Jim Sasser

Jim Sasser

James Ralph "Jim" Sasser (born September 30, 1936 in Memphis , Tennessee ) is a former American politician of the Democratic Party . From 1977 to 1995 he sat for the US state of Tennessee in the US Senate .

biography

Sasser was born in Memphis. Shortly after he was born, his parents moved to Nashville . There he attended school. He studied law at the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University . In 1961 he finished his studies and was admitted to the bar. In Nashville, he established himself as a lawyer.

Already during his studies, from 1957, he served in the reserve of the Marine Corps . In 1963 he was honorably discharged. Sasser first appeared politically in 1970 when he managed the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Albert Gore senior . In 1976 he stood in the primary elections of his party for the Senate seat of his home state for election. After he was able to win the nomination of his party, he succeeded in doing so in the main election in November, when he won against incumbent Bill Brock and served as a Senator for Tennessee in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977 . In 1982 and 1988 he was re-elected, each with a clear majority. Sasser sat on several committees during his tenure in the Senate, from 1989 until his retirement he was chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget . Also in 1994 he ran for re-election.

After George J. Mitchell announced his retirement from the Senate and thus his retirement as Democratic party leader , the experts agreed that Sasser would take over his post as party leader after the election. In his party's primary elections, Sasser clearly won the nomination for the main election. In the main election, he ran against Bill Frist , who was quite unknown until then. Deadline surprisingly prevailed with a 14% lead over Sasser. Thus, he left the Senate in 1995. In 1996 he was proposed by US President Bill Clinton for the post of Ambassador of the United States to the People's Republic of China and confirmed by the Senate. In 1999 he was recalled. Since then, Sasser has lived alternately in Tennessee and Washington, DC and works as a consultant.

He is married to Mary and has one son.

Web links

• Jim Sasser in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)