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Christopher Dodd
Senior Senator from Connecticut
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 5, 1981 Serving with Joe Lieberman
Preceded by	Abraham A. Ribicoff
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2011)
Born	May 27, 1944 (1944-05-27) (age 63) Willimantic, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jackie Marie Clegg
Religion	Roman Catholic

Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician from Willimantic, Connecticut. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Dodd served as a U.S. Representative from Connecticut from 1975 until 1981, when he became a U.S. Senator. He served as general chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1995 to 1997. He is now the state's senior Senator. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.^[1]

He is a candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Contents 1 Early life, career, and family 2 U.S. House of Representatives 3 U.S. Senator 4 2008 Presidential campaign 5 Political positions 6 Criticism 6.1 Golden Leash Award 6.2 Campaign contributions from Arthur Andersen 7 Electoral history 7.1 1980 Connecticut United States Senatorial Election 7.2 1986 Connecticut United States Senatorial Election 7.3 1992 Connecticut United States Senatorial Election 7.4 1998 Connecticut United States Senatorial Election 7.5 2004 Connecticut United States Senatorial Election 8 References 9 External links

Dodd was born in Willimantic, Connecticut. His parents were Grace Mary Dodd née Murphy and U.S. Senator Thomas Joseph Dodd; all eight of his great-grandparents were born in Ireland.^[2] Dodd is a Roman Catholic. He is the fifth of six children;^[3] his eldest brother, Thomas J. Dodd Jr., is an emeritus professor of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Uruguay and Costa Rica under President Bill Clinton.

Dodd attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boys school in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Providence College in 1966. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small rural town in the Dominican Republic until 1968. While there, he became fluent in Spanish. ^[4] Dodd then joined the U.S. Army Reserve, and served until 1975.

In 1972, Dodd earned a Juris Doctor at the University of Louisville, where he served as vice magistrate of the law school's student body. The following year, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar, and began practicing law in New London.

In July 1970, he married Susan Mooney; they divorced in October 1982. Afterwards, he dated at different times Bianca Jagger, Erin Carter, and Carrie Fisher.^[5] In 1999, he married his second wife, Jackie Marie Clegg, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The couple have two daughters, Grace (born September 2001) and Christina Dodd (born May 2005).

Dodd lives in East Haddam when Congress is not in session.

Dodd was part of the "Watergate class of '74" which CNN pundit David Gergen credited with bringing "a fresh burst of liberal energy to the Capitol."^[6] Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's second congressional district, and reelected twice, he served from January 4, 1975 to January 3, 1981. During his tenure in the U.S. House, he served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Dodd was elected to the Senate in the 1980 election and was subsequently reelected in the 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004 elections. He is the first Senator from Connecticut to serve five consecutive terms. From 1995 to 1997, he served as General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As General Chairman, Dodd was the DNC's spokesman. Donald Fowler served as National Chairman, running the party's day to day operations.

Dodd briefly considered running for President in 2004, but ultimately decided against such a campaign. He was also considered a possible candidate for replacing Tom Daschle as Senate Minority Leader in 109th Congress, but he declined, and that position was instead filled by Harry Reid. Currently he is seeking the Democratic party's nomination for president in 2008.

Dodd has announced in a letter to the Federal Election Commission that he is no longer a candidate for the Senate in 2010. ^[7]

This article or section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election. Content may change as the election approaches.

Main article: Chris Dodd presidential campaign, 2008

On 11 January 2007, Dodd announced his candidacy for the office of President of the United States on the Imus in the Morning show. On 19 January 2007, Dodd made a formal announcement with supporters at the Old State House in Hartford.

In May, he trailed in state and national polls and acknowledged he wasn't keeping pace with rival campaigns' fund raising. However, he said that as more voters became aware of his opposition to the Iraq War, they would support his campaign.^[8]

Main article: Political positions of Chris Dodd

During his years in the House and Senate, Chris Dodd has built a long record of political positions on important issues to the nation.

