Early political career Richard Nixon in 1970 After graduating from law school, Alexander clerked for
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge
John Minor Wisdom in
New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, Alexander worked as a legislative assistant for Senator
Howard Baker. While a staffer, he was briefly roommates with future U.S. Senator
Trent Lott, and met his future wife at a staffer softball game. In 1969, he worked for
Bryce Harlow, President
Richard Nixon's executive assistant. After this campaign, Alexander co-founded The
Tennessee State Constitution at the time prevented governors from serving consecutive terms, so with Dunn unable to run, Alexander sought the party's nomination for governor in 1974. He defeated his two chief opponents, Commissioner of Mental Health
Nat T. Winston, Jr., and
Southwestern Company president Dortch Oldham, 120,773 votes to 90,980 and 35,683, respectively. He faced the
Democratic nominee,
Ray Blanton, a former congressman and unsuccessful 1972 Senate candidate, in the general election. Blanton attacked Alexander for his service under Nixon, who had resigned in disgrace several months earlier as a result of the
Watergate scandal, and defeated Alexander on election day, 576,833 votes to 455,467. In 1977, Alexander once again worked in Baker's Washington office following Baker's election as
Senate Minority Leader.
Ronald Reagan in 1986 Investigative news reports, disclosed late during the 1978 Tennessee
gubernatorial campaign, revealed that Alexander once transferred the
non-profit charter of a Christian church to his
Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain that he served as a director in order to sell liquor-by-the-drink in the once "
dry town" of
Gatlinburg, Tennessee. During the campaign, Alexander, then a Nashville attorney, vowed to place his $62,676 interest in the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain into an untouchable trust. After winning the Republican nomination with nearly 86% of the vote, he defeated
Knoxville banker
Jake Butcher in the November 1978 election, 665,847 votes to 523,013. Since the state constitution is somewhat vague on when a governor must be sworn in, several political leaders from both parties, including
Lieutenant Governor John S. Wilder and
State House Speaker
Ned McWherter, arranged for Alexander to be sworn in on January 17, 1979, three days earlier than the traditional inauguration day, to prevent Blanton from signing more pardons. Wilder later called the move "impeachment Tennessee-style." In February 1979, shortly after his inauguration, Alexander created an Office of Ombudsman, which was charged with cutting government red tape. Alexander was also instrumental in the location of
General Motors'
Saturn Manufacturing Facility in
Spring Hill, which began operations in 1990. In
1982 Alexander took advantage of the 1978 constitutional amendment allowing governors to serve a second consecutive four-year term. He ran again and defeated Knoxville mayor
Randy Tyree, 737,963 votes to 500,937. In 1983, Alexander implemented his "Better Schools" program, which standardized basic skills for all students, and increased math, science and computer education. A portion of this plan, known as "Master Teachers," or "Career Ladder," called for income supplements for the state's top teachers. Due to staunch opposition from the Tennessee Education Association, which derided the plan's method of teacher evaluations, the bill initially died in the state legislature. Later that year, Alexander convinced House Speaker
Ned McWherter to support an amended version of the bill, which passed. A similar initiative based on the Better Roads Program, the "IMPROVE Act", was signed by Governor
Bill Haslam in 2017. After opting out of the 1984 US Senate contest for the open seat of retiring Majority Leader
Howard Baker, Alexander was constitutionally ineligible for a third term and stepped down from the governorship on January 17, 1987. He was succeeded by Ned McWherter. Upon returning to Tennessee, he served as president of the
University of Tennessee from 1988 to 1991.
