Trent Lott

Chester Trent Lott Jr. (born Oct. 9, 1941) is a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. Lott attended college at University of Mississippi where he was a cheerleader. Although eligible, Lott chose not to serve in the miltiary during the Vietnam War. He was Senate majority leader from June 12, 1996 through Jan. 3, 2001. Vice President Albert A. Gore Jr's deciding vote gave Democrats the majority until Jan. 20, 2001, when Richard B. Cheney became vice president. His deciding vote gave Republicans the majority until June 6, 2001, when Vermont Sen. James M. Jeffords announced his resignation from the Republican Party and decided to join the Democratic caucus as an independent. Lott subsquently became minority leader. With the Republicans' victory in the 2002 Senate elections, Lott was once again slated to become majority leader when the 108th Congress convened on Jan. 7, 2003; however, comments he made that appeared to be nostalgic for racial segregation made his leadership position untenable, and he resigned from the leadership on Dec. 20, 2002.

Table of contents
1 Political Biography
2 Controversy and resignation
3 Quotes
4 External Links

Political Biography

Trent Lott entered public office in 1972, when he was elected to the House of Representatives from Mississippi. He served eight terms, then successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1988, filling the seat formerly held by retiring John C. Stennis. He was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. He became majority leader in 1996, following the resignation of Sen. Robert J. Dole from the Senate to pursue the Presidency.

He is currently a cosponsor of the bill to create a Director of National Intelligence.

Controversy and resignation

Tremendous political controversy ensued following remarks Lott made on Dec. 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday party of Sen. J. Strom Thurmond. Thurmond ran for President of the United States in 1948 on the Dixiecrat (or States' Rights) ticket, whose primary campaign issue was the perpetuation of racial segregation in the United States. Lott said:

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

The comment, broadcast on C-SPAN, was largely ignored by the mainstream media but was widely discussed on political blogs such as Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, which also uncovered Lott's history of actively supporting segregation during college and making similar statements at various points throughout his career. Five days later the story was picked up by the mainstream media.

Lott's attempts to explain the remark grew from a mild dismissal as an off-the-cuff remark supporting Thurmond's national defense platform to an explicit repudiation of his racist past and assertions of support for affirmative action in a BET interview, by which time his political fate was sealed.

Once reported in newspapers and television, calls for his resignation as majority leader from both ends of the political spectrum grew.

Some Democrats and Republicans considered the remark unconscionable, or as Al Gore put it, "fundamentally racist", and many conservative groups and media outlets attempting to create an image for the Republican Party as inclusive of minorities were quick to distance themselves from Lott and criticize the incident. Centrist Democrats and Republicans at first defended Lott, insisting the remarks had been blown out of proportion.

After President George W. Bush voiced his own harsh criticism of Lott's remarks: "Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive, and it is wrong. Recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country. He has apologized and rightly so. Every day that our nation was segregated was a day our nation was unfaithful to our founding ideals," it was evident that it would be difficult for Lott to remain majority leader, although the official White House line was that Lott did not need to resign.

Lott later agreed with the President's speech. In the aforementioned BET interview, he said, "Segregation is a stain on our nation’s soul... Segregation and racism are immoral."

Under pressure from Senate colleagues, and having lost the support of the White House, Lott resigned as Senate Republican Leader on Dec. 20, 2002. Sen. William H. Frist from Tennessee was later elected to the leadership position.

Quotes

On white supremacy:

  • "The people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy. Let's take it in the right direction and our children will be the beneficiaries." - From a 1992 keynote address to the white supremacist group Council of Conservative Citizens

On Strom Thurmond:
  • "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either." - From a speech at Thurmond's 100th birthday party [12/5/02]

On why he does not want to review more evidence during congressional hearings regarding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:
  • "I've already seen enough. Why would I want to go see a bunch of perverted pictures?" - As reported in The New York Times

On Ronald Reagan:
  • "I am an advocate of having a gold dollar with Reagan's picture on it, and calling it the Ronnie. The Canadians have the Loonie, and we can have the Ronnie." - From an interview in New York Times Sunday Magazine [6/20/04]

External Links


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