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Dick Gephardt | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1997 | |
| House Minority Leader | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Whip | David Bonior Nancy Pelosi |
| Preceded by | Robert H. Michel |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Pelosi |
| Leader of theHouse Democratic Caucus | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Foley |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Pelosi |
| House Majority Leader | |
| In office June 6, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Speaker | Tom Foley |
| Whip | William H. Gray David Bonior |
| Preceded by | Tom Foley |
| Succeeded by | Dick Armey |
| Chair of the House Democratic Caucus | |
| In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Leader | Tip O'Neill Jim Wright |
| Preceded by | Gillis William Long |
| Succeeded by | William H. Gray |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Leonor Sullivan |
| Succeeded by | Russ Carnahan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Andrew Gephardt (1941-01-31)January 31, 1941 (age 84) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingChrissy |
| Education | Northwestern University (BS) University of Michigan (JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1965–1971 |
| Unit | Missouri Air National Guard |
Richard Andrew Gephardt (/ˈɡɛphɑːrd/;[1] born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who representedMissouri's 3rd congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of theDemocratic Party, he wasHouse majority leader from 1989 to 1995 andminority leader from 1995 to 2003. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination forPresident of the United States in1988 and2004. Gephardt was mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee in1988,1992,2000,2004, and2008.[2]
Since his retirement from politics, Gephardt has become alobbyist. He founded a Washington-based public affairs firm, Gephardt Government Affairs; an Atlanta-based labor consultancy, the Gephardt Group; and adirect primary care group, SolidaritUS Health.[3] He also consults forDLA Piper,FTI Consulting andGoldman Sachs,[4] and is a member of the ReFormers Caucus ofIssue One and co-chair of Issue One's Council for Responsible Social Media with former Massachusetts lieutenant governorKerry Healey.[5][6][7]
Gephardt was born inSt. Louis,Missouri, the son of Loreen Estelle (née Cassell) and Louis Andrew Gephardt, aTeamster milkman; part of his ancestry isGerman.[8] He graduated from the former Southwest High School in 1958. Gephardt is anEagle Scout and recipient of theDistinguished Eagle Scout Award from theBoy Scouts of America. He earned hisB.S. atNorthwestern University in 1962 where he was president ofBeta Theta Pi, the student senate, and his freshman class. He earned hisJ.D. at theUniversity of Michigan Law School in 1965.[citation needed]
In 1965, Gephardt was admitted to theMissouri Bar. He then entered theMissouri Air National Guard, where he served until 1971. He and his wife Jane have three grown children, Matt, Katie, andChrissy.[9] His brother, Donald L. Gephardt, was the Dean of The College of Fine and Performing Arts atRowan University inGlassboro, New Jersey. Gephardt was aDemocratic committeeman (precinct captain) for the 14th ward in St. Louis from 1968 through 1971.[10][11]
Gephardt was the 14th wardalderman (city councilor) on theSt. Louis Board of Aldermen from 1971 to 1976. On the council, he was part of a group of young aldermen known informally as "TheYoung Turks."[10]
In 1976, Gephardt was elected to Congress from the St. Louis–based 3rd District, succeeding 24-year incumbentLeonor Sullivan. He was elected 13 more times, opting not to run for reelection in 2004. For most of his Congressional career, Gephardt's National Political Director was St. Louis–based political consultantJoyce Aboussie. Gephardt voted in favor of thebill establishingMartin Luther King Jr. Day as afederal holiday in August 1983 but did not vote on theCivil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (or the vote to overridePresident Reagan's veto in March 1988).[12][13][14]
Gephardt was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the1988 presidential election. He was one of the first to announce his candidacy that cycle in February 1987, over 100 days in Iowa. He was stuck in low double digits in polls, but began moving ahead inIowa in late December 1987 after running an ad that criticized trade barriers by Korea and Japan as unfair.[citation needed] He won theIowa caucuses andSouth Dakota primary in February while finishing a strong second inNew Hampshire, making him a serious contender for the nomination.[15]
Gephardt's early victories did not translate into support in other states, though, and he was not able to raise adequate funds to compete in the Southern primaries. His campaign ran out of money after losing badly in the March "Super Tuesday" primaries, when he won only the Missouri primary. An ad aired by GovernorMichael Dukakis's campaign focused on Gephardt's "flip-flopping" voting record and showed a Gephardt look-alike doing forward and backward flips for the camera. Many felt the ad killed any chance Gephardt had of winning the nomination.[citation needed] Gephardt dropped out after winning only 13% in Michigan, despite support from theUnited Auto Workers. Dukakis considered selecting Gephardt as his vice presidential running mate but instead choseTexas SenatorLloyd Bentsen.
