Bill Frist

Bill Frist
Official portrait, c. 1995
Senate Majority Leader
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007
WhipMitch McConnell
Preceded byTom Daschle
Succeeded byHarry Reid
Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007
DeputyMitch McConnell
Preceded byTrent Lott
Succeeded byMitch McConnell
Chair of the National Republican
Senatorial Committee
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003
LeaderTrent Lott
Preceded byMitch McConnell
Succeeded byGeorge Allen
United States Senator
from Tennessee
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007
Preceded byJim Sasser
Succeeded byBob Corker
Personal details
Born
William Harrison Frist

(1952-02-22) February 22, 1952 (age 72)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Karyn McLaughlin
(m. 1981; div. 2012)
Tracy Roberts
(m. 2015)
Children3
Parent
EducationPrinceton University (AB)
Harvard University (MD)
Signature

William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. In 1994, he defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Jim Sasser.

After serving as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Frist succeeded Tom Daschle as the Senate Majority Leader. Frist helped pass several parts of President George W. Bush's domestic agenda, including the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 and the Medicare Modernization Act. Frist left the Senate in 2007, honoring his pledge to serve no more than two terms.

In his post-Senate career, he serves as chair of the global board of The Nature Conservancy.[1] He is also a founding partner of Frist Cressey Ventures,[2] a special partner and chairman of the Executives Council of the health service investment firm Cressey & Company,[3] and co-chair of the Health Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center.[4] He currently hosts the A Second Opinion Podcast[5] on the intersection of policy, medicine, and innovation.

  1. ^ "Senator Bill Frist Elected Incoming Chair of The Nature Conservancy's Board of Directors". August 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Frist Cressey Ventures Team". January 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Senator Bill Frist, Special Partner". January 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Bill Frist, Senior Fellow, Former Senate Majority Leader, Bipartisan Policy Center". January 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "A Second Opinion Podcast". asecondopinionpodcast.com/.