecutor. At the time of the announcement, the incumbent Democratic Prosecutor Riederer had not announced whether he was going to seek reelection, McCaskill said that crime had run amok during Riederers eleven years as county prosecutor. McCaskill won the Democratic primary, and she went on to win the 1992 general election with 53 percent of the vote, McCaskill was the first woman to serve as prosecutor for Jackson County. She was reelected in 1996 with 71 percent of the vote, in 1998, McCaskill was elected to the position of State Auditor with 50.3 percent of the vote in the general election
35.
Jeanne Shaheen
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Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen /ʃəˈhiːn/ is an American politician who is the Senior United States Senator from New Hampshire, since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first female U. S, Senator in New Hampshires history, was the first woman to be elected Governor of New Hampshire, and she is the first woman to be elected as a U. S. After serving two terms in the New Hampshire Senate, Shaheen was elected Governor in 1996, and she was re-elected in 1998 and 2000, in 2002, she opted to run for the United States Senate, losing to Republican John E. Sununu. She served as Director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, before resigning to run for the U. S. Senate again in the 2008 election, Shaheen became the first Democratic Senator from New Hampshire since John A. Durkin, who was defeated in 1980. In 2014, She became only the second Democrat from New Hampshire to be re-elected to the U. S. Senate, Jeanne Shaheen was born Cynthia Jeanne Bowers in Saint Charles, Missouri, the daughter of Belle E. and Ivan E. Bowers. Her husband is Lebanese-American attorney and political operative Bill Shaheen and she taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she taught school and, with her husband Bill Shaheen, owned a store that sold used jewelry. In 1996,1998 and 2000 she was elected governor of New Hampshire, in April 2005, Shaheen was named director of Harvards Institute of Politics, succeeding former U. S. Representative and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Shaheens decision to run for New Hampshire governor followed the retirement of Republican Governor Steve Merrill. Her opponent in 1996 was Ovide M. Lamontagne, then chairman of the State Board of Education, Shaheen presented herself as a moderate. According to a PBS profile, she focused on funding issues. She defeated Lamontagne by 57 to 40 percent, in 1996, Shaheen was the first woman to be elected governor of New Hampshire. In 1998, she was re-elected by a margin of 66 to 31 percent. In both 1996 and 1998, Shaheen took a no-new-taxes pledge. ”Running for a term in 2000, Shaheen refused to renew that no-new-taxes pledge. Shaheens preferred solution to the problem was not a broad-based tax. In 2001 Shaheen tried to implement a 2.5 percent sales tax, unlike neighboring New England states New Hampshire does not have a sales tax. The states legislature rejected her proposal and she also proposed an increase in the states cigarette tax and a 4.5 percent capital gains tax. During the 2000 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, Governor Shaheen expressed support for Al Gore, according to the New York Observer, the Shaheens were critical in helping Gore win a narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary over Bill Bradley. Shaheen responded to speculation about being selected by stating she wasn’t interested in taking the job, after a short time teaching at Harvard University, she was named national chairperson of John Kerrys 2004 presidential campaign in September 2003
36.
Kirsten Gillibrand
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Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from New York, in office since 2009. Previously, she served in the United States House of Representatives and she is a member of the Democratic Party. In December 2008, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, after two months and many potential names considered, Governor David Paterson appointed Gillibrand to fill the seat. Gillibrand was required to run in an election in 2010. She was re-elected to a full term in 2012 with 72% of the vote. Kirsten Gillibrand was born in Albany, New York, on December 9,1966, both her parents are attorneys, and her father has also worked as a lobbyist. Her parents divorced in the late 1980s, Gillibrand has an older brother, Douglas Rutnik, and a younger sister, Erin Rutnik Tschantret. She has English, Austrian, Scottish, German, and Irish ancestry, during her childhood and college years, Gillibrand used the nickname Tina. She began using her name of Kirsten a few years after law school. In 1984 she graduated from Emma Willard School, a high school in Troy, New York. Gillibrand majored in Asian Studies, studying in both Beijing and Taiwan, while in Beijing, she studied and lived with Connie Britton. Gillibrand graduated magna cum laude in 1988, while at Dartmouth, she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. During college, Gillibrand interned at Republican U. S, Gillibrand received her J. D. from UCLA School of Law and passed the bar exam in 1991. In 1991, Gillibrand joined the Manhattan-based law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell as an associate, in 1992, she took a leave from Davis Polk to serve as a law clerk to Judge Roger Miner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Albany. She became an associate while working on Philip Morris litigation. While working at Davis Polk, Gillibrand became involved in—and later the leader of—the Womens Leadership Forum and it was such a challenge to the women in the room. And it really hit me, Shes talking to me, following her time at Davis Polk, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo during the last year of the Clinton administration. Gillibrand worked on HUDs Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, as well as on TAPs Young Leaders of the American Democracy, and strengthening Davis–Bacon Act enforcement
37.