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In part due to the visibility gained from his 1988 presidential bid, Gephardt was electedmajority leader by his House colleagues in June 1989, making him the second-ranking Democrat in the House, behind then-SpeakerTom Foley. Gephardt served in that position until January 1995.
After Foley was unseated in the Republican landslide of 1994 that gave the Republicans a 52-seat majority, Gephardt became the leader of the House Democrats, asminority leader, initially oppositeNewt Gingrich and then, from 1999 onward,Dennis Hastert. When Gingrich faced a coup within his own party in 1997, Gephardt could have become Speaker if there had been a floor vote and he gained the support of Republican members dissatisfied with Gingrich, but Gingrich refused to resign and no vote occurred. In the 1996, 1998, and 2000 elections, Gephardt led the Democrats to gains in the House,[16] although they did not retake the majority until 2006, after Gephardt had left Congress. Therefore, he is the first House Democratic leader who has not served as Speaker sinceFinis J. Garrett.
Gephardt became a prolific financial supporter of Democrats around the country in the early 1990s, assembling a team of top fundraising staff who helped him support hundreds of candidates for local and federal office. Although Gephardt worked hard for many of PresidentBill Clinton's programs, he and his union supporters strongly opposed NAFTA and other "free trade" programs, so Clinton relied on Republican support to pass those initiatives. During theimpeachment proceedings of President Clinton, Gephardt led a walkout in the House after a censure motion was ruled irrelevant to the impeachment debate.[17]
In 2000, Vice President and Democratic presidential nomineeAl Gore named Gephardt to his short list of possible vice presidential candidates. The other names on the short list were Indiana SenatorEvan Bayh, North Carolina SenatorJohn Edwards, Massachusetts SenatorJohn Kerry, Connecticut SenatorJoe Lieberman, and New Hampshire GovernorJeanne Shaheen.[18] Gore eventually selected Lieberman.
In the 2002 Congressional midterm elections, Gephardt campaigned on the economy and Social Security, but the continuing resonance of theSeptember 11 attacks, the momentum for military action against Iraq, and PresidentGeorge W. Bush's popularity lead to Republican gains, with the Democrats losing four House seats.Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee called the results an "absolute blowout" and called upon Gephardt to step down, saying that it was time for "new ideas and new faces". Due to his previous success, it has been said that Gephardt would have been easily returned as Minority Leader if he had decided to stay on.[16][19][20] However, Gephardt, who was planning to run for president in 2004, did not run for reelection as House Minority Leader, stepping down in January 2003. His leadership position was contested by the centristMartin Frost, the outgoing Democratic Caucus Chair, and the liberalNancy Pelosi, the Minority Whip, who was elected as Gephardt's successor. No longer having Congressional leadership duties freed Gephardt up to concentrate on a 2004 presidential bid.[21]
Gephardt announced hissecond run for president on January 5, 2003. His successor as Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed him. His campaign was notable for the high-profilecoming out of his daughterChrissy inPeople magazine, while she was helping him on the campaign trail,[22][23] a subject they also discussed in interviews for the 2007documentary filmFor the Bible Tells Me So;[24] he has continued to be an outspoken advocate forgay rights since the campaign.[25][citation needed]
Although Republicans considered him a formidable candidate, Gephardt was seen by many as too old-fashioned and unelectable.[26] His fundraising efforts were behind those of formerVermont GovernorHoward Dean and SenatorsJohn Kerry andJohn Edwards, and tied withJoe Lieberman. Gephardt's support of theIraq War resolution hurt him amongliberal activists. He promoted a form ofuniversal health care, and was backed by 21 labor unions, but did not have enough support to receive theAFL–CIO's endorsement.[26]
Throughout early 2003, Gephardt was ahead in polling for theIowa caucus, but by August Dean had taken the lead, his campaign fueled by antiwar activists. The Gephardt campaign was embarrassed by an early AugustSt Louis Post-Dispatch article that revealed that 11 of the 33 "Gephardt team leaders" listed on his Iowa campaign's website actually supported other candidates or were neutral.
