Leahy, Patrick Joseph (1940-…), was a United States senator from 1975 to 2023. Leahy, a Democrat, represented Vermont. From 2012 to 2015, and again from 2021 to 2023, Leahy served as president pro tempore (temporary president) of the Senate. This office is customarily held by the longest-serving member of the Senate’s majority party.
Leahy was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on March 31, 1940. He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Michael’s College in 1961 and a law degree from Georgetown University in 1964. He began working as a lawyer in Burlington, Vermont, in 1964.
From 1966 to 1974, Leahy served as state’s attorney for Chittenden County, Vermont. In 1974, he was elected to his first term in the U.S. Senate. He took office in 1975. He won reelection in 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010, and 2016.
Leahy served as chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee from 2001 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2015. Leahy also served on the Agriculture and Appropriations committees. In 1997, Leahy was a leader for the Democrats in opposing a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. That measure failed by one vote. In the early 2000’s, Leahy sponsored legislation to reduce wrongful convictions in death penalty cases. He also helped pass laws to protect forests and waterways and to expand protections under federal hate crime laws. Leahy did not run for reelection in 2022, and he retired at the end of his term in 2023.