He is in favor of ending the Iraq War and bringing America's troops home, and has repeatedly voted against further funding of the war.

He has declared that the nation "must take a 'strategic pause'" before signing any new free trade agreements.

To improve America's civil liberties, he has introduced legislation to enact a Federal Shield law and worked against legislation permitting warrantless surveillance.

He has proposed a carbon tax in order to influence the free market to reduce carbon emissions and help stop global warming.

Dodd has proposed mandatory community service for all high school students, and fought to improve child care and health care. He has worked to stop predatory lending by credit card companies.

The Center for Public Integrity has criticized Dodd for "being the leading advocate in the Senate on behalf of the accounting industry."^[9],^[10]

The Golden Leash Award was presented to Dodd by Public Campaign, April 29, 1998:

"The Golden Leash is a symbol of the ties between special interest money and elected officials. It is awarded to Members of Congress who demonstrate egregious conduct in the quid pro quo practice of dollar democracy.

"This award serves as a reminder of Senator Dodd's acceptance of $910,304 in campaign cash from January 1993 to December 1997 from the Securities, Investment, Accounting and High-Tech Computer industries... Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers and others donat[ed] $523,551 in PAC and individual contributions. The accounting industry — perhaps the biggest winners in the 1995 securities litigation reform law — donated $345,903 in PAC and individual contributions. This includes such giants as Price Waterhouse, Ernst & Young and Coopers & Lybrand, among others. Deloitte & Touche's contributions to Senator Dodd increased nearly five-fold from 1995 to 1996 soon after Congress passed the reform law the industry championed. The computer industry — a fairly new player in the campaign contribution field — ponied up $40,850 in contributions."

Public Campaign's report cites the following examples: Dodd was an original cosponsor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and he helped to organize the Senate's override of President Bill Clinton's veto. The National Securities Market Improvement Act, which ultimately weakened oversight that would have protected investors. Dodd lined up as a cosponsor of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, an extension of the earlier securities litigation legislation. The bill was strongly supported by The Uniform Standards Coalition, an ad-hoc group of securities, accounting and high-tech computer firms.

On January 30, 2002 Dick Morris wrote in an article for Jewish World Review:

While many candidates of both parties have received campaign contributions from Enron and its self-serving 'independent auditor' Arthur Andersen, very few have passionately fought their cause in Washington as diligently as Chris Dodd. Dodd has received more money from Arthur Andersen than any other Democrat — $54,843.00 — and has aggressively worked to insulate Arthur Andersen and other accounting firms from liability to defrauded investors in cases like Enron.^[11]

In February 2003, Morris wrote:

Dodd protested my [previous] accusations in a letter to the New York Post saying "Dick Morris mistakenly contends that legislation cosponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd is somehow responsible for the Enron fiasco." But all independent observers seem to disagree with Dodd. The Washington Post editorialized two weeks ago that "Sen. Chris Dodd, who now proposes reformist legislation, led a battle in 1995 to limit auditor's liability." The Post said that "all the players in this scandal — Enron's managers, its auditors, the lawmakers — helped to create the conditions for Enron's collapse."^[12]

The watchdog group opensecrets.org has pointed out that Dodd 2008 presidential campaign is heavily funded by the financial services industry, which is regulated by committees Dodd chairs in the Senate [1][2]

Christopher Dodd (D) 56.3%

James L. Buckley (R) 42.9%

Christopher Dodd (D) (inc.) 64.8%

Roger W. Eddy (R) 35.2%

Christopher Dodd (D) (inc.) 58.8%

Brook Johnson (R) 38.1%

Christopher Dodd (D) (inc.) 68%

Gary Franks (R) 32%

Christopher Dodd (D) (inc.) 66%

Jack Orchulli (R) 32%

Timothy Knibbs (Constitution) 1%

Lenny Rasch (Lib.) 1%

• U.S. Senate office
• Presidential Campaign
• Genealogy of Chris Dodd
• Christopher Dodd at the Open Directory Project
• Christopher Dodd at the Internet Movie Database
• Peace Corps biography of Chris Dodd