United States Secretary of Education George H. W. Bush in 1991 Alexander served as the
United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993. As Education Secretary, he sparked controversy after he approved
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) to
accredit schools despite an advisory panel that repeatedly recommended against it in 1991 and 1987. In 1993, Steve Levicoff published a book-length critical discussion of TRACS and Alexander's decision in
When The TRACS Stop Short. Former Department of Education employee and writer Lisa Schiffren has stated that, "His fortune is founded on sweetheart deals not available to the general public, and a series of cozy sinecures provided by local businessmen. Such deals are not illegal..." Schiffren further notes that, in 1987, Alexander helped found Corporate Child Care Management, Inc. (now known as
Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.), a company thatvia a mergeris now the nation's largest provider of worksite day care. While businessman
Jack C. Massey spent $2 million on this enterprise, Alexander co-founded the company with only $5,000 of stock which increased in value to $800,000, a 15,900 percent return within four years. Also in 1987, he wrote a never-cashed investment check for $10,000 to
Christopher Whittle for shares in Whittle Communications that increased in value to $330,000. In 1991, Alexander's house, which he had recently purchased for $570,000, was sold to Whittle for $977,500. Alexander's wife obtained an $133,000 profit from her $8,900 investment in a company created to privatize prisons. Alexander frequently shifted assets to his wife's name, yet such transfers are not legal under federal ethics and security laws. In his 2005 U.S. Senate financial disclosure report, he listed personal ownership of BFAM (Bright Horizons Family Solutions) stock valued (at that time) between $1 million and $5 million. He taught about the American character as a faculty member at
Harvard Kennedy School.
United States presidential bids Alexander made two unsuccessful runs for President of the United States, in
1996 and
2000. In 1996, he finished third in the
Iowa caucuses and the
New Hampshire primary, and dropped out before the
Super Tuesday primaries. After dropping out of the race, Alexander took on an advisory role in the
Dole/
Kemp campaign. In 2000, during his second candidacy, he traveled around the US in a
Ford Explorer, eschewing a
campaign bus or plane. That journey lasted less than six months, from the announcement of Alexander's candidacy on March 9, 1999, to his withdrawal on August 16, 1999, after a poor showing in the
Ames Straw Poll. He ended both of his presidential campaigns in
Nashville, Tennessee.
U.S. Senate George W. Bush in 2004 in 2005
Elections 2002 Despite vowing not to return to elected office, Alexander was nevertheless persuaded by the
White House to run for the open seat of retiring Senator
Fred Thompson in 2002. Seen as a moderate Republican by Tennessee standards, Alexander’s candidacy was vigorously opposed by conservatives, who instead supported US Representative and House manager during the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton,
Ed Bryant. Alexander was better-funded and armed with more prominent endorsements, however, and edged Bryant in the primary, 295,052 votes to 233,678. Democrats had high hopes of retaking the seat that they lost in
1994 with their candidate, US Representative
Bob Clement, a member of a prominent political family. However, Clement's campaign never really caught on, and Alexander defeated him in the general election with 54 percent of the vote. With his election to the US Senate, he became the first Tennessean to be popularly elected both governor and senator. At the age of 62, Alexander also became the oldest elected freshman US senator from Tennessee since Democrat
Lawrence D. Tyson in 1924, which he held until 2018 when
Marsha Blackburn surpassed him at the age of 66.
2008 In April 2007, Alexander announced he would run for re-election to the Senate in 2008. Alexander was favored throughout the entire campaign, due to his long history in Tennessee politics and a disorganized Democratic opposition. His rivals were former state Democratic Party Chairman
Bob Tuke, who won a heated primary, and Libertarian candidate Daniel T. Lewis. Alexander won reelection, taking 65 percent of the vote to Tuke's 32 percent. Alexander also carried all but one of Tennessee's 95 counties; he lost only in
Haywood County in western Tennessee, which was secured by Tuke. He won the normally Democratic strongholds of
Davidson and
Shelby counties—home to Nashville and
Memphis, respectively. Alexander also benefited from riding the
coattails of
John McCain, who won the state with a solid majority.
