Lawyer and US governor, born in Maryville, Blount Co, Tennessee, USA. A Tennessee lawyer, he served as Howard Baker's legislative assistant (19678) and worked for Nixon's congressional relations office (1969). As a Republican governor (197987), he spent his first term dealing with scandals left by outgoing governor Ray Blanton, recovering some prestige with the Knoxville World's Fair in 1982. He became president of the University of Tennessee (1988) and served as secretary of education (19913) under President Bush. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential campaign.
| Lamar Alexander | |
| Senior Senator, Tennessee | |
|
Term of office: 2003–Present |
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| Political party: | Republican |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Fred Thompson |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2009) |
| Born: |
July 2, 1940 Maryville, Tennessee |
| Spouse: | Honey Buhler |
| Religion: | Presbyterian |
Andrew Lamar Alexander (born July 3, 1940) is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee and a member of the Republican Party.
Alexander's parents were Andrew Lamar Alexander and the former Genevra F.
Early life
Alexander was born and raised in Maryville, Tennessee, outside of Knoxville.
Political career
Alexander worked in Republican politics on Senator Howard Baker's staff in Washington, DC.
In the election of 1974, he was the Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee facing Democrat Ray Blanton, a former congressman and candidate for Senate two years earlier. He also portrayed Alexander as being too distant from average Tennesseeans, even though Alexander was the son of teachers.
The Tennessee State Constitution had been amended in early 1978 to allow a governor to succeed himself, but Blanton didn't run for reelection that year. Soon after being sworn in, Alexander ordered the state Highway Patrol to seize control of the state capitol to prevent any maneuvers by Blanton to regain office.
Alexander made history by becoming the first person reelected to a second 4-year term by defeating Knoxville mayor Randy Tyree in the 1982 election carrying almost 70% of Knox County. Moving with his family to Australia for a time, he would soon return to Tennessee and became the president of the University of Tennessee (1988–1991), and United States Secretary of Education (1991–1993).
Return to Senate
Vowing to never again return to elective office, he was persuaded by the White House to run for the open seat of retiring Senator Fred Thompson in 2002. Democrats had high hopes of recovering the seat with their candidate, Nashville Congressman Bob Clement, a member of a prominent political family, and despite grumblings by conservatives to defect to the moderately liberal Clement, Alexander was successful in defeating Clement in the general election that year. At 62, Alexander also became the oldest elected freshman U.S. Senator from Tennessee since Democrat Lawrence Tyson in 1924.
Senator Alexander chairs the subcommittees on Children and Families, on Energy, on African Affairs, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Caucus.
Though he announced that he had secured the requisite number of votes to become the Republican Party's Minority Whip in the Senate during the 110th Congress, he lost the election to former Senate Majority Leader Senator Trent Lott by one vote.
Controversy and criticism
TRACS criticism
The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) in 1987 was denied recognition for the group to accredit schools.
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