Ed Rendell

Ed Rendell (2008)

Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell (born January 5, 1944 in New York City ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . From 2003 to 2011 he was governor of the state of Pennsylvania . From 1992 to 2000 he served as the mayor of Philadelphia .

Early years and political advancement

Ed Rendell attended the University of Pennsylvania until 1965 . He then studied law at Villanova Law School . There he made his exam in 1968. Between 1968 and 1974 he was a lieutenant in a reserve unit in the US Army .

In 1977, Rendell became a Philadelphia District Attorney . He held this post until 1985. In 1987 he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Philadelphia. When he applied for this post again in November 1991, however, he was successful. Rendell took up his new office in January 1992. In autumn 1995 he was re-elected as mayor. In this role, he managed to reduce a deficit of $ 250 million. He was able to set up a balanced budget and in the end even made a surplus. He succeeded in doing so, although he cut some taxes. During his tenure as mayor, Philadelphia's economy recovered and many new jobs were created. His services as mayor met nationwide approval.

Governor of Pennsylvania

Rendell in 2004

Governor Rendell (right) on November 2006 election night after he was confirmed in office

Ed Rendell was and is a leading figure within the Democratic Party. In 2000 he was co-chair ( General Chairman ) of the Democratic National Committee . Still, he had a hard time asserting himself within his party when he ran for the 2002 gubernatorial election. Many party colleagues favored the more conservative Bob Casey . In the end, Rendell was able to prevail and also win the subsequent election as governor with a share of the vote of 53 percent. In January 2003 he succeeded the no longer running governor Mark S. Schweiker . On November 7, 2006, he was confirmed in office by Pennsylvania voters. Rendell clearly defeated Republican Lynn Swan with 60 percent of the vote. In January 2007 he was sworn in for a second term.

During the presidential campaign of 2008, Governor Rendell was initially a supporter of Hillary Clinton . After their defeat in the Democratic primary elections in June 2008, he supported Barack Obama . Rendell was one of the so-called super delegates at the federal party conference of the Democrats.

For the gubernatorial election in November 2010, Rendell was constitutionally excluded from running for governor again because the head of government of Pennsylvania was only allowed to serve two terms in a row. On January 18, 2011, he was therefore replaced by the Republican Tom Corbett as Governor of Pennsylvania.

After the governorship

Even after the end of his term in office, Rendell remained present in the public through media appearances on political issues. For the fall of 2016 elections, he was named both as a potential challenger to Republican Senator Pat Toomey and as an outsider candidate in the event that Hillary Clinton did not run for the presidential election . However, Rendell stated that he had not yet made a concrete decision. In 2014, he turned down a new application for governorship.

In 2012, Rendell published his book entitled A nation of wusses , where he deals with his political career and the political polarization in the USA.

Personal

Ed Rendell was married to Marjorie Rendell since 1971; the couple has a son. In February 2011, shortly after the end of his term as governor, the couple announced their divorce. Rendell is an active member of the Federation of Freemasons and Devout Jews.

Web links

Commons : Ed Rendell  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Ed Rendell in the database of the National Governors Association (English)
• Rendell at C-Span

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rendell to GOP: Be careful what you wish for , Politico, November 2, 2014 (English)
2. ↑ Famous Freemason Ed Rendell ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On the website of Unity Lodge No. 95 in Tennessee www.unity95.org/ (Retrieved February 24, 2016)