The race between Gephardt and Dean became negative, and took an ugly turn in October when a Gephardt staffer reportedly pushed a Dean staffer out of a meeting while calling him a "faggot".[27] Many press at the event claimed the Dean staffer was picking a fight and that the Gephardt staffer did not make the hurtful comment. Dean chairmanJoe Trippi (who worked for Gephardt in 1988) and Gephardt chairman Steve Murphy became involved in a war of words over the incident, as well as Murphy's allegation that the Dean campaign was bringing in out-of-state non-residents to participate in the caucus. In the final days of the Iowa campaign, both Dean and Gephardt faded, and they finished third and fourth, respectively. Gephardt ended his presidential campaign after that disappointing result.[28]
After he dropped out of the presidential race, Gephardt was mentioned as a possible running mate forJohn Kerry. On March 7, 2004,New Mexico GovernorBill Richardson, also seen as a strong contender for the position, endorsed Gephardt for Vice President. Richardson said of Gephardt in an interview with theAssociated Press, "I think he's the best candidate. There's a good regional balance with Kerry and Gephardt." Kerry announced on July 6, 2004, that he had chosenJohn Edwards as his running mate. On the same day, theNew York Post published a headline stating that Gephardt had become Kerry's running mate. The headline was compared to the 1948 "Dewey defeats Truman" headline in theChicago Tribune that incorrectly reported the presidential election results that year. In 2007, it was revealed in Kerry campaign adviserBob Shrum's bookNo Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner that Kerry wanted to choose Gephardt but was convinced by Shrum and others to choose Edwards.
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After his election to the U.S. House in 1976, Gephardt's political views gradually moved to the left. Originally, Gephardt was stronglyanti-abortion and was viewed as asocial conservative. He was initially extremely critical of theU.S. Supreme Court landmarkRoe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion. He wrote on the subject in 1984:
Life is the division of humancells, a process that begins withconception. The (Supreme Court's abortion) ruling was unjust, and it is incumbent on the Congress to correct the injustice... I have always been supportive of pro-life legislation. I intend to remain steadfast on this issue.... I believe that the life of the unborn should be protected at all costs.[33]
In 1987, when Gephardt decided to run for president, he announced that he would no longer support legislation to restrict abortion rights. He told theNational Right to Life Committee; "I now do not support anyConstitutional amendment pertaining to the legality of abortion." Gephardt's views on economic policy also changed over the years. He voted forRonald Reagan'stax cuts in 1981; in the 2000s, he became a staunch opponent of similar tax cuts by PresidentGeorge W. Bush, saying that the enormous surplus created during the administration ofBill Clinton should have been spent onhealth care instead. Gephardt is widely viewed as an economicpopulist. He supports universal health coverage,fair trade, andprogressive taxation. Although he once chaired the centristDemocratic Leadership Council, Gephardt in his later years in Congress distanced himself from the organization, finding his pro-labor views at odds with the DLC's pro-business positions.