Richard Blumenthal
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Richard Dick Blumenthal /ˈbluːmənˌθɑːl/ is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut, in office since 2011. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011 and he is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School, Blumenthal is a graduate of Harvard College, where he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. He studied for a year at Trinity College, Cambridge in England before attending Yale Law School, while at Yale, he was a classmate of future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. From 1970 to 1976, Blumenthal served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, after college, Blumenthal served as administrative assistant and law clerk for several Washington figures. From 1977 to 1981, he was United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, in the early 1980s he worked in private law practice, including serving as volunteer counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1984 to 1987 and he was elected state Attorney General in 1990, and served for twenty years. During this period he was speculated as a contender for Governor of Connecticut. Blumenthal announced his 2010 run for U. S. Senate after Democrat incumbent Chris Dodd announced his retirement and he faced professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon in the general election, winning by a 12-point margin with 55 percent of the vote. On January 5,2011, he was sworn in and took seats on the Senate Armed Services, Judiciary, Aging and he became the senior senator after the retirement of Joe Lieberman. Blumenthal was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jane and Martin Blumenthal and his mother was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to a Jewish family that originated in Prussia and Baden. His grandfather, Fred Fritz Rosenstock, raised cattle on his farm, Blumenthals father was a German Jew who emigrated alone at age 17 from Frankfurt in 1935. Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx before graduating from Harvard College with a A. B. magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, as an undergraduate, he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. Blumenthal was an intern reporter for The Washington Post in the London Bureau. Blumenthal was also selected for a Fiske Fellowship that allowed him to study at the University of Cambridge in England for one year after graduation from Harvard College. In 1973, Blumenthal received his J. D. from Yale Law School, while at Yale, he was classmates with future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. One of his co-editors on the Yale Law Journal was future United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and his brother, David Blumenthal, is the President of the Commonwealth Fund. Blumenthal received several draft deferments during the Vietnam War before enlisting and he served in United States Marine Corps Reserve units in Washington, D. C. and Connecticut from 1970 to 1976
38.
Joe Donnelly
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Joseph Simon Joe Donnelly, Sr. is an American politician who is the senior United States Senator from Indiana. A member of the Democratic Party, Donnelly has served in the Senate since January 3,2013, born in Massapequa, New York, Donnelly graduated from The University of Notre Dame. He began his career serving on the Indiana State Election Board before working as an attorney in practice, from 1997 to 2001, he was a member of the Mishawaka Marian School Board, serving as the boards President from 2000 to 2001. In 2004, Donnelly ran for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives and he challenged Chocola to a rematch in 2006, prevailing in the general election and earning 54% of the vote. He represented Indianas 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013, winning reelection in 2008 and 2010, in May 2011, Donnelly announced his intentions to run for the U. S. Senate, winning the Democratic nomination one year later in an uncontested primary. He then faced Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who had defeated 36-year incumbent Richard Lugar in the Republican primary, on November 6,2012 Donnelly defeated Mourdock in the general election, securing 50% of the vote to Mourdocks 44%. Donnelly was born and raised on the South Shore of Long Island in Massapequa and he practiced law at the Nemeth, Feeney and Masters law firm until 1996, when he opened Marking Solutions, a printing and rubber-stamp company. Donnelly held one public and one private position before deciding to run for U. S. Congress, from 1988 to 1989 he served on the Indiana State Election Board, which was charged with ensuring accurate election results. He served on the Marian High School Board from 1997 to 2001 and he ran a campaign for Indiana Attorney General in 1988, but lost at the Democratic state convention. He also ran a campaign for the Indiana Senate in 1990. In 2004, Donnelly ran for Indianas 2nd congressional district and he won the Democratic nomination unopposed. Incumbent Republican Chris Chocola was helped by several fundraising visits from President George W. Bush, due to his relatively late entrance into the contest, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did not offer much support to Donnellys 2004 campaign. 2006 On May 2,2006, Donnelly defeated Steve Francis for the Democratic nomination, because Chocola was a strong supporter of George W. Bush, the race was expected to be more competitive than in 2004 in light of Bushs waning popularity. The website Moveon. org identified Donnelly as a top contender to defeat a Republican incumbent in the house, Chocola still maintained a significant money advantage over Donnelly, but in 2006, Donnelly had enough to maintain a competitive advertising presence throughout the campaign. The campaign was heated, with the DCCC sponsoring ads attacking Chocola as being beholden to moneyed interests in the insurance, pharmaceutical, Chocola returned fire by attacking Donnelly over a late tax filing and by attempting to link him to liberal House leader Nancy Pelosi. On November 7,2006, Donnelly defeated Chocola 54%-46%, a difference of 15,145 votes. The key difference between the 2006 and 2004 elections for Donnelly lay in the results within St. Joseph County, Donnelly won that county with 58% of vote, generating a 14, 000-vote margin. 2008 Donnelly ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, in the general election, he won re-election to a second term with 67% of the vote
39.
