Christopher John Dodd was born on May 27,1944 and is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011.
72 Facts About Chris Dodd
2.
Chris Dodd served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981.
3.
Chris Dodd's father, Thomas J Dodd, was a United States Senator from 1959 to 1971.
4.
Chris Dodd served in the Peace Corps for two years prior to entering the University of Louisville School of Law, and during law school concurrently served in the United States Army Reserve.
5.
Chris Dodd returned to Connecticut, winning election in 1974 to the US House of Representatives from Connecticut's 2nd congressional district and was reelected in 1976 and 1978.
6.
Chris Dodd was elected to the United States Senate in 1980.
7.
Chris Dodd served as general chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1995 to 1997.
8.
Chris Dodd served as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee from 2007 until his retirement from politics.
9.
In 2006, Chris Dodd decided to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, but eventually withdrew after running behind several other competitors.
10.
In January 2010, Chris Dodd announced that he would not run for re-election.
11.
Chris Dodd then served as chairman and chief lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America from 2011 to 2017.
12.
Chris Dodd's parents were Grace Mary Dodd and US Senator Thomas Joseph Dodd; all eight of his great-grandparents were born in Ireland.
13.
Chris Dodd is the fifth of six children; his eldest brother, Thomas J Dodd Jr.
14.
Chris Dodd attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boys' school in Bethesda, Maryland.
15.
Chris Dodd graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature from Providence College in 1966.
16.
Chris Dodd served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small rural town called Moncion, in the Dominican Republic from 1966 to 1968.
17.
Chris Dodd joined the United States Army Reserve, serving until 1975.
18.
Chris Dodd was elected to the US Senate in 1980, and was reelected in 1986,1992,1998, and 2004.
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Chris Dodd is the first senator from Connecticut to serve five consecutive terms.
20.
Chris Dodd therefore entered the minority for the second time in his Senate career.
21.
Chris Dodd ran for the now vacant position of Senate Minority Leader, but was defeated by South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle by one vote.
22.
Chris Dodd has involved himself in children's and family issues, founding the first Senate Children's Caucus and authoring the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires larger employers to provide employees unpaid leave in the event of illness, a sick family member, or the birth or adoption of a child.
23.
Chris Dodd is working to support a bill that would require employers to provide paid family and medical leave.
24.
Chris Dodd briefly considered running for President in 2004, but ultimately decided against such a campaign and endorsed fellow Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.
25.
Chris Dodd then was considered as a likely running mate for his friend, eventual Democratic nominee John Kerry.
26.
Chris Dodd was considered a possible candidate for replacing Daschle as Senate Minority Leader in the 109th Congress, but he declined, and that position was instead filled by Harry Reid.
27.
Chris Dodd maintained an office in Hartford, Connecticut, which was burglarized in 2007 by a man stealing property for subsequent sale to support his drug habit.
28.
On January 11,2007, Chris Dodd announced his candidacy for the office of President of the United States on the Imus in the Morning show.
29.
On January 19,2007, Chris Dodd made a formal announcement with supporters at the Old State House in Hartford.
30.
OpenSecrets noted that the Chris Dodd campaign was heavily funded by the financial services industry, which is regulated by committees Chris Dodd chairs in the Senate.
31.
Chris Dodd dropped out of the primary race on the night of the January 3,2008 Iowa caucuses after placing seventh with almost all precincts reporting, even though he had recently moved from his home state to Iowa for the campaign.
32.
Chris Dodd won a total of 25,252 votes in delegates primaries and 9,940 in penalized contests.
33.
Chris Dodd later said he was not interested in running for Vice President or Senate Majority Leader, and endorsed former rival Barack Obama on February 26,2008.
34.
In February 2011, despite "repeatedly and categorically insisting that he would not work as a lobbyist," Chris Dodd replaced Dan Glickman as chairman of and chief lobbyist for the MPAA.
35.
On September 4,2017, Chris Dodd stepped down as MPAA CEO, and was replaced by former US Ambassador to France and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin.
36.
Chris Dodd was a member of Biden's vice presidential search committee.
37.
On March 1,2021, the public relations and advisory company Teneo announced that it was hiring Chris Dodd, while he was a top advisor to President Biden, as a senior advisor at the company, and that Teneo had acquired a significant minority stake in the consulting firm WestExec Advisors, which had very close ties to the new Biden administration.
38.
