- Jim Jeffords
Infobox Senator | name=Jim Jeffords
nationality=American
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Vermont
party=Republican (until 2001) Independent (2001-present)
term_start=January 3 ,1989
term_end=January 4 ,2007
preceded=Robert Stafford
succeeded=Bernie Sanders
district2=At-large
state2=Vermont
term_start2=January 3 ,1975
term_end2=January 3 ,1989
preceded2=Richard W. Mallary
succeeded2=Peter P. Smith
order3=Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
term_start3=January 3 ,1997
term_end3=January 3 ,2001
preceded3=Nancy Landon Kassebaum
succeeded3=Ted Kennedy
term_start4=January 20
term_end4=June 6 ,2001
preceded4=Ted Kennedy
succeeded4=Ted Kennedy
order5=Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
term_start5=June 6 ,2001
term_end5=January 3 ,2003
preceded5=Robert C. Smith
succeeded5=Jim Inhofe
date of birth=birth date and age|1934|05|11
place of birth=Rutland, Vermont
alma_mater=Yale University ,Harvard University
occupation= attorney
residence=Shrewsbury, Vermont
spouse=Elizabeth Daley (d. 2007)
religion=Congregationalist
footnotes=James Merrill "Jim" Jeffords (born
May 11 ,1934 ) is a former U.S. Senator fromVermont . He served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become an independent.Background
Jeffords was born in Rutland,
Vermont , the son of Marion Hausman and Olin Jeffords, [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/senators/jeffords.htm 1 ] ] who was formerly Chief Justice of theVermont Supreme Court . Jeffords holds an undergraduate degree fromYale University (1956) and a law degree fromHarvard Law School (1962). After three years of active duty in theUnited States Navy (1956–1959), Jeffords served in the Naval Reserves until he retired as aCaptain in 1990. Jeffords married his late wife, Elizabeth "Liz" Daley twice. Their first marriage was in 1961. In 1979 the couple divorced. OnAugust 26 ,1986 , they married again, exactly 25 years after their first marriage. Liz Jeffords died on the morning ofApril 13 ,2007 after a long struggle with ovarian cancer. Senator Jeffords and his wife had two children, Leonard and Laura. Jeffords' residence is inShrewsbury, Vermont .Political career
Jeffords entered
politics in 1966, winning a seat in the Vermont State Senate. He followed that success in 1968 with a victory in the race for VermontAttorney General . In 1974, he won Vermont's sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for fourteen years and was the ranking Republican member of the House Education and Labor Committee. In 1988, Jeffords was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was reelected in 1994 and 2000.Jeffords' work in Congress focused on legislation involving
education , job training, and individuals with disabilities. In his later years in the Senate, his emphasis shifted somewhat, as Jeffords pushed several important pieces of environmental legislation through Congress. He was, together with Paul Simon, credited by Canadian Lieutenant-GeneralRoméo Dallaire , Force Commander of theUnited Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) from 1993 to 1994, for actively lobbying the US administration into mounting a humanitarian mission toRwanda during theRwandan Genocide . According to Dallaires' book "Shake Hands with the Devil", he "owe(s) a great debt of gratitude" to both senators.Jeffords was one of the founders of the Congressional Solar Coalition and the Congressional Arts Caucus. Jeffords was frequently recognized for his performance as a legislator, receiving "Parenting" magazine's "Legislator of the Year" award in 1999, and the
Sierra Club 's highest commendation in 2002.From Republican to Independent
On
May 24 ,2001 , Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, with which he had always been affiliated, and announced his new status as an independent. Jeffords discussed this decision during his announcement that he was leaving the Republican party. "I will make this change and will caucus with the Democrats for organizational purposes once the conference report on the tax bill is sent to the president. I gave my word to the president that I would not intercept or try to intervene in the signing of that bill". Jeffords decided to switch when the Senate Republicans had refused to fully fund theIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act . [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2059706/ 'Did the Democrats Sucker Jim Jeffords?', by Timothy Noah, Slate.] ]The independent status of Jeffords changed the Senate composition from 50-50 (with a Republican Vice President,
Dick Cheney , serving as President of the Senate to break tie votes) to 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one independent. Jeffords promised to vote for Democratic control after being promised a committee chairmanship by Democratic LeaderTom Daschle . He then handed his chairmanship of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which he had held since 1997, toTed Kennedy (D-MA) and was given the chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which would have been occupied by ranking minority memberHarry Reid . Jeffords held this committee chair until the Democrats lost control of the Senate in 2003 following Congressional elections in 2002.Jeffords made a deal with the Democrats according to which he would vote with them on all procedural matters except with permission of the whip, which would be rarely asked and rarely granted, in exchange for the committee seats that would have been available to Jeffords had he been a Democrat during his entire Senate tenure. He was free to vote as he pleased on policy matters, but more often than not he voted with the Democrats.
