Sen. Trent Lott (R) Elected 1988, 3d term up 2006
Born:	Oct. 9, 1941, Grenada
Home:	Pascagoula
Education:	U. of MS, B.A. 1963, J.D. 1967
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Tricia)
Elected  Office:	U.S. House of Reps., 1972-88.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1967-68; A.A., U.S. Rep. William Colmer, 1968-72.
DC Office	487 RSOB20510, 202-224-6253; Fax: 202-224-2262; Web site: lott.senate.gov
State Offices	Gulfport, 228-863-1988; Jackson, 601-965-4644; Oxford, 662-234-3774; Pascagoula, 228-762-5400.
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Trent Lott, Senate majority leader from June 1996 until June 2001, was first elected to the House in 1972 and to the Senate in 1988. He grew up in Pascagoula, the son of a shipyard worker and a teacher, went to Ole Miss (where he was a cheerleader, like his Mississippi colleague Thad Cochran) and worked his way through law school by running the Ole Miss alumni affairs office, accumulating good contacts along the way. After a year of law practice, he got a job with Democratic Gulf Coast Congressman William Colmer, chairman of the House Rules Committee. When Colmer retired in 1972, Lott ran for the House seat with Colmer's encouragement and endorsement--as a Republican. He was elected with 55% in what was the strongest Nixon district in the country that year. In 1974, Lott was the youngest member of the Judiciary Committee, loyally defending Richard Nixon in the impeachment hearings. In 1980, he was elected Republican whip, and he ran the Republican National Convention's platform committees in 1980 and 1984. In the House he was an ally of Jack Kemp and Newt Gingrich. He supported Kemp for president in 1988, and his decision to run for the Senate that year opened the way for Gingrich's rise: Lott was succeeded as whip by Dick Cheney; when Cheney became Defense secretary in March 1989, Gingrich was elected whip 87-85.

There is a discernible hard core of beliefs in Lott's career, and yet he is less the hard-edged ideologue that Washington insiders presume than he is an instinctive deal-maker, not much interested in quixotic gestures, an orderly and well-organized man who is dismayed by the dilatoriness of others. As one colleague put it in 2001, "After pork, Trent's default position is conservative--but he likes to compromise." His beliefs are reminiscent of the mostly unarticulated beliefs of the coalition of Southern conservative Democrats and small-town conservative Northerners which had controlled the House for most of the 35 years prior to when he arrived there: Against increased taxes, hostile to federal regulation of business and local government, for an assertive foreign policy and strong defense, for traditional rules of moral conduct. On one issue, civil rights, he has moved from Colmer's support for racial segregation to the small town Republicans' backing for equal rights--although doubts were raised about that by comments he made at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party in December 2002, comments that cost him the majority leadership. He can be sharp in debate, aggressively partisan and combative, but he is gregarious and personable, striving to keep on good terms with most other members and careful to cultivate those whose support he needs.

In the Senate, as in the House, Lott seemed less interested in committee work than in moving into a leadership position. After the 1992 election, he ran for Conference secretary, the number four leadership post, and won. In 1994, after he had been reelected 69%-31%, he challenged Republican Whip Al Simpson. Majority Leader Bob Dole and most Republican moderates backed Simpson, but Lott won most of the younger conservatives elected in 1992 and 1994 and won 27-26--the first Republican ever elected whip in both houses. In the process he leapfrogged over his Mississippi colleague Thad Cochran, who held the number three leadership position.

As whip for 17 months, Lott was careful not to usurp the prerogatives of Dole, who kept many decisions close to the chest. Then in May 1996 Dole surprised almost everyone when he announced he would resign from the Senate in June. Lott immediately began canvassing for votes for majority leader and found himself far ahead of Cochran, who ran anyway and lost 44-8. During the summer, Lott moved adroitly, pushing for a vote on welfare reform, disposing of the minimum wage issue, pushing for the compromise health care bill and the Safe Drinking Water Act. He gave Senate Republicans a solid record to run on--but left Dole with fewer issues on which to attack Clinton. He established a smooth working relationship with Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. After Dole lost and Gingrich faced ethics charges that threatened to topple him, Lott was suddenly the most visible Republican leader in Congress.

