Wellstone, Paul David (1944-2002), was a member of the United States Senate from 1991 until his death. Wellstone, a Democrat who represented Minnesota, was regarded as a liberal on social issues.
During his Senate career, Wellstone favored increased government spending on health care, welfare, and education. He also urged protection of the environment. Wellstone was one of the few senators who opposed U.S. participation in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. In 1996, he voted against the welfare reform bill that President Bill Clinton signed into law later that year. Wellstone believed the legislation would result in more children living in poverty. Also in 1996, Wellstone sponsored a bill to expand health insurance coverage for mental illness. In 2002, he voted against legislation that gave President George W. Bush the power to use military force against Iraq.
Wellstone was born on July 21, 1944, in Washington, D.C. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965 and a doctor’s degree in 1969, both in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1969 to 1990, he was professor of political science at Carleton College in Minnesota. He served as director of the Minnesota Community Energy Program from September 1983 to September 1984. Wellstone wrote several books, including How the Rural Poor Got Power (1978) and his autobiography, The Conscience of a Liberal (2001).
Wellstone was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1990 and took office in 1991. He was reelected in 1996. Wellstone died in an airplane crash on Oct. 25, 2002, while campaigning for his third term. Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura appointed the state’s planning director, Dean Barkley, a political Independent, to fill Wellstone’s Senate seat until Wellstone’s term ended in January 2003.
