Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson

Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson (born May 17, 1941 in McCook , Red Willow County , Nebraska ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was the 38th governor of Nebraska between 1991 and 1999  . From 2001 to 2013 he represented this state in the US Senate .

Early years

After elementary school, Nelson studied philosophy and law at the University of Nebraska . In 1970 he passed his law exam. After being admitted to the bar, he practiced his profession. At the same time, he also made a career in insurance and politics. Between 1975 and 1976 he was the head of the Nebraska Department of Insurance . In 1976 and 1980 he was campaign manager for the Democratic presidential candidates in Nebraska. Between 1980 and 1981 he held a senior position at the Central National Insurance Group . He then served as Vice President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners until 1985 . In 1985 he became a partner in one of the most prominent law firms in Nebraska.

Governor of Nebraska

In 1990 Nelson was elected governor of Nebraska. He took up his new office on January 9, 1991 and was able to exercise it until January 7, 1999 after a successful re-election in 1994. One of his goals was to bridge the gap between rural areas and cities in Nebraska. He reformed the administrative apparatus and made it more efficient. Instead of an expected increase in household costs of around 13%, he managed to cut spending by 6.1%. He also reformed the penal laws to reduce the crime rate. During his tenure, the first three executions took place in Nebraska since the death penalty was reinstated in 1973. In addition, he campaigned for an improvement in the health system.

US Senator

After the end of his tenure, Nelson ran for the US Senate election in 1996 and was defeated by the Republican Chuck Hagel , but was able to succeed in the Senate election in 2000 to succeed US Senator Bob Kerrey against Don Stenberg , the Republican attorney General of Nebraska. Nelson won just under 50.9 percent of the vote and entered the United States Senate on January 3, 2001 . In the next election in 2006 he was re-elected against Pete Ricketts ; this time he achieved a clear majority with 63.9 percent of the vote. He was a member of the Agriculture , Grants , Armed Forces and Rules of Procedure committee . Nelson was considered the most conservative member of the Democratic group and often voted with the Republicans. As the only Democrat, he voted against the nomination of Elena Kagan as a judge for the Supreme Court in 2010 .

In the Senate election in 2012 Nelson did not occur again. Former US Senator Bob Kerrey ran for the Democrats for the successor against Deb Fischer , who had surprisingly won the Republican primary . Fischer was also able to prevail in the main election in November 2012.

Private

Ben Nelson is married with four children.

Web links

Commons : Ben Nelson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Ben Nelson in the National Governors Association (English)
• Ben Nelson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)