Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum
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Name	Rick Santorum
Caption	Official portrait, 2001
Office	United States Senator from Pennsylvania
Term start	January 3, 1995
Term end	January 3, 2007
Predecessor	Harris Wofford
Successor	Bob Casey Jr.
Office1	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Term start1	January 3, 1991
Term end1	January 3, 1995
Predecessor1	Doug Walgren
Successor1	Mike Doyle
Constituency1	Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district
Birth name	Richard John Santorum
Birth date	10 May 1958
Birth place	Winchester, Virginia
Party	Republican
Spouse	Karen Garver, 1990
Education	Pennsylvania State University (BA), University of Pittsburgh (MBA), Dickinson School of Law (JD)

Rick Santorum is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Santorum gained national prominence as a social conservative leader and was a candidate for the 2012 and 2016 Republican presidential nominations.

Early life and education

Richard John Santorum was born in Winchester, Virginia, to Catherine and Aldo Santorum, an immigrant from Italy who worked for the Veterans Administration. He spent much of his childhood in Butler, Pennsylvania, and later in the suburbs of Chicago. Santorum earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the Liberal Arts at Pennsylvania State University in 1980. He subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law in 1986. During his time at Dickinson, he served as president of the Federalist Society chapter and worked for the Pennsylvania Senate.

Political career

Santorum began his political career as an aide to state senator J. Doyle Corman before working as an attorney in Pittsburgh. In 1990, he was elected to the U.S. House from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district, defeating seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren. During his tenure in the House, he served on the Ways and Means Committee and was a member of the Gang of Seven that exposed the House banking scandal. In 1994, he was elected to the United States Senate, defeating incumbent Democrat Harris Wofford. In the Senate, Santorum rose to become Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the third-ranking position in the Republican leadership. He was a key sponsor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the 1996 welfare reform law. He lost his 2006 re-election bid to Democrat Bob Casey Jr..

Post-Senate career

After leaving the Senate, Santorum joined the Ethics and Public Policy Center as a senior fellow and became a contributor to the Fox News Channel. He authored the book *It Takes a Family* and served as the chief executive officer of EchoLight Studios, a faith-based film company. Santorum sought the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, winning the Iowa caucuses and ten other state contests before ultimately losing the nomination to Mitt Romney. He launched another presidential campaign for the 2016 election but suspended his campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. He later became a senior political commentator for CNN and founded the organization Patriot Voices.

Political positions

Santorum is known as a staunch social conservative with strong views on cultural issues. He is a vocal opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, famously comparing homosexuality to bestiality in a 2003 interview with the Associated Press. He supported the Iraq War and has taken a hardline stance against the Islamic Republic of Iran. On economic policy, he has advocated for tax cuts and supported the Bush tax cuts. He has expressed skepticism about the theory of evolution and advocated for the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Santorum has also been a critic of Barack Obama's foreign policy and the Affordable Care Act.

Personal life

Santorum married Karen Garver, a former neonatal nurse, in 1990. The couple has eight children. Their youngest daughter, Isabella, was born in 2008 with a serious genetic condition called Trisomy 18; her health challenges have been a focal point of the family's public life. The Santorums reside in Great Falls, Virginia. He is a practicing Roman Catholic and his faith is a central component of his public identity. In 2015, Santorum's father, Aldo, died after a confrontation with a postal police officer in White Oak, Maryland.

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American political commentators Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Category:United States senators from Pennsylvania Category:Republican Party United States senators