Mazie Hirono
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Mazie Keiko Hirono /ˈmeɪzi hᵻˈroʊnoʊ/ is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Hawaii, in office since 2013. She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Hawaii in 2002 but was defeated by Republican Linda Lingle and she then served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Hawaiis 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013. She is the first elected female Senator from Hawaii, the first Asian-American woman elected to the Senate, Senator born in Japan, and the nations first Buddhist Senator. She considers herself a non-practicing Buddhist and is cited with Hank Johnson as the first Buddhist to serve in the United States Congress. She is the woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Hawaii. The Democratic nominee for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Daniel Akaka, Hirono won the election, Hirono was sworn in on January 3,2013, by the Vice President and President of the Senate, Joe Biden. Hirono was the person of Asian ancestry serving in the U. S. Senate until 2016 when senators Tammy Duckworth and Kamala Harris were elected in the states of Illinois. She is the current dean of Hawaiis Congressional Delegation, Mazie Hirono was born on November 3,1947, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Although born in Japan, she was born to a mother who was an American citizen, at the age of 16, her maternal grandfather, Sato Hiroshi, immigrated to Hawaii to work on sugarcane plantations, Hirono’s grandmother, Tari Shinoki, was a picture bride. After finding plantation work difficult, they opened a bathhouse on River Street in Honolulu in 1928, the couple had a daughter, Sato Laura Chie, in 1924 and a son, Akira. In 1939, Tari returned to Japan with their son and daughter, though Laura felt out of place in Japan, in 1946, aged 22, she married a veterinarian, Hirono Matabe, and moved with her husband to southern Fukushima. The couple had three children, Roy, Mazie and Wayne, Mazie was the child and only daughter. Hironos father was a gambler and alcoholic who would pawn his wifes possessions for gambling money. Treated like a slave, by her in-laws, Hirono said, as Laura later recounted, My brother sent money to buy a school uniform for my son. My husband took the money, went to town and never came back home and it was getting closer to the start of school, so I went to look for him. I found out he had ordered an overcoat for himself with the money and he didnt need an overcoat in the spring. Thats when I made up my mind to leave, after telling her in-laws she would be taking her elder son and Hirono to school in her hometown, Laura left the house, never to return. Selling her clothes for the fare, she returned to her parents house
40.
Tim Kaine
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Timothy Michael Tim Kaine is an American attorney and politician who is the junior United States Senator from Virginia. A Democrat, Kaine was elected to the Senate in 2012 and was the nominee of his party for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election. He was first elected to office in 1994, when he won a seat on the Richmond. He was then elected Mayor of Richmond in 1998, and was in position until being elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2001. Kaine was elected Governor of Virginia in 2005 and was in office from 2006 to 2010. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011, Kaine was born at Saint Josephs Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the eldest of three born to Mary Kathleen, a home economics teacher, and Albert Alexander Kaine, Jr. a welder. One of Kaines great-grandparents was Scottish and the seven were Irish. Kaines family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, when Kaine was two old, and he grew up in the Kansas City area. In 1976, he graduated from Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit all-boys preparatory school in Kansas City, at Rockhurst, Kaine joined the debate team and was elected student body president. Kaine received his B. A. in economics from the University of Missouri in 1979 and he was a Coro Foundation fellow in Kansas City in 1978. While running a vocational center that taught carpentry and welding, he helped increase the schools enrollment by recruiting local villagers. Kaine is fluent in Spanish as a result of his nine months in Honduras, after returning from Honduras, Kaine met his future wife, first-year Harvard Law student, Anne Holton. He graduated from Harvard Law School with a J. D. degree in 1983, Kaine and Holton moved to Holtons hometown of Richmond, Virginia, after graduation, and Kaine was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1984. After graduating from law school, Kaine was a law clerk for Judge R. Lanier Anderson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in Macon, Kaine then joined the Richmond law firm of Little, Parsley & Cluverius, P. C. In 1987, Kaine became a director with the law firm of Mezzullo & McCandlish, Kaine practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in fair housing law and representing clients discriminated against on the basis of race or disability. Kaine won a $100.5 million verdict in the case, the judgment was overturned on appeal, Kaine did regular pro bono work. In 1988, Kaine started teaching legal ethics as a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law
41.
