52 Facts About Jim Jeffords

James Merrill Jeffords was an American lawyer and politician who served as a US senator from Vermont.

The son of Olin M Jeffords, who served as Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, James Jeffords was born in Rutland, Vermont.

Jim Jeffords graduated from Yale University, served for three years in the United States Navy, and then attended Harvard Law School, from which he received his degree in 1962.

Jim Jeffords practiced law in southern Vermont and became a resident of Shrewsbury, where he was active in local politics and government as a Republican, including serving as chairman of the town's Republican committee.

Jim Jeffords served one term in the Vermont Senate, and two as Attorney General of Vermont.

Jim Jeffords lost the 1972 Republican primary for Governor of Vermont, but won the election for Vermont's lone seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1974.

Jim Jeffords served in the House from 1975 to 1989; in 1988 he was the successful Republican nominee for the United States Senate seat held by the retiring Robert Stafford.

Jim Jeffords served in the Senate from 1989 until 2007, winning reelection in 1994 and 2000.

Jim Jeffords's switch changed control of the Senate from Republican to Democratic, the first time a switch had ever changed party control.

Jim Jeffords did not run for reelection in 2006 and retired at the end of his term.

Jim Jeffords died in 2014 from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease, and was buried in Shrewsbury.

Jim Jeffords was born in Rutland, Vermont, the son of Marion and Olin Merrill Jim Jeffords, who served as Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

Jim Jeffords attended the public schools of Rutland, and graduated from Rutland High School in 1952.

Jim Jeffords received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial administration from Yale University in 1956.

Jim Jeffords was a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in college, and after graduating he received his commission in the United States Navy.

Jim Jeffords then received training as a surface warfare officer, followed by assignment to USS McNair.

Jim Jeffords served for three years, and was aboard McNair when it became the first ship to enter the Suez Canal following the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Jim Jeffords was aboard McNair as it took part in the US response to the 1958 Lebanon crisis.

Jim Jeffords served as Rutland County's chairman of the Board of Property Tax Appeals.

Jim Jeffords married Elizabeth "Liz" Daley twice, first in 1961, which ended with a June 1978 divorce.

Liz Jim Jeffords died on the morning of April 13,2007, after a long struggle with ovarian cancer.

Jim Jeffords followed that success in 1968 with a victory in the race for Attorney General of Vermont.

Jim Jeffords sought the Republican Party nomination for governor in 1972, but was defeated in the primary by Luther "Fred" Hackett.

Jim Jeffords was a member of the Agriculture and Education and Labor Committees, and rose through seniority to become the ranking Republican on Education and Labor.

Jim Jeffords was the only Republican to vote against the Ronald Reagan tax cuts of 1981, and was a supporter of both abortion rights and expanded protections for the rights of gays and lesbians.

In 1988, Jim Jeffords was elected to the US Senate, and was reelected in 1994 and 2000.

Jim Jeffords long favored expanded access to health care, and supported the plan offered by Bill Clinton in the early 1990s.

Jim Jeffords was one of only five Republican senators who voted to acquit Clinton after Clinton was impeached by the US House in 1999.

In October 1999, Jim Jeffords was one of four Republicans to vote in favor of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Jim Jeffords was, together with Paul Simon, credited by Canadian Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire, Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda from 1993 to 1994, for actively lobbying the US administration into mounting a humanitarian mission to Rwanda during the Rwandan genocide.

Jim Jeffords was one of the founders of the Congressional Solar Coalition and the Congressional Arts Caucus.

Jim Jeffords was frequently recognized for his performance as a legislator, receiving Parenting magazine's "Legislator of the Year" award in 1999, and the Sierra Club's highest commendation, the John Muir Award in 2002.

On May 24,2001, Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, with which he had always been affiliated, and became an independent.

Jim Jeffords's switch gave Democrats control of a chamber of Congress for the first time since the 1994 elections, and Jim Jeffords is the only senator in history to tip the balance of power in the Senate by switching parties.

Jim Jeffords agreed to vote with the Democrats on all procedural matters except with permission of Democratic Whip, Harry Reid.

In return, Jim Jeffords retained his seniority and received the committee seats that would have been available to him had he been a Democrat during his entire Senate tenure.

Jim Jeffords was free to vote as he pleased on policy matters, but more often than not voted with the Democrats.

The seat that Jim Jeffords occupied had been held by a Republican from 1857, when Solomon Foot joined the new party, until Jim Jeffords became an Independent in 2001.

Jim Jeffords was one of only two Republicans to vote against confirming Clarence Thomas.

Jim Jeffords consistently voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion, and against a harsher line on Cuba.

In 1995, Jim Jeffords was one of two Republican senators, the other being Bill Frist of Tennessee, to vote in favor of confirming Dr Henry Foster as Surgeon General; the vote failed, and Foster's confirmation was ultimately denied.

Jim Jeffords sponsored The Employee Non Discrimination Act of 1995,1997, and 1999.

Jim Jeffords was in the minority of Republicans to oppose the Flag Desecration Amendment.

Jim Jeffords took a more moderate line on the death penalty.

On many economic issues Jim Jeffords was roughly in line with the majority of the Republican Party, before and after his switch: he mostly supported free-trade agreements, voted for making enforcement of consumer protection laws more difficult by moving many class-action lawsuits into federal courts, tighter bankruptcy rules and a balanced budget amendment.

For example, Jim Jeffords did vote against the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, a bill supported strongly by Republican John McCain and many moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter and Mike DeWine.

On October 11,2002, Jim Jeffords was one of 23 senators to vote against authorizing the use of military force in Iraq.

On November 11,2003, Jim Jeffords was one of only four senators to vote against the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, a bill that received strong support from politicians from across the aisle.

Jim Jeffords said his wife's cancer and his own growing health concerns caused him to decide it was time to retire.

On September 27,2006, Jim Jeffords delivered his farewell speech on the Senate floor.

Jim Jeffords died of Alzheimer's disease on August 18,2014, at Knollwood, a military retirement facility in Washington, DC, where he had lived for eight years.

Jim Jeffords was buried at Northam Cemetery in North Shrewsbury.