Trent Lott Years before the controversial remarks made by Don Imus resulted in the call for him to fired from his radio show, Trent Lott was causing controversy in 2002 when he referred to South Carolina senator, Strom Thurmond, not being elected to the presidency in 1948 when his campaign supported racial segregation. His remarks were inferred to mean his support for racial segregation along with his opposition to the Martin Luther King Holiday. His resignation as Senate Republican Leader followed his comments in December 2002, and Bill Frist of Tennessee was later elected to the leadership position. Trent Lott was born on October 9th 1941 in Grenada, Mississippi, the only child to a shipyard worker, Chester Lott and a school teacher mother Iona. Trent attended a high school which in later years would bare his name, the Trent Lott Middle School. Lott went to the University of Mississippi where achieved an undergraduate degree in public administration in 1965 and a law degree in 1967. He began a law practice in Pascagoula, Mississippi after graduating with his degree. During his time at university he met and married his wife Patricia Thompson in December 1964. Together the couple had two sons, Chester and Tyler. During the 1960’s with the Democrats losing their grip on the “Solid South”, Lott ran as a Republican and although he was endorsed by Thad Cochran it is widely believed that he would have won despite the endorsement as that years presidential election saw Richard Nixon winning reelection in a massive landslide.
Lott ran for the Senate in 1988, when he defeated Democratic Wayne Dowdy by once again capitalizing on the popularity of another presidential candidate, George H W Bush. Following his rise to popularity he went on to become Senate Majority Whip when the Republicans took control of the Senate in 1995. In 2000, Vice President Al Gore's tiebreaking vote gave the Democrats the majority from January 3-January 20, 2001, when the George W Bush Administration took office but Vice President Dick Cheney's tiebreaking vote gave the Republicans the majority once again. Later in 2001, Lott became Senate Minority Leader once again. He was to become majority leader again in early 2003 after Republican gains in the November 2002 elections but the Strom Thurmond controversy, derailed his chances. Since 2002 Lott has maintained a low profile but spoke out against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s handling of troops in the Iraq war and called for him to resign within a year. He has also battled with President George W Bush over military base closures in his home state. Many Capitol Hill observers believe Lott blames the Bush White House, and then Secretary of State Colin Powell and specially GOP political strategist Karl Rove, for the loss of his post as Senate leader. Throughout his more than three-decades of service for Mississippians in Washington, Senator Lott has made available an informative five-minute weekly radio address to be aired by Mississippi radio stations. Topics include national issues pending before the Senate, as well as federal projects and initiatives specifically advanced by Senator Lott on Mississippi’s behalf.
Trent still lives in his childhood town of Pascagoula, Mississippi where he and his childhood sweetheart wife now spend time with their two sons and their four grandchildren. ABB |