• Christopher Dodd's biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Christopher Dodd's voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Christopher Dodd's campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Christopher Dodd's campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Christopher Dodd's biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Christopher Dodd's issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports and data for President
• Open Secrets campaign contributions for President
• Compare your opinions with Chris Dodd at whereIstand.com
• The New York Times — Christopher J. Dodd News news stories and commentary
• PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - Vote 2008: Christopher Dodd

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Robert H. Steele	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 2nd congressional district 1975 – 1981	Succeeded by Sam Gejdenson
United States Senate
Preceded by Abraham A. Ribicoff	United States Senator (Class 3) from Connecticut 1981 – present Served alongside: Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., Joe Lieberman	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Mitch McConnell	Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee 2001 – 2003	Succeeded by Trent Lott
Preceded by Richard Shelby	Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee 2007 – present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Debra DeLee	Chairman of the Democratic National Committee 1995 – 1997	Succeeded by Roy Romer

v • d • e United States Senators from Connecticut

Class 1: Ellsworth • Hillhouse • Dana • Boardman • Edwards • Foot • N. Smith • Niles • Betts • Huntington • R.S. Baldwin • Toucey • Dixon • Buckingham • Eaton • Hawley • Bulkeley • McLean • Walcott • Maloney • Hart • R.E. Baldwin • Benton • Purtell • T. Dodd • Weicker • Lieberman Class 3: Johnson • Sherman • Mitchell • Trumbull • Tracy • Goodrich • Daggett • Lanman • Willey • Tomlinson • P. Smith • Niles • T. Smith • Gillette • Foster • Ferry • English • Barnum • Platt • Brandegee • Bingham • Lonergan • Danaher • McMahon • Purtell • Bush • Ribicoff • C. Dodd

v • d • e Connecticut's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators	Christopher Dodd (D), Joe Lieberman (ID)
Representative(s)	John Larson (D), Joe Courtney (D), Rosa DeLauro (D), Chris Shays (R), Chris Murphy (D)
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v • d • e Current members of the United States Senate
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Republican • Democrat • Independent

v • d • e Chairmen of the Democratic National Committee

Hallett • McLane • Smalley • Belmont • Schell • Hewitt • Barnum • Brice • Harrity • Jones • Taggart • Mack • McCombs • Cummings • McCormick • White • Hull • Shaver • Raskob • Farley • Flynn • Walker • Hannegan • McGrath • Boyle • McKinney • Mitchell • Butler • Jackson • Bailey • O'Brien • Harris • O'Brien • Westwood • Strauss • Curtis • White • Manatt • Kirk • Brown • Wilhelm • DeLee • Dodd • Romer • Rendell • McAuliffe • Dean

v • d • e United States presidential election, 2008
Straw polls · General polls · Candidates · Fundraising · Timeline
Democratic Party	Straw polls · Primary polls · General polls · Debates · Primaries · Convention
Candidates	Biden · H. Clinton · Dodd · J.R. Edwards · Gravel · Kucinich · Obama · Richardson
Withdrawn	Bayh · LaMagna · Vilsack
Republican Party	Straw polls · Primary polls · General polls · Debates · Primaries · Convention
Candidates	Cort · Cox · Gilbert · Giuliani · Huckabee · D.L. Hunter · Keyes · McCain · Paul · Romney · Tancredo · F. Thompson
Withdrawn	Brownback · Gilmore · R. McKinney · T. Thompson
Constitution Party	Convention
Green Party	C. McKinney · Mesplay · Swift
Libertarian Party	Convention · Imperato · Kubby · Phillies · Root · C. Smith
Independent	Sharkey
Withdrawn	Stanhope
Open FEC committees	W. Clark · H. Dean · Gore · Kerry · Nader · Sharpton
Other 2008 elections: House · Senate · Gubernatorial