Conde Nast Portfolio reported allegations that in 2003 Chris Dodd had refinanced the mortgages on his homes in Washington, DC and Connecticut through Countrywide Financial and had received favorable terms due to being placed in the "Friends of Angelo" VIP program, so named for Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
39.
Chris Dodd received mortgages from Countrywide at allegedly below-market rates on his Washington, DC and Connecticut homes.
40.
Chris Dodd had not disclosed the below-market mortgages in any of six financial disclosure statements he filed with the Senate or Office of Government Ethics since obtaining the mortgages in 2003.
41.
The Hartford Courant reported Chris Dodd had taken "a major credibility hit" from the scandal.
42.
The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and two Connecticut papers have demanded further disclosure from Chris Dodd regarding the Mozilo loans.
43.
On June 17,2008, Chris Dodd met twice with reporters and gave accounts of his mortgages with Countrywide.
44.
Chris Dodd admitted to reporters in Washington, DC that he knew as of 2003 that he was in a VIP program, but claimed it was due to being a longtime Countrywide customer, not due to his political position.
45.
Chris Dodd omitted this detail in a press availability to Connecticut media.
46.
On July 30,2009, Chris Dodd responded to news reports about his mortgages by releasing information from The Wall Street Journal showing that both mortgages he received were in line with those being offered to general public in fall 2003 in terms of points and interest rate.
47.
Chris Dodd was involved in issues related to the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.
48.
Chris Dodd expressed skepticism of the action, which the Treasury estimated could cost as much as $200 billion.
49.
The controversial pardon was granted after Chris Dodd lobbied Clinton on Downe's behalf.
50.
Rennie criticized Chris Dodd for claiming the Roundstone home was worth less than $250,000 in Senate ethics filings; some observers estimated the likely value in excess of US$1 million.
51.
In June 2009, Chris Dodd provided a new statement to the Senate reporting the actual value of his Irish property at $658,000.
52.
The Fox Business Network's Rich Edson broke the story claiming Chris Dodd was responsible for the inclusion of a clause limiting excessive executive pay in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
53.
However, Chris Dodd's provision included language allowing the Treasury Secretary to examine bonuses doled out and, if they were found to be in violation of the public interest, recoup those funds.
54.
Chris Dodd retreated from his original statement that he did not know how the amendment was changed.
55.
Chris Dodd was criticized by many in the Connecticut media for the flip-flop.
56.
The Hill described Chris Dodd as "reeling" from the controversy and having "stepped in it" after changing his story about the bonus amendment.
57.
At a press conference in Enfield, Connecticut, on March 20,2017 Chris Dodd responded to critics and explained that his original answer to CNN was based on a misunderstanding of the question.
58.
Chris Dodd said he was disappointed that the Treasury officials who asked him to make the legislative changes had not identified themselves, refusing to confirm the identity of the individuals responsible for changing the amendment.
59.
On May 3,2009, the Courant reported Chris Dodd's wife served on a number of corporate boards, including the CME Group and could be earning as much as $500,000 annually for those services.
60.
In late-April 2020, it was announced that Chris Dodd was a member of the vetting committee for the selection of presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate.
61.
Chris Dodd supported amending the Family and Medical Leave Act, which he authored in 1993, to include paid leave, and a corporate carbon tax to combat global warming.
62.
Chris Dodd is credited with inserting the last-minute pay limit into American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
63.
In May 2009, Chris Dodd was the author and lead sponsor of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on May 22,2009.
64.
Chris Dodd announced on June 22,2009, that he supports same-sex marriage.
65.
Chris Dodd had opposed gay marriage in the 2008 election, but stated that his daughters are growing up in a different generation than his and that his views have evolved over time.
66.
In 1970, Chris Dodd married Susan Mooney; they divorced in 1982.
67.
In 1999, Chris Dodd married Jackie Marie Clegg, a native of Orem, Utah, former longtime aide to Senator Jake Garn, Republican of Utah, and former official at the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
68.
Chris Dodd made a brief cameo appearance as himself in the political satire film Dave.
69.
On July 31,2009, Chris Dodd announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer; his aides said that it was at an early, treatable stage and Chris Dodd would undergo surgery during the Senate August recess.
70.
In 2008, Chris Dodd received the Washington Office on Latin America's Human Rights Award.
71.
In 2014, Chris Dodd received The Media Institute's Freedom of Speech Award.
72.
In 2016, Chris Dodd received the Brass Ring Award from the United Friends of the Children, a Los Angeles charitable organization, in recognition of his work on behalf of children while in the Senate.