Jim Talent

Jim Talent
Official Senate portrait
United States Senator
from Missouri
In office
November 23, 2002 – January 3, 2007
Preceded byJean Carnahan
Succeeded byClaire McCaskill
Chair of the House Small Business Committee
In office
January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001
Preceded byJan Meyers
Succeeded byDon Manzullo
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001
Preceded byJoan Horn
Succeeded byTodd Akin
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives
from the 92nd district
In office
January 9, 1985 – January 6, 1993
Preceded byDonna Ann Coleman
Succeeded byDavid Klarich
Personal details
Born
James Matthes Talent

(1956-10-18) October 18, 1956 (age 68)
Des Peres, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Brenda Lee Lyons
(m. 1984)
Children3
EducationWashington University (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

James Matthes Talent (born October 18, 1956) is an American politician who was a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office.

After serving for eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives and then working as a lobbyist, he ran for Governor of Missouri in 2000, losing to Democrat Bob Holden. Two years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Jean Carnahan in a special election to complete the term to which Carnahan's husband, Mel, had been elected posthumously in 2000.[1] In the Democratic wave of November 2006, Talent lost his re-election bid to Claire McCaskill, 50% to 47%.

Talent, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign,[2] served as a member of Romney's 2012 economic policy team during the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign.[3] Talent is a distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation[4] and a member of the Defense Policy Board.[5] He is also a co-chairman at Mercury, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm.[6] Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Talent was rumored to be on the short list for United States Secretary of Defense,[7] a position ultimately offered to James Mattis.

  1. ^ http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/elections/15869206.htm. Retrieved February 7, 2007. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  2. ^ "Press Releases". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  3. ^ "Mitt Announces His Economic Policy Team". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  4. ^ Haislmaier, Edmund F. "Jim Talent". Heritage.org. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  5. ^ "James Talent". policy.defense.gov. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  6. ^ "House, Senate campaigns welcome lobbyists shunned by Team Obama". TheHill. October 10, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Herb, Jeremy (November 16, 2016). "Trump's Latest Defense Secretary Shortlist". Politico. Retrieved December 23, 2016.