Tom Harkin
| Tom Harkin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
|
United States Senator from Iowa |
|
|
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Roger Jepsen |
| Succeeded by | Joni Ernst |
| Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee | |
|
In office September 9, 2009 – January 3, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Ted Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Lamar Alexander |
| Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee | |
|
In office January 3, 2007 – September 9, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Saxby Chambliss |
| Succeeded by | Blanche Lincoln |
|
In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Lugar |
| Succeeded by | Thad Cochran |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th district |
|
|
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985 |
|
| Preceded by | William Scherle |
| Succeeded by | Jim Lightfoot |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Thomas Richard Harkin November 19, 1939 Cumming, Iowa, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth Raduenz (m. 1968) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education |
Iowa State University (BA) Catholic University (JD) |
| Website | Senate website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy United States Naval Reserve
|
| Years of service | 1962–1989 (Active) 1970–1989 (Reserve) |
| Rank |
 Commander
|
| Unit |
Naval Air Facility Atsugi Guantanamo Bay Naval Base |
Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985.
Born in Cumming, Iowa, Harkin graduated from Iowa State University and The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. He served in the United States Navy as an active-duty jet pilot (1962–67). After serving as a Congressional aide for several years, he made two runs for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing in 1972 but winning in 1974. He went on to serve five terms in the House.
Harkin won a race for U.S. Senate in 1984 by a wide margin. He was an early frontrunner for his party's presidential nomination in 1992, but he dropped out in support of eventual winner Bill Clinton. He served five senate terms and at the end of his time in the senate served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. When he left the senate in 2015 he was the most senior junior senator after serving for 30 years and the sixth most senior senator over all.
On January 26, 2013, he announced his intention to retire from the Senate after completing his fifth term in 2015.
Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa. His father, Patrick Francis Harkin, an Irish American, was a coal miner, and his mother, Franciska Frances Valentine (née Berčič), was a Slovene immigrant who died when he was ten. Tom has 3 half-siblings on his mother's side from her first marriage in Iowa to fellow Slovenian Valentine Brelih. Frances was born in Suha, Slovenia to Jakob and Marija (born Jugovec). He still maintains his childhood house, where he and his five siblings were raised without hot running water or a furnace. He attended Dowling Catholic High School which is currently located in West Des Moines, Iowa. Harkin attended Iowa State University on a Navy R.O.T.C. scholarship and became a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. He graduated with a degree in government and economics in 1962, and served in the United States Navy as an active-duty jet pilot from 1962 to 1967. Harkin was stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, where he ferried aircraft to and from the airbase that had been damaged in the Vietnam War and in operational and training accidents. He was also stationed for a time at Guantanamo Bay, where he flew missions in support of U-2 planes reconnoitering Cuba. After leaving active duty in 1967, he spent three years in the Ready Reserves, and transitioned into the Naval Reserves in 1970. He retired in 1989 with the rank of commander.
...
Wikipedia