2014 In December 2012, Alexander announced he would be seeking re-election to a third Senate term in 2014. Alexander's campaign had a war chest of $3.1 million in cash going into his 2014 re-election bid. In an August 2013 letter to Alexander signed by over 20 Tennessee
Tea Party groups, the groups called on Alexander to retire from the Senate in 2014, or face a primary challenge. The letter stated: "During your tenure in the Senate we have no doubt that you voted in a way which you felt was appropriate. Unfortunately, our great nation can no longer afford compromise and bipartisanship, two traits for which you have become famous. America faces serious challenges and needs policymakers who will defend
conservative values, not work with those who are actively undermining those values." Although Alexander was initially thought to be vulnerable to a primary challenge from the right, he worked to avoid this and ultimately did not face a high-profile challenger. He declared his intention to run early, quickly won the endorsement of
Governor Bill Haslam, every living former
Tennessee Republican Party chair person, and the state's
entire Republican congressional delegation, except for then scandal-hit
Scott DesJarlais. He also raised a large amount of money and worked to avoid the mistakes of ousted Senators
Bob Bennett and
Richard Lugar by trying to stay in touch with his constituents, especially in
East Tennessee. Moreover, out-of-state conservative organizations such as the
Senate Conservatives Fund made little effort to defeat Alexander. Alexander won the Republican primary, defeating
State Representative and Tea Party challenger
Joe Carr. However, Alexander recorded the lowest winning percentage (49.7%) and lowest margin of victory (9.2 points) ever in a primary for a Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee. Carr won a larger percentage of the vote (40.5%) than the previous 11 challengers to sitting Republican U.S. senators in Tennessee history combined (40.3%). Alexander won the general election with 62% of the vote.
Tenure In 2006, a newly discovered species of
springtail found in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park was named
Cosberella lamaralexanderi in Alexander's honor, because of his support of scientific research funding in the park and because the springtails' patterning is reminiscent of the
plaid shirts Alexander typically wears while campaigning. On October 6, 2018, Alexander was one of 50 senators (49 Republicans, 1 Democrat) who voted to confirm
Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Republican leadership In late 2006, Alexander announced that he had secured the requisite number of votes to become the
Republican Party's
Minority Whip in the Senate during the
110th Congress. Even though he was seen as the preferred choice of Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell and the Bush administration, he lost the election to former
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott by one vote (25–24). Alexander would get a second shot at entering his party's leadership a year later when Lott announced his intent to resign from the Senate by the end of 2007. Sen.
Jon Kyl of Arizona, then
Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, ran for Whip and was elected without opposition. With the Conference Chair vacant, Alexander announced that he would seek the position. He would go on to defeat Sen.
Richard Burr of North Carolina by a margin of 31–16. Alexander stepped down as Conference Chairman in January 2012, citing his desire to foster consensus. He said, "I want to do more to make the Senate a more effective institution so that it can deal better with serious issues." He added, "For these same reasons, I do not plan to seek a leadership position in the next Congress", ending speculation that he would run for the position of Republican Whip after Jon Kyl retired in 2013. On December 17, 2018, Alexander announced that he would not seek another term in 2020. In an interview with
Politico, he stated that he had made the decision as early as August 2018. For his tenure as the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the 116th Congress, Alexander earned an "F" grade from the non-partisan
Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.
2013 presidential inauguration role As co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee, Alexander was one of the speakers at the
Second inauguration of Barack Obama on January 21, 2013, alongside the committee's chair,
Senator Charles Schumer.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Appropriations •
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies •
Subcommittee on Defense •
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development (chairman) •
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies •
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies •
Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies •
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources •
Subcommittee on Energy •
Subcommittee on National Parks •
Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining •
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (chairman) •
Subcommittee on Children and Families (Ex Officio) •
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety (Ex Officio) •
Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging (Ex Officio) •
Committee on Rules and Administration Caucus memberships •
International Conservation Caucus • Sportsmen's Caucus •
Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus (Co-chair)
Legislation sponsored The following is an incomplete list of legislation that Alexander introduced in the Senate. •
PREEMIE Reauthorization Act (S. 252; 113th Congress) – a bill that would reauthorize research programs on
preterm births that are run by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It would also authorize grants and demonstration programs to be run by the
Health Resources and Services Administration that will try to decrease preterm births. It passed the Senate on September 25, 2013. • Exchange Information Disclosure Act – a bill that would require the government to report on the number of visitors and enrollees on the federal government's healthcare exchanges, as well as what level of insurance coverage people buy on the exchanges. The bill would apply only to the federally run healthcare exchanges, which cover 36 states, not the state-run exchanges, according to
Ripon Advance. On January 16, 2014, the U.S. House passed the bill. Its companion bill
Exchange Information Disclosure Act (H.R. 3362; 113th Congress) was introduced in the House by
Rep. Lee Terry (R, NE-2). ==Political positions==