Angus King
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Angus Stanley King Jr. is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from the state of Maine. As a political independent, he served as the 72nd Governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003, King won Maines 2012 Senate election to replace the retiring Republican Olympia Snowe and took office on January 3,2013. For committee assignment purposes, he caucuses with the Democratic Party and he is the second incumbent Independent Senator, after Vermonts Bernie Sanders. King was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Ellen Archer and Angus Stanley King and he has spent most of his adult years in the state of Maine. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1966 and the University of Virginia School of Law in 1969, while a student at Dartmouth, King joined the Delta Upsilon social fraternity. Soon after graduation from Virginia, King entered private law practice in Brunswick and he was a staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Skowhegan. In 1972, he served as counsel to U. S. Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism. King served as an assistant to Democratic U. S. Senator William Hathaway in the 1970s and he was also well-known statewide as a television host on public television. As a result of the visit and the detection, King was able to receive treatment. In 1975, King returned to Maine to practice with Smith, Loyd, in 1983, he was appointed vice president of Swift River/Hafslund Company, which developed alternative energy projects in New England. In 1989, King founded Northeast Energy Management, Inc, the company developed, installed, and operated large-scale electrical energy conservation projects at commercial and industrial facilities throughout south-central Maine. In May 1993, King announced he would run for governor of Maine as an independent, as incumbent Governor John McKernan, King abandoned his lifelong affiliation with the Maine Democratic Party. The Republican nominee was Susan Collins, Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation under Governor John McKernan, Senator William Cohen, and at the time was relatively unknown to the electorate. The Democratic nominee was former Governor and U. S and it was Brennans fifth campaign for governor. The general election was a highly competitive race between King, Collins, Brennan, and Green Party nominee Jonathan Carter. King decided to invest early in television advertising during Maines unusually early June primary, King positioned himself as a businessman and a pragmatic environmentalist focused on job creation and education. His opponents criticized him for flip-flopping, Collins argued King presents different images, depending on who he is talking to
42.
Martin Heinrich
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Martin Trevor Heinrich /ˈhaɪnˌrɪk/ is an American politician and businessman, the junior United States Senator for New Mexico, in office since 2013. A native of Cole Camp, Missouri, Heinrich lived much of his adulthood in New Mexico, specifically Albuquerque, as a member of Democratic Party, Heinrich was the U. S. Representative for New Mexicos 1st congressional district from 2009 to 2013, Heinrich won the Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Jeff Bingaman in 2012. Heinrich was mentioned as a nominee for vice president in 2016 under Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. However, Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia was later selected for the ticket, Martin Trevor Heinrich was born in Fallon, Nevada, a town located in the states western portion, not far from Reno and the state capital of Carson City. Heinrich is the son of Shirley A. a seamstress, raised as a Lutheran, Heinrich and his parents are of German ancestry. Now based in Albuquerque, Heinrich grew up in the town of Cole Camp, Missouri, located near Missouris fifth largest city, Heinrich was educated and went to local public schools in Cole Camp, then moved to nearby Columbia in 1989 to attend the University of Missouri. After a brief stint doing mechanical drawings, Heinrich worked as an AmeriCorps fellow in New Mexico, from 1996 to 2001, he served as executive director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, a New Mexico non-profit organization dedicated to educating young people on natural science and the environment. In 2002, Heinrich founded his own public affairs consulting firm, Heinrich served on the Albuquerque City Council from 2003 to 2007, which included one term as city council president in 2006. As a city councilman, he stated that his goals were to reduce crime, raise the minimum wage and he also advocated the use of wind and solar power. In February 2006, he was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to be the states Natural Resources Trustee,2008 In 2008, Heinrich filed papers to run in New Mexicos 1st congressional district, based in Albuquerque. He originally planned to challenge five-term Republican incumbent Heather Wilson, in the general election, Heinrich faced Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, whom Heinrichs campaign focused on linking to President George W. Bush. Heinrich also called for independence and an end to the war in Iraq. He defeated White, 56%-44%, carrying three of the five counties, Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Valencia. White won Santa Fe and Torrance counties, upon his swearing in on January 3,2009, he became the first Democrat to represent the district. 2010 Heinrich was challenged by Republican Jon Barela, who told Politico he did not believe Heinrich reflected the district, saying he was too far left on budget and spending issues. Heinrich was elected to a term, defeating Barela 52%-48%. Barela won Santa Fe, Torrance, and Valencia counties, on January 14,2009, Heinrich was elected to a six-month term as class president by the House Democratic freshmen
43.
