Nunn first entered politics as a member of the
Georgia House of Representatives in 1968. During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Nunn served as the chairman of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served on the
Intelligence and
Small Business Committees. His legislative achievements include the landmark
Department of Defense Reorganization Act, drafted with the late senator
Barry Goldwater, and the
Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, who often broke with his party on a host of
social and
economic issues. He opposed the budget bill of 1993, which included provisions to raise taxes to reduce the
budget deficit. He neither supported nor opposed
Hillary Clinton's attempt to establish
universal health care, though he spoke out very strongly against the proposed insurance mandate. Nunn actively worked to block President
Bill Clinton's proposal to allow homosexuals to
serve openly in the military. LGBT activist
David Mixner openly referred to Nunn as an "old fashioned bigot" for opposing Clinton's plan to lift the military, though this was also reported to have angered the White House. In 2008, Nunn endorsed a new
Pentagon study to examine the issue of homosexuals serving openly in the military: "I think [when] 15 years go by on any personnel policy, it's appropriate to take another look at it—see how it's working, ask the hard questions, hear from the military. Start with a Pentagon study." According to opensecrets.org, Sam Nunn received about $2.4 million during his 1989–1994 political career. His main contributors were the finance/insurance/real estate sector (totaling $411,665; $46,660 was received from Goldman, Sachs & Co.), the defense industry, lawyers and lobbyists, the alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages industry (including
Coca-Cola), and the agriculture sector. He voted in favor of
school prayer, capping punitive damage awards, amending the
U.S. Constitution to require a
balanced budget, and limiting
death penalty appeals. On certain issues like
abortion, the
environment,
gun control, and
affirmative action, Nunn took a more liberal line. He consistently voted in favor of increased immigration. One of his most controversial votes was his vote against the
Gulf War. In September 1994, Nunn, former president
Jimmy Carter and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Colin Powell were asked by President
Bill Clinton to go to
Haiti to force the departure of the military dictator Lieutenant General
Raoul Cédras. In 1994, President Clinton publicly demanded that the Haitian government step aside and restore democratic rule. President Clinton deployed a large military force to surround the country in September 1994. Just before the troops reached Haiti, President Clinton sent a delegation led by Carter, the delegation wanted Nunn and Powell to urge Cédras to step down and leave the country. Cédras agreed and surrendered the government, and he and his top lieutenants left the country in October. Just days later, American forces escorted the country's elected president,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, into the capital. Afterwards, President Clinton lavished praise on Nunn's delegation for averting a military strike on the nation. "As all of you know, at my request, President Carter, Gen. Colin Powell, and Sen. Sam Nunn went to Haiti to facilitate the dictators' departure. I have been in constant contact with them for the last two days. They have worked tirelessly, almost around the clock, and I want to thank them for undertaking this crucial mission on behalf of all Americans", Clinton said. Upon his exit from the Senate in late 1996, Nunn was the recipient of bipartisan praise from his colleagues.
Republican Senator
John Warner of
Virginia concluded, "Senator Nunn quickly established himself as one of the leading experts in the Congress and, indeed, all of the United States on national security and foreign policy. He gained a reputation in our country and, indeed, worldwide as a global thinker, and that is where I think he will make his greatest contribution in the years to come, wherever he may be, in terms of being a global thinker. His approach to national security issues has been guided by one fundamental criteria: What Sam Nunn believes is in the best interest of the United States of America." ==Post-Congressional life==