James Ralph Sasser

A Senator from Tennessee; born in Memphis, Shelby County, Tenn., September 30, 1936; attended the public schools of Nashville; attended the University of Tennessee 1954-1955; graduated, Vanderbilt University, Nashville 1958; graduated, Vanderbilt Law School 1961; admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1961 and commenced practice in Nashville; served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve 1957-1963; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1976; reelected in 1982 and 1988 and served from January 3, 1977, to January 3, 1995; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1994; chairman, Committee on the Budget (One Hundred First and One Hundred Second Congresses); fellow, Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1995; appointed ambassador to the People’s Republic of China by President William Jefferson Clinton, September 22, 1995, confirmed December 14, 1995, and served until 2001; is a resident of Washington, D.C.