Even before his party switch, his voting record was moderate-to-liberal, which has long been typical of Republicans from
New England . By the time of his switch no Republican Senator had a lower lifetime score from theAmerican Conservative Union . In 1981, Jeffords was the only Republican member of the House to vote against a bill reducing the top tax rate from 70% to 50% — a hallmark of PresidentRonald Reagan 's legacy. While a Republican Senator, he voted for theCivil Rights Act of 1991 , theBrady Bill , theFamily and Medical Leave Act , an end to the ban on gays serving in the military, and against permanent normal trade relations with China and barringaffirmative action at the federal level. Jeffords was also vocal in his opposition to the nomination ofClarence Thomas to theUnited States Supreme Court by PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush . He was one of only two Republicans to vote against confirming Thomas. In 1993, he was the only prominent Republican to support President Clinton's unsuccessful attempt to establish a national healthcare plan. His position put him to the political left of many Democrats who had serious doubts about Clinton's plan. Jefford's voting record and positions on environmental issues put further distance between himself and the mainstream Republican Party.Jeffords consistently voted against the ban on
partial-birth abortion , and also against a harsher line onCuba . In 1995 he was one of only 16 Senators to vote against theCommunications Decency Act . The Supreme Court later struck it down as unconstitutional. He was in the minority of Republicans to oppose theFlag Desecration Amendment . On guns his record was mixed, despite voting for theBrady Bill and theAssault Weapons Ban , he voted with gun control opponents against background checks at gun shows in 1999 and he voted with the majority of Congress for theProtection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act . He took a more moderate line on the death penalty. On many economic issues Jeffords was roughly in line with the majority of the Republican Party, before and after his switch: he mostly supported free-trade agreements, voted for making enforcement of consumer protection laws more difficult by moving many class-action lawsuits into federal courts, tighter bankruptcy rules, and aBalanced Budget Amendment . Even after becoming an independent, he did vote with Republicans on many major pieces of legislation. For example, Jeffords did vote against the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, a bill supported strongly by RepublicanJohn McCain and many moderate Republicans likeOlympia Snowe ,Arlen Specter , andMike DeWine . Two years later he voted for the prescription drug bill, derided by many Democrats as a give away to drug companies and opposed by manyconservative Republicans who opposed further federal spending, but ultimately strongly supported by PresidentGeorge W. Bush , John McCain, and the vast majority of the Republican Party.On
October 11 ,2002 , Jeffords was one of 23 senators to vote against authorizing the use of military force in Iraq. Shortly after that, he was one of only nine senators to vote against the bill establishing theDepartment of Homeland Security . OnNovember 11 ,2003 Jeffords was one of only four senators to vote against theSyria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act , a bill which received strong support from politicians from across the aisle.Retirement
In April 2005, Jeffords announced his decision not to run for re-election in 2006. Jeffords said his wife's cancer and his own growing health concerns caused him to decide it was time to retire. On
September 27 ,2006 , Jeffords delivered his farewell speech on the Senate floor after 32 years of service. Only one Republican senator,Charles Grassley ofIowa , spoke to the floor in praise of Jeffords, whom he called "his friend." Floor speeches for retiring senators are a Senate tradition. The 70-year-old incumbent decided to retire despite consensus within the political community that he had good opportunity to win re-election in 2006. Jeffords' move set off a domino reaction among state politicians. CongressmanBernie Sanders , formerly the only independent in the U.S. House, ran for and won the seat being vacated by Jeffords, while Republican GovernorJim Douglas declared that he would not run.Trivia
*With fellow Senators
Trent Lott ,John Ashcroft , andLarry Craig , he formed abarbershop quartet calledThe Singing Senators .
*Jeffords holds a black belt inTaekwondo .
*The seat that Jeffords occupied had been held by a Republican from 1857, whenSolomon Foot became a Republican, until 2001 when Jeffords became an Independent, making it the longest Republican-held seat in U.S. history.
*A research study titled "The Jeffords Effect" by Seema Jayachandran was published in the Journal of Law and Economics. It showed that when Jeffords changed party affiliation and Senate control shifted to the Democrats, corporate donors to the Republican party declined in stock market value and corporate donors to the Democratic party rose in market value.Further reading
*James M. Jeffords, "My Declaration of Independence" (Simon & Schuster, 2001). ISBN 0-7432-2842-1
*James M. Jeffords, "An Independent Man" (Simon & Schuster, 2003). ISBN 0-7432-2843-XFootnotes
External links
*CongLinks|congbio=J000072
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