US Senator Tom Daschle

Tom Daschle was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota and graduated from South Dakota State University in 1969. Upon graduation, he entered the United States Air Force where he served as an intelligence officer in the Strategic Air Command until mid-1972. Following completion of his military service, Senator Daschle served on the staff of Senator James Abourezk. In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served for eight years. In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and eight years later became its Democratic Leader. Senator Daschle is one of the longest serving Senate Democratic Leaders in history and the only one to serve twice as both Majority and Minority Leader.

Today, Senator Daschle is a Senior Policy Advisor to the law firm of DLA Piper where he provides clients with strategic advice on public policy issues such as climate change, energy, health care, trade, financial services and telecommunications. Since leaving the Senate, he has distinguished his expertise in health care through the publication of Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis and the recently published, GETTING IT DONE: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Health Care Reform. He is married to Linda Hall Daschle and has three children and four grandchildren.