Then came impeachment, which tested both his influence among Republican senators and his close working relationship with Tom Daschle. In December 1998 after the House voted, Lott encouraged a plan to allow four days of argument in the impeachment trial, to be followed by a vote on whether the charges, if true, would justify impeachment; if that fell short of the two-thirds required for removal, as everyone assumed it would, the trial would be adjourned. House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde, the leader of the House managers, wrote an angry letter and Senate conservatives howled; Lott retreated. Democrats remained furious about the prospect of a lengthy, salacious trial, and raised the specter of partisanship which most senators, after the House debate and in line with Senate tradition, wanted to avoid. On January 7, Lott tagged along with Daschle for a scheduled press conference, and they agreed to an all-senators closed caucus the next day. In that extraordinary meeting, senators agreed to a suggestion by Phil Gramm and Edward Kennedy to postpone the issue of calling witnesses and go on with the trial. There was giddy delight at this demonstration of senatorial comity, though the House managers were furious and the Clinton defense team still wary. The trial proceeded in orderly fashion; the verdict went as expected, mostly along partisan lines, with Lott and most Republicans preventing a vote on censure until after the verdict, at which point Democrats weren't much interested.

In 1999 and 2000, Lott tried to bar non-germane amendments on appropriations bills, arguing that Democrats were using them to hurt Republicans in elections and that it was better procedure to have "clean votes" on issues. Democrats were immensely irritated, and in spring 2000 relations between Lott and Daschle turned very sour. In June 2000 Nebraska's Chuck Hagel said there could be changes in the leadership if Republicans lost seats in November; Hagel had contemplated running against Lott after the November 1998 elections, and ran unsuccessfully against campaign chairman Mitch McConnell instead. In July 2000 Lott steered estate tax repeal through, but at the cost of allowing votes on many Democratic amendments. In fall 2000 Lott followed a "no veto" strategy and tried to negotiate with the Clinton administration on appropriations; House Republican Whip Tom DeLay, who wanted to set clear conservative markers and get members out of town, opposed this. The result was relatively high spending, and a delay in many appropriations until after the November elections and, as seemed sensible, after the Florida recounts as well.

By late 2000, almost everyone seemed angry with Lott for one reason or another. But no one--not even Majority Whip Don Nickles, a frequent critic--moved to run against him. With the Senate divided 50-50, Democrats demanded equal numbers of members on each committee; some Republican conservatives strongly opposed that, though some committee chairmen offered equal membership. On January 5, 2001, after negotiations with Daschle, Lott surprised many by agreeing to equal membership. There was a strong theoretical argument for that--committee membership should reflect the balance on the floor--but even stronger practical arguments. Lott wanted to make sure that no Democratic senator would challenge the Florida electoral votes on January 6, and thereby trigger debate on that issue. There was always the possibility that control could shift to the Democrats. Most observers pointed to 98-year-old Strom Thurmond as one senator who might leave office, but there were 45 senators with governors of a different party, 26 Democrats and 19 Republicans, whose departure could change the partisan balance. While there was some hope that Georgia's Zell Miller might cross the aisle and strengthen this fragile majority, it was not much suspected until May 2001 that James Jeffords would defect and unravel it. The visibly angry Lott called it a "coup of one."

Even as minority leader, Lott had sharp elbows. In July 2001 he decried "an anti-Mexican, anti-Hispanic, anti-NAFTA attitude among Democrats" when they sought to block Mexican trucks from entering the country. When it became clear in 2002 that Senate Democrats would pass no budget resolution, he said, "The Senate is becoming dysfunctional, the Daschle Democrat dysfunctional process." In the fall, things seemed to be going very much his way. In October 2002 Don Nickles announced he would not challenge Lott for the leadership, even though term limits would force him to leave his position as whip. Then, on election night, the returns revealed that the president's party for the first time in history went from a minority to a majority in the Senate in an off-year election. Lott would be majority leader again.

Then came Thurmond's 100th birthday party. Speaking from notes Lott said, "I want to say this about my state. When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either." There were audible gasps and silence, but Lott went on. Major media did not mention the comment over the next 24 hours. Asked about it, Lott's spokesman the next day said, "Senator Lott's remarks were intended to pay tribute to a remarkable man who led a remarkable life. To read anything more into these comments is wrong." But bloggers--people who write weblogs, commenting frequently on various topics--noticed. By Monday, December 9, conservative bloggers were writing about Lott's comments, and not favorably.

