Tom Daschle, a 26-year veteran of Capitol Hill, is not only Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services, but also the man to run the president’s new White House Office of Health Reform. In this capacity, Daschle is expected to serve as the “lead architect” of the Obama administration’s efforts to expand health insurance and rein in medical costs.

 

Born on December 9, 1947, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Daschle grew up in a Catholic working-class family with his parents, Sebastian Daschle and Elizabeth Meier, and three brothers. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college when he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from South Dakota State University in 1969.

 

Daschle then joined the US Air Force and served as an intelligence officer with the Strategic Air Command until 1972. He began his career in politics on the staff of Sen. James Abourezk (D-SD). That experience prepared him for his own run for office in 1978. As the Democratic nominee for South Dakota’s only seat in the US House of Representatives, the 31-year-old Daschle faced Vietnam POW Leo Thorsness. Thorsness was in the lead on election night, but a recount put Daschle ahead by 110 votes. Although Daschle was seated in January, it wasn’t until a year after the election that the South Dakota Supreme Court confirmed his victory.

 

Daschle served in the House until 1986, when he jumped to the US Senate after knocking off Republican incumbent James Abdnor in a bitterly contested race that included accusations from the GOP that Daschle was sympathetic to Jane Fonda’s anti-war efforts. Only six years later, he found himself in charge of Senate Democrats after Republicans took control of the Senate and the House in the wake of the 1994 GOP revolution. Only Lyndon Johnson served fewer years in the Senate before being elected to the position. During his time as minority leader, Daschle co-managed the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

 

In June 2001, Republican Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont bolted from the GOP and sided with Senate Democrats, giving them a one-vote majority in the Senate and making Daschle majority leader. Five months later, Daschle and his staff became one of the targets of the Anthrax scare, as a letter delivered to the senator’s office was found to contain the deadly powder. Daschle’s time as majority leader was short-lived, thanks to the November 2002 election that gave Republicans control of the Senate once more, returning the South Dakota Democrat to minority leader.

 

By the following election, Daschle was out of office altogether. Republicans targeted Daschle in 2004, accusing him of obstructing President George W. Bush’s policies and court nominations. He also came under attack for not supporting the war in Iraq more strongly. He lost his bid for re-election, 51-49%, to Republican John Thune. The race was the most expensive Senate contest of the year.

 

Like other former lawmakers, Daschle joined the ranks of a Washington, DC, firm that lobbies Congress (Alston and Bird), although he was not a registered lobbyist (his title was “special public policy advisor”). While working for Alston and Bird, he provided advice on issues such as health care, climate change, energy, trade, financial services, and telecommunications. The firm’s clientele has included Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals, Adams Laboratories, Mylan Laboratories, HealthSouth, and the American Clinical Laboratory Association, a trade group

 

 

Daschle has served on the boards of Intermedia Partners, the BP America Inc. External Advisory Council, CB Richard Ellis, Mascoma Corporation, Prime BioSolutions, The Freedom Forum, the Mayo Clinic, the Center for American Progress, the LBJ Foundation, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. 

 

Following Daschle’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services, public attention turned to his wife, Linda Hall Daschle. A former acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Linda Daschle is considered one of Washington’s most powerful lobbyists, working for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz. Her clients have included American Airlines, Boeing, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Lockheed Martin and L3 Communications. She has said she will quit working as a lobbyist to avoid any potential conflict of interests for her husband.

 

Linda has been married to Daschle since 1984, following his divorce from his first wife, Laurie, with whom he had three children.

 

Daschle was one of the first people outside of Obama’s personal circle who was consulted about the Illinois senator’s run for the presidency. Daschle encouraged Obama to run, reportedly telling him, “Don’t always think you’ll have another shot. You never know what the future will hold.”

 

Some public interest groups were not pleased with Obama’s selection of Daschle. Public Citizen accused the president-elect of “back-pedaling” on his promise to keep special interests out of the White House. While Daschle technically complied with the transition rules against lobbyists, Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation watchdog group, said, “Many power brokers never register as lobbyists, but they are every bit as powerful.”

 

Senator Tom Daschle Bio (Center for American Progress)

Health Care Groups Paid Daschle $220K (by Kenneth P. Vogel, Politico)

Tom Daschle has his own health plan (by Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times)

The New Team (by Neil Lewis, New York Times)

Obama selects Tom Daschle as health chief (by Fredreka Schouten and David Jackson, USA Today)

Powers We Didn’t Grant (by Tom Daschle, Washington Post)

I’m Linda, Fly Me (by Doug Ireland, LA Weekly)

Tom Daschle's Hillary Problem (by Stephanie Mencimer, Washington Monthly)

Bush Asks Daschle to Limit Sept. 11 Probes (CNN)