Bernie Sanders | |
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 Sanders in 2023 | |
| United States Senator from Vermont | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2007 Serving with Peter Welch | |
| Preceded by | Jim Jeffords |
| Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Patty Murray |
| Chair of the Senate Democratic Outreach Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Leader | Chuck Schumer |
| Vice Chair | Catherine Cortez Masto |
| Preceded by | Amy Klobuchar[a] (Steering and Outreach) |
| Chair of the Senate Budget Committee | |
| In office February 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Enzi |
| Succeeded by | Sheldon Whitehouse |
| Chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Patty Murray |
| Succeeded by | Johnny Isakson |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large district | |
| In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Plympton Smith |
| Succeeded by | Peter Welch |
| 37th Mayor of Burlington | |
| In office April 6, 1981 – April 4, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Paquette |
| Succeeded by | Peter Clavelle |
| Chair of the Liberty Union Party | |
| In office 1971–1977 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bernard Sanders September 8, 1941 New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Independent (1978–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouses |
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| Children | 1[d] |
| Relatives | Larry Sanders (brother) |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| Website | |
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Mayor of Burlington
U.S. Representative from
Vermont's at-large district U.S. Senator from Vermont
Presidential campaigns
Published works
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Bernard Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the senior United States senator from Vermont. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history, but maintains a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career and sought the party's presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.
Born into a working-class Jewish family and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Sanders attended Brooklyn College before graduating from the University of Chicago in 1964. While a student, he was a protest organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement. After settling in Vermont in 1968, he ran unsuccessful third-party political campaigns in the early to mid-1970s. He was elected mayor of Burlington in 1981 as an independent and was reelected three times. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, representing Vermont's at-large congressional district, during which time he co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He was a U.S. representative for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, becoming the first non-Republican elected to Vermont's Class 1 seat since Whig Solomon Foot was elected in 1850. Sanders was reelected to the Senate in 2012, 2018, and 2024. He chaired the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee from 2013 to 2015 and the Senate Budget Committee from 2021 to 2023. In January 2023, he became chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the senior senator and dean of the Vermont congressional delegation upon Patrick Leahy's retirement from the Senate.
Sanders was a major candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, finishing in second place both times against Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively. Despite initially low expectations, his 2016 campaign generated significant grassroots enthusiasm and funding from small-dollar donors, carrying him to victory in 23 primaries and caucuses.[1] In 2020, his strong showing in early primaries and caucuses made him the front-runner in a historically large field of Democratic candidates. He supported both Clinton and Biden in their respective general election campaigns against Donald Trump. After the 2020 primaries, he became a close ally of Biden.[2][3]
Sanders is credited with influencing a leftward shift in the Democratic Party after his 2016 presidential campaign. An advocate of progressive policies, he is known for his opposition to neoliberalism and support for workers' self-management. On domestic policy, he supports labor rights, universal and single-payer healthcare, paid parental leave, tuition-free tertiary education, a Green New Deal to create jobs addressing climate change, and worker control of production through cooperatives, unions, and democratic public enterprises. On foreign policy, he supports reducing military spending, pursuing more diplomacy and international cooperation, and putting greater emphasis on labor rights and environmental concerns when negotiating international trade agreements. Sanders supports workplace democracy and has praised elements of the Nordic model. Some have compared and contrasted his politics to left-wing populism and the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[4]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Gambino, Lauren (March 10, 2019). "'Not the billionaires': why small-dollar donors are Democrats' new powerhouse". The Guardian. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
wapowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (August 28, 2023). "Bernie Sanders urges left to back Biden to stop 'very dangerous' Trump". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ^ Müller, Jan-Werner (January 23, 2020). "Opinion | Please Stop Calling Bernie Sanders a Populist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.