Jim Sasser
| Jim Sasser | |
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United States Senator from Tennessee |
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In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Bill Brock |
| Succeeded by | Bill Frist |
| 6th United States Ambassador to China | |
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In office February 14, 1996 – July 1, 1999 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | J. Stapleton Roy |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Prueher |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Ralph Sasser September 30, 1936 Memphis, Tennessee |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Sasser |
| Religion | Baptist |
James Ralph "Jim" Sasser (born September 30, 1936) is an American politician and attorney. A Democrat, Sasser served three terms as a United States Senator from Tennessee (1977–1995) and was Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. From 1995 to 1999, during the Clinton Administration, he was the United States Ambassador to China.
James Ralph Sasser was born in Memphis, Tennessee on September 30, 1936. He attended public schools in Nashville. He attended the University of Tennessee from 1954 to 1955, where he joined the Lambda Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He earned his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1958, followed by his law degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in 1961. He was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1961 and began practicing law in Nashville.
From 1957 to 1963, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves.
Jim Sasser was a long time Democratic activist, manager of Albert Gore Sr.'s unsuccessful 1970 reelection campaign. A lawyer by trade, Sasser sought election in his own right and won his party's 1976 nomination for the Senate. He defeated, among others, Nashville entrepreneur and attorney John Jay Hooker, then still considered to be a serious candidate due to his strong personality, his (intermittent) wealth, and his connections with the Nashville Tennessean's controlling Seigenthaler family. His son Gray Sasser, also a lawyer, is the past chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party.
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