On October 10, 2002, Gephardt was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing theinvasion of Iraq.[34] He was an early supporter of the war, and cosponsor of the authorization resolution. However, three years later Gephardt said of his support for the war that "It was a mistake ... I was wrong."[35]
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2021) |
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On January 3, 2005, Gephardt's three-decade political career ended with the expiration of his 14th term in the House of Representatives. That month, Gephardt started a consulting and lobbying firm, Gephardt Group, of which he is president and CEO.[36] Gephardt also joined the international law firmDLA Piper as strategic advisor in the government affairs practice group from June 2005 to December 2009.[37]
In his new role as a Washington lobbyist, Gephardt, on behalf of the Republic of Turkey, has been actively lobbying against the House resolution condemning theArmenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. While supportive of the resolution while in Congress, he now contends that facts need to be better known before any position is taken on this historical controversy.[38] Gephardt served on the board of directors of theEmbarq Corporation from June 2007[39] to July 1, 2009, when he became a member of the board of directors ofCenturyLink, Embarq's successor corporation.[40] Gephardt also serves as a director ofCentene Corporation,Ford Motor Company,Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc., andUnited States Steel Corporation.[40] He joined Ford's board in 2009.[41]
In July 2007, Gephardt endorsedHillary Clintonfor president, leading some to speculate that he was interested in running for vice president in 2008.DLA Piper become a major donor to Clinton's campaign, donating about $190,000.[42] Gephardt was mentioned during the summer of 2008 as a possible vice-presidential choice for eventual nominee SenatorBarack Obama. A collection of Gephardt's congressional documents, dating from 1994 to 2004, was processed from 2006 to 2007 by theMissouri Historical Society for academic use, with a grant through theInstitute of Museum and Library Services.[43] In 2005,Washington University in St. Louis inaugurated the Richard A. Gephardt Institute of Public Service (now theGephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement), which educates students for life-long engaged citizenship and civic leadership.[44] Since 2005, Gephardt has been a consultant toGoldman Sachs andDLA Piper.[4] Since 2007 he has been a consultant toFTI Consulting.[4]
In 2007, Gephardt began serving on the advisory board of the Extend Health insurance company, and then became a member of its board of directors. In 2009, Gephardt advisedUnitedHealth Group, one of America's largest private insurers, in waging a strong campaign against a public option for national health care.[45] In 2010, Gephardt was elected chair of the Board of Trustees ofThe Scripps Research Institute, a nonprofit institute focusing on biomedical research.[46]
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Gephardt has been significantly involved with the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. In addition to a large lobbying contract with the Medicines Company,[47] he serves as chair of the Council for American Medical Innovation (CAMI), formed by and affiliated withPhRMA. In this capacity he hired his own firm to lobby for the organization, to push to extend patents and blockgeneric drugs from the market.[48] In 2016, Gephardt also co-founded aDirect primary care group calledSolidaritUS Health, with the goal of increasing the accessibility of quality healthcare to working families.
Gephardt has also served as alobbyist forBoeing.[49] He is a labor consultant for Spirit Aerosystems and sits on its board of directors.[50] In these roles, Gephardt has presided over an aggressive anti-union campaign that has bewildered many of his traditional political allies. In July 2011, Spirit Aerosystems walked out of negotiations with the union that represents its engineering, technical and professional workforce.[51] The union subsequently voted down the company's last contract offer, with 96.5% voting no. The company did not change its contract offer significantly after this rejection and relations with its workforce have been contentious ever since. With negotiations at a standstill, production schedules for 2011 and 2012 were threatened.[52][53] Around mid-2023 Spirit Aerosystems agreed to a new contract with its workers at the Wichita, Kansas plant. Key provisions in the contract include increased pay, workers being allowed to keep their current health plans, and removal of mandatory overtime requirements.[54]
In October 2022, Gephardt, along with Republican former MassachusettsLt. Gov. Kerry Healey, launched the Council for Responsible Social Media, a project of nonprofit organization Issue One, which he had already been involved with as a member of its ReFormers Caucus. Gephardt and Healey serve as co-chairs of the project, which focuses on addressing the harmful influence social media can have on children, communities, and national security.[55] In May 2024, Gephardt gave the commencement address and received an honorary degree atIona University inNew Rochelle,New York.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 3rd congressional district 1977–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Majority Leader 1989–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Minority Leader 1995–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of the House Democratic Caucus 1985–1989 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of theDemocratic Leadership Council 1985–1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Democratic Deputy Leader 1989–1995 | Succeeded by |
| House Democratic Leader 1995–2003 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Response to the State of the Union address 2001,2002 Served alongside:Tom Daschle (2001) | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives | Order of precedence of the United States as Former House Majority Leader | Succeeded byas Former House Majority Leader |
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