John Tanner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of theNATO Parliamentary Assembly | |
| In office November 18, 2008 – November 16, 2010 | |
| Preceded by | José Lello |
| Succeeded by | Karl A. Lamers |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Ed Jones |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Fincher |
| Member of theTennessee House of Representatives from the 77th district | |
| In office January 4, 1977 – January 13, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Larry Bates |
| Succeeded by | Phillip Pinion |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Sumners Tanner (1944-09-22)September 22, 1944 (age 81) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Betty Ann Tanner |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Tennessee, Knoxville (BS,JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy United States Army |
| Years of service | 1968–1972 (active) 1974–2000 (reserve) |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Army National Guard |
John Sumners Tanner (born September 22, 1944) is a former American politician who served as theU.S. representative forTennessee's 8th congressional district, serving from 1989 until 2011. He is a member of theDemocratic Party. Since his retirement, Tanner has served as the Vice Chairman ofPrime Policy Group.
Tanner was born inHalls, Tennessee, the son of Edith Adell (Sumners) and Emerson Beck "Buzz" Tanner.[1] He grew up inUnion City, Tennessee. Following graduation from theUniversity of Tennessee, he served in theUnited States Navy from 1968 to 1972. He was elected to theTennessee House of Representatives as aDemocrat in 1976, replacing Larry Bates, who mounted an unsuccessfulprimary challenge against U.S. CongressmanEd Jones.
Tanner received much of his knowledge of politics as a youth from his father E.B. "Buzz" Tanner who was successful in the financial and insurance business. He became a member of a highly political and influential law firm out of law school in his home town community and soon ran for office as a state legislator in the House of Representatives. He was also a relative of then House Speaker Ned McWherter, who later was elected governor twice and was an extremely powerful political force in the state, having friends on both sides of the political aisle.
When Jones retired in 1988, Tanner won the Democratic nomination for the seat and handily defeatedRepublican nomineeEd Bryant, who went on to represent the neighboring 7th District from 1995 to 2003. Tanner was reelected in 1990 with no major-party opposition, a feat he repeated in 1992. In 1998, he was completely unopposed. He handily defeated Republican opponents in 1994 (the only time besides his initial election that he faced a serious or well-funded challenger), 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2004 and 2008, he facedJames L. Hart, an avowedeugenicist. On both occasions, Hart was disavowed by the state Republican Party.
Tanner announced on December 1, 2009, that he would not seek re-election in 2010 and would retire after 11 terms in Congress. State SenatorRoy Herron gave up his gubernatorial bid and ran for Tanner's congressional seat.[2] However, he only tallied 39.8 percent of the vote against Republican farmerStephen Fincher. Indeed, no Democrat running in the district has cracked the 40 percent mark since Tanner left office.
As a Congressman, Tanner sponsored a bill to repeal theinheritance tax (which wasvetoed byPresidentClinton) and he is in favor of a balanced budget. It is reported that Tanner could have been appointed to theUnited States Senate bygovernor of TennesseeNed McWherter in 1992 to replaceAl Gore but he declined the offer, andHarlan Mathews was appointed as acaretaker instead. Tanner was a founder of theBlue Dog Democrats and has denied rumors that he might switch parties, and has an earned reputation as amoderate. Tanner gained notoriety during theClinton–Lewinsky scandal when it was revealed in theStarr Report that Clinton was receivingfellatio fromMonica Lewinsky while on the phone with Tanner on November 15, 1995, between 9:31pm and 9:35pm.[3]
Tanner favored balancing the federal budget and paying down the national debt. He was a strong opponent of the fiscal policies of PresidentGeorge W. Bush, voting against many of the tax cuts passed during his terms; yet, he was one of 43 Democrats to vote to repeal the estate tax in 2006. Tanner was one of the few Democrats in the House to vote in favor of CAFTA and has long distanced himself from the majority of his party on issues such as bankruptcy law and lawsuit reform.
He voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, the ban on "partial-birth" abortions, limiting death penalty appeals, and has voted against most gun control measures. On other issues he had a more liberal voting record. He often voted with his party on separation of church and states issues, and consistently voted against the Flag Desecration Amendment. Tanner voted with the majority of his party to expandstem cell research and against renewing the controversial portions of thePatriot Act. He also supportedaffirmative action andpublic education. Tanner was firmly opposed to Bush's attempt to reformSocial Security.
In 2004, Congressman Tanner made a brief but unintended cameo appearance alongsideMichael Moore inFahrenheit 9/11, where Moore was trying to get Congressmen to have their children enlist in the Military to go to Iraq.
He drafted a bill that would require special bipartisan commissions rather than state legislatures to redraw congressional districts when necessary due to U.S. Census count changes. It is generally believed that this bill was a response to Republican-inspired mid-decade redistricting inTexas and recent similar efforts inColorado andGeorgia.
After both his district and state chose the former first lady,[4] Congressman Tanner endorsed SenatorHillary Clinton's presidential campaign in April 2008.[5]
He currently works for Nashville law firm Miller & Martin and the Prime Policy Group, a lobbying firm.[6] He became chairman of theInternational Conservation Caucus Foundation, a non-profit group that advocates U.S. leadership in conservation programs globally, in fall of 2011.
Tanner is a member of the ReFormers Caucus ofIssue One.[7] He also serves on the board of directors of theCommittee for a Responsible Federal Budget.[8]
He is married to Betty Ann Tanner and has two children.[9]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 8th congressional district 1989–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| New office | Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Communications 1995–1999 Served alongside:Gary Condit (Administration),Nathan Deal,Collin Peterson (Policy) | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | President of theNATO Parliamentary Assembly 2008–2010 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
