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• Connecticut's senior Senator, Christopher Dodd, is the longest-serving Senator in the state's history, first taking up the office on January 5, 1981. He unsuccessfully ran in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, dropping out after a poor showing in the 2008 Iowa Caucus.

  In early April 2009, Connecticut Democrat Roger Pearson announced that he had formed a committee to explore a run for his party's 2010 senate nomination. Some reports suggested that Dodd could face difficulties in his 2010 Senate reelection bid if Pearson chose to run, possibly even knocking Dodd out of the primaries.FOXNews.com: Dodd Faces Potential Primary Challenger in 2010 Senate Race

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: May 27, 1944 in Willimantic, Connecticut
  2. First assumed office in 1981
  3. Full name: Christopher John Dodd
  4. Political Party: Democrat
  5. Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee
  6. Religion: Roman Catholic
  7. Authored the Family and Medical Leave Act
  8. Worked in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps
  9. Dated Bianca Jagger and Carrie Fisher
  10. Father Thomas Joseph Dodd was also a Connecticut Senator

• Early Career

  Dodd started his career as an attorney. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1974, part of the group known as "Watergate Babies", Democrats elected in the immediate aftermath of the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon White House. Dodd served two terms as a Representative before being elected to the Senate in 1980.

• Senate

  Dodd's currently serving his fifth consecutive term in the Senate. From 1995 to 1997, he chaired the Democratic National Committee, the job currently held by Howard Dean. He was under consideration to serve as Senate Majority Leader, but declined the position, which eventually went to Nevada Senator Harry Reid.

• Run for President

  Dodd announced his candidacy on Don Imus' radio show on January 11, 2007. He spoke frequently during his campaign about his opposition to both the Iraq War and retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that aided the government's domestic surveillance programs. Dodd did not perform well in early polls or the crucial Democratic caucus in Iowa, and dropped out of the race, endorsing opponent Barack Obama on February 26, 2008.

• AIG Bonuses Controversy

  In March of 2009, it was revealed that the insurance firm AIG had given away millions in executive bonus pay after receiving a $170 billion government bailout. Sen. Dodd came under fire for having written some of the stimulus legislation that allowed these executive bonuses to go forward. Dodd initially denied being a part of the committee that inserted the language into the bill,Hartford Courant: Dodd Under Fire for Legislation Behind AIG Bonuses (March 18, 2009) then told CNN on March 18, 2009, that the bill had originally closed the executive compensation loophole, but that he had modified the clause on the insistence of the Treasury Department.Huffington Post: Dodd: Treasury Officials Insisted On Weakening Bonus Provision (March 18, 2009) The final stimulus bill allowed for post-bailout bonuses as part of pre-negotiated contracts.

• Dodd and the Serve America Act

  Dodd has spoken out for an expansion of the government program Americorps. He proposed an initiative named "Service for All Ages". Parts of the initiative was incorporated into the Serve America Act, which passed a Senate committee on March 17, 2009.Stamford Plus: Dodd's service for all ages initiative included in national service Bill (March 19, 2009)

• Systematic Risks

  On March 24, 2009, Dodd said that the Congress might consider that several agencies oversee systemic risks, instead of only the Federal Reserve.Bloomberg: Dodd Says Fed, FDIC, Bank Agencies Might Jointly Regulate Risks (March 24, 2009)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Democratic Party | Barack Obama | Hillary Rodham Clinton | John Edwards | Mike Gravel | Dennis Kucinich | Iraq War | Election 2008 | High-Risk Mortgages | General Peter Pace | U.S. Senate | Edward Kennedy | Senate Banking Committee | Serve America Act | Neil Barofsky | Linda McMahon

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