Elizabeth Warren
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Elizabeth Ann Warren is an American academic and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts. Warren was formerly a professor of law, and taught at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a prominent scholar specializing in bankruptcy law, Warren was among the most cited in the field of commercial law before starting her political career. Warren is a consumer protection advocate whose scholarship led to the conception. She has written a number of academic and popular works, and is a frequent subject of media interviews regarding the American economy, following the 2008 financial crisis, Warren served as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She later served as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama. During the late 2000s, she was recognized by such as the National Law Journal. In September 2011, Warren announced her candidacy for the U. S. Senate and she won the general election on November 6,2012, becoming the first female Senator from Massachusetts. She was assigned to the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Health, Education, Labor, Warren is a leading figure in the Democratic Party and is popular among American progressives. Although she repeatedly stated that she was not running for president, Warren remained neutral during the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, endorsing presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton only after all fifty states had voted. On July 7, CNN reported that Warren was on a five-person shortlist to be Clintons vice-presidential running mate, however, Clinton eventually chose Tim Kaine. She was their child, with three older brothers. When she was 12, her father, a janitor at Montgomery Ward, had a heart attack—which led to medical bills. Eventually, this led to the loss of their car from failure to make loan payments, to help the family finances, her mother found work in the catalog order department at Sears. When she was 13, Warren started waiting tables at her aunts restaurant and she also won a debate scholarship to George Washington University at the age of 16. Initially aspiring to be a teacher, she left GWU after two years to marry her high school boyfriend, Jim Warren, Warren moved to Houston with her husband, who was a NASA engineer. There she enrolled in the University of Houston, graduating in 1970 with a bachelor of degree in speech pathology and audiology. For a year, she taught children with disabilities in a school, based on an emergency certificate
44.
Gary Peters (politician)
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Gary Charles Peters is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U. S, representative for Michigans 14th congressional district from 2013 until his election to the Senate. The district includes the eastern half of Detroit, as well as the Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Southfield and he previously represented Michigans 9th congressional district from 2009 to 2013. Prior to his election to Congress, Peters served in the United States Navy Reserve, spent 22 years as an investment advisor and he was elected to the Rochester Hills City Council in 1991, going on to represent the 14th District in the Michigan Senate from 1995 to 2002. He was the Democratic nominee for Michigan Attorney General in 2002 and he was then appointed Commissioner of the Michigan Lottery by Governor Jennifer Granholm, serving from 2003 to 2008, when he resigned to run for Congress. In 2014 Peters was elected to the United States Senate seat previously held by retiring Democratic Senator Carl Levin and he was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Terri Lynn Land in the general election. He was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a 2014 Senate election and was the only Senate freshman from the Democratic Party for the 114th Congress, Peters was born December 1,1958 in Pontiac, where he grew up. He is the son of Madeleine A. and Herbert Garrett Peters and his mother was a French war bride and his father was American. He graduated from Alma College, where he was a member of the Zeta Sigma fraternity, in 1980, Peters also holds a J. D. from the Wayne State University Law School and an M. A. in philosophy from Michigan State University. Peters served as a Lieutenant Commander and an Assistant Supply Officer in the United States Navy Reserve and his reserve duty included time in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch, and he served overseas during increased military activity following the September 11,2001 attacks. During his service he received awards and citations, including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and he served on the Rochester Hills City Council from 1991-1993. Peters worked for 22 years as an advisor, serving as an assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch from 1980 until 1989 when he joined Paine Webber as a vice president. From 2007 to 2008, Peters served as the third Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government at Central Michigan University, Peters announced his candidacy to run for Congress two months after being hired. Student activists protested Peters’ hiring, saying he could not be objective in the classroom while running for office, Peters also has taught finance at Wayne State and strategic management and business policy courses at Oakland University. In November 1994, Peters was elected to the Michigan Senate to represent the Oakland County-based 14th district and he was re-elected in 1998 and served until 2002, when he was compelled to retire owing to the law on term limits. Peters was succeeded in the 14th district by Gilda Jacobs, the district is one of the most diverse state Senate districts—containing nearly every racial, ethnic and religious group in Michigan. Located in southeastern Oakland County, it includes the cities of Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills, Southfield, Peters was chosen by his Democratic colleagues to chair his partys caucus. He was also a member of the Michigan Law Revision Commission, the bill passed into law without the signature of Governor John Engler
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