It was not surprising that liberals like Al Gore and Jesse Jackson called on Lott to resign the majority leadership, but it was noteworthy that demands for his resignation resounded over the conservative weblogs. On December 9 Lott, on vacation in Key West, Florida, three hours' drive from the nearest television studio, issued a statement saying, "A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement." Tom Daschle downplayed the remarks and Lott's sometime adversaries--Jeffords and former Democratic Senator Paul Simon--came forward to testify that he was not a racist. But others poking through old clippings found similar comments. On Thursday, December 12, George W. Bush spoke to an inner city group in Philadelphia. "Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive, and it is wrong. Recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of this country. He has apologized, and rightly so. Every day our nation was segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals."

On December 13 Lott held a press conference in Pascagoula and announced that he would appear on Black Entertainment Television the next week. "I apologize for opening old wounds and hurting many Americans who feel so deeply in this area. I take full responsibility for my remarks. … I only hope people will find it in their heart to forgive me for that grievous mistake on that occasion." Lott's hearty endorsement of affirmative action on BET December 16 dismayed some conservatives who opposed racial quotas and preferences precisely because they believe they violate the civil rights laws which Lott's old boss William Colmer strongly opposed. Lott had been elected majority leader at a November 14 Republican Conference meeting, and that could not be reconsidered until the next scheduled meeting January 6, unless five members called for a special meeting. Nickles was one such vote, and it quickly became clear that there would be others. On December 19 Bill Frist stepped forward and said he would accept the job of majority leader if his colleagues voted for him. On the morning of December 20 Lott stepped down. By the end of the day, Frist had the votes to become majority leader, and was elected by a Conference meeting held by conference call. Lott said later that he had no "vengeance in his heart" but noted a little tartly, "You can't just lay this at the door of the Democrats--some of the Republicans didn't do me any good either. I plan to look to the future, to be very sensitive to everything I say."

Some observers thought Lott would sulk in a corner or display bitterness at every turn, but he did neither. "I still think those comments were misinterpreted, but I made a mistake and I have no one else to blame but myself," he said. "I take a few licks now and then, but I get back up and keep fighting." He became chairman of the Rules Committee, which handles campaign finance and internal Senate matters, and started exploring changes in the filibuster rule and the presidential succession law. Freed from leadership responsibilities, he made some public criticisms of the Bush administration and of Bill Frist. In July 2003 he criticized Frist for taking up the Medicare/prescription drug bill, which he opposed, rather than the energy bill and for taking too much time for debate on judicial nominations. He also criticized the longer hours Frist imposed. In September he said the administration should provide more details on what was happening in Iraq. He opposed the administration on media ownership limits. His opposition to the Medicare/prescription drug bill, a priority for the administration and one on which Frist put his personal stamp, was strong. "What I have always wanted to see was a prescription program for the low-income elderly only," he said. It "will cost more than $400 billion minimum in the first 10 years. We put more furniture on the deck of a ship that's already listing, Medicare." But on November 24, two days after it was passed by the House, the Senate leadership was one vote short of the 60 required under the rules to bring it to the floor. Republican colleagues huddled around Lott, urging him to vote yes; he gestured angrily, then went forward, voted yes and stomped out of the chamber. That brought the bill forward and "the worst damn thing I have ever seen Republicans do" passed 54-44. Lott was still angry later. "I think that was a mistake. I regretted it then; I've regretted it terribly since then. I promised myself after that that I would not do that again. I'm not going to sacrifice my strong feelings on an issue because the leadership says, 'You gotta do that.' "

But even as he was criticizing the leadership, he was working behind the scenes with both Senate and House members to solve problems. He switched stands and supported Frist on expanding the TVA board, a local issue for both senators. But Lott pressed Frist and the White House to accept a deal with Frank Lautenberg on privatization of air traffic controller jobs to get the FAA authorization through. In March 2004 he switched and supported prescription drug reimportation from Canada and he was the only Republican to vote against the budget resolution (because it didn't have enough room for tax cuts). He refused to give money to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by George Allen, and gave it directly to candidates instead. In September 2004 he criticized Frist for concentrating on homeland security and appropriations and not breaking deadlocks on the energy, transportation and corporate tax bills (only the last one passed). He criticized the administration for not accepting a deal on nominations he concocted with Tom Daschle (Charles Pickering was on the list). But before the election he got the Rules Committee to eliminate the eight-year term limit on Intelligence Committee members and afterwards he got the Republican Conference, by a 27-26 vote, to give the majority leader power to choose half the new "A" committee members.

