Daschle << DASH uhl >>, Tom (1947-…), was a member of the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. Daschle, a Democrat, represented South Dakota. He served as the leader of the Senate’s Democrats from 1995 to 2005. In November 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced he had chosen Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, a Cabinet post. In February 2009, however, Daschle withdrew from consideration for the position after facing criticism over past failures to pay taxes on benefits provided to him by a Democratic fund-raiser.
In the Senate, Daschle became known for defending the interests of American farmers. In 1990, for example, he and other senators from rural areas, called the “prairie populists,” led an unsuccessful effort to raise federal price supports for farm products. Daschle also sought money for Vietnam War veterans for illnesses believed to be caused by exposure to a weedkiller known as Agent Orange. The U.S. military had used the chemical in the war.
Thomas Andrew Daschle was born on Dec. 9, 1947, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He received a bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University in 1969. From 1969 to 1972, he served in the U.S. Air Force. He then worked as a staff aide to Senator James Abourezk of South Dakota. In 1978, Daschle won election to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the House from 1979 to 1987. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and reelected in 1992 and 1998. In 2004, he was defeated in a bid for reelection. He left office when his third term ended, in January 2005.
After leaving office, Daschle joined an Atlanta law firm. He became a special policy adviser in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He has co-written several books, including Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis (2008) and Getting It Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Health Care Reform (2010). He is the coauthor, with former Republican Senator Trent Lott and writer Jon Sternfeld, of Crisis Point: Why We Must—and How We Can—Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America (2016).
