Frist, Bill (1952-…), a Republican politician from Tennessee, was a member of the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He served as the leader of the Republicans in the Senate from 2003 to 2007. Frist is also a surgeon.
Frist was chosen as Senate Republican leader after Trent Lott stepped down from the post. A number of Senate Republicans had called for Lott’s resignation after Lott made a remark seeming to favor racial segregation.
Frist headed the Senate Republican campaign committee for the 2002 elections. He received credit for helping the Republican Party win enough seats in those elections to regain control of the Senate in 2003.
In the Senate, Frist supported limiting the number of terms a member of Congress may serve. He sponsored legislation to increase funding for fighting AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. He also supported efforts to eliminate special privileges for senators, such as free parking at airports.
William Harrison Frist was born in Nashville on Feb. 22, 1952. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1974. He received an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1978. He served his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1978 to 1984. Frist then went to work as a heart transplant surgeon at Vanderbilt University. He founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center in 1989. He is the author of the books Transplant (1989) and When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism from the Senate’s Only Doctor (2002). Frist used his medical skills in 1998 when a gunman shot and killed two police officers in the U.S. Capitol. The senator gave emergency medical care to the victims and helped save the life of the accused gunman. Frist also is licensed as a commercial pilot.
Frist was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 and reelected in 2000. Frist did not seek a third term in 2006.