Lott was also active legislatively on several fronts. After Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" on the Super Bowl broadcast he sponsored a bill to increase the FCC's indecency fine from $27,500 to $275,000, with a maximum total of $3 million. In May 2004 his bill to postpone the 2005 round of base closings was beaten by only 49-47; he argued that the Pentagon should close bases abroad first. He warned Mississippians that Naval Station Pascagoula was in jeopardy because it had only interdiction missions; in May 2005, it appeared on the Defense Department's list of recommended closures. With Kay Bailey Hutchison and Conrad Burns, he sponsored a bill to provide Amtrak with $12 billion in guaranteed funding and $48 million in bonds--not the administration approach. He put a hold on a Commerce Department nomination to prevent money for a study of billfish--a matter of some interest in Pascagoula--from being sent to a firm in Brownsville, Texas. He pushed successfully to block a tax change that would have U.S.-based automakers paying less than Nissan, which has a big new plant in Canton, Mississippi. After Donald Rumsfeld made controversial statements in December, he said, "I'm not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld. I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers. I would like to see a change in that slot in the next year or so." In January 2005 he criticized Mitch McConnell for allowing too much in committee spending. And he joined with John McCain in sponsoring legislation to subject 527 organizations to the same campaign finance regulations as PACs. As Senate Rules chairman, he presided over the inauguration ceremonies at the Capitol.

In September 2003 Lott said, "Look, I'm here. And I'm going to try to be helpful. Sometimes that will get me crossed up with the administration. I am sending the signal that they're going to have to deal with me, and they need to keep that in mind, because I can be a problem." His book Master of the Game: Tales from a Republican Revolutionary, was expected in summer 2005. Left unanswered was the question whether Lott would run for reelection in 2006. His standing in Mississippi still remained very high and his vote-winning record was solid. He gave up a safe House seat to run for the Senate in 1988, and was elected over Democratic Congressman Wayne Dowdy 54%-46%. In 1994 and 2000 Lott did not have serious competition and won easily. In 2003 and 2004 he raised $4 million for his leadership PAC, mostly from direct mail; he did not raise nearly as much for his campaign committee, but can presumably do so by renting his PAC's mailing list. Asked in December 2003 whether he would run again, he said, "I'll make that decision about a year in advance." In July 2004 he suggested that his decision might hinge on his chances to chair a major committee. "Odds are I'll end up being chairman of Finance or Commerce, depends on the years." There was talk in Mississippi that he might face former Attorney General Mike Moore or former Governor Ronnie Musgrove. If Lott does not run, the likeliest Republican candidate seemed to be Congressman and former Lott staffer Chip Pickering.

Committees

• Commerce, Science & Transportation: Aviation; Fisheries & the Coast Guard; National Ocean Policy Study; Science & Space; Surface Transportation & Merchant Marine (Chmn.); Technology, Innovation & Competitiveness.
• Finance: International Trade; Social Security & Family Policy; Taxation & IRS Oversight.
• Intelligence (Select).
• Rules & Administration (Chmn.).
• Joint Committee on Taxation (3d of 5 Sens.).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	5	22	14	33	100	74	100	96	90	100	--
2003	10	--	0	0	--	81	96	89	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	32%	--	67%		31%	--	65%
Social	0%	--	59%		0%	--	84%
Foreign	0%	--	78%		33%	--	61%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Ban Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. Energy Bill Y 6. Support Roe v. Wade N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Assault Weapons Ban N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Ban Bunker-Buster Bomb N 11. Fund Iraq War Y 12. Restrict Missile Defense N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2000 general	Trent Lott (R)	654,941	66%	$3,663,052
	Troy Brown (D)	314,090	32%	$40,349
	Other	25,113	3%
2000 primary	Trent Lott (R)	unopposed
1994 general	Trent Lott (R)	418,333	69%	$2,516,189
	Ken Harper (D)	189,752	31%	$345,379
Prior winning percentages: 1988 (54%); 1986 House (82%); 1984 House (85%); 1982 House (79%); 1980 House (74%); 1978 House (100%); 1976 House (68%); 1974 House (73%); 1972 House (55%)