1. John Berlinger Breaux is an American lobbyist, attorney, and retired politician from Louisiana.
38 Facts About John Breaux
1. 2.
John Breaux served in the US House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from 1987 to 2005.
3.
John Breaux was born in Crowley, Louisiana, on March 1,1944.
4.
John Breaux graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette in 1964 and from Louisiana State University Law School in Baton Rouge in 1967.
5.
John Breaux was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
6.
John Breaux was elected as a Democrat to the 92nd United States Congress in a special election on September 30,1972, to fill the vacancy created by Edwards' resignation in order to become governor.
7.
At the age of twenty-eight, John Breaux was the youngest member of the US House of Representatives.
8.
John Breaux was re-elected with ease to the seven succeeding Congresses and served until January 3,1987.
9.
John Breaux was not a candidate for re-election to the House of Representatives in 1986, but was instead elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate.
10.
John Breaux opposed Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the US Supreme Court.
11.
On October 15,1991, John Breaux was one of seven Southern Democrats who voted to confirm the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme Court in a 52 to 48 vote, the narrowest margin of approval in more than a century.
12.
John Breaux was seen as a centrist in a Senate divided along partisan lines, and was frequently sought out by Republican leaders to corral a few Democratic votes when they needed them; conversely he often served as the Democratic emissary in attempts to gather a few moderate Republicans to win votes on their proposals.
13.
John Breaux was pro-life and a supporter of Second Amendment rights, though he gradually moderated his position on gun control.
14.
John Breaux was more conservative on taxes than most in his party and challenged many environmental protections.
15.
John Breaux voted in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, the balanced budget amendment, and tighter bankruptcy laws.
16.
John Breaux was a key Democratic supporter of Republican attempts to abolish the estate tax and in 2001 was among the minority of Democrats to support Bush's tax cut and opposed virtually all attempts by Democrats to alter it.
17.
However John Breaux had voted with the majority of Democrats in favor of the 1993 Budget.
18.
In 1993, John Breaux was elected by Senate Democrats as Deputy Majority Whip, a position he held until his retirement.
19.
John Breaux held a number of key Senate committee positions.
20.
John Breaux pushed for a reduction in the capital gains tax and for tax relief for college education expenses.
21.
In 1998, John Breaux was selected by the White House and House and Senate leaders to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
22.
Also in 1998, Senator John Breaux co-chaired the National Commission on Retirement Policy, which produced legislation to help reform Social Security.
23.
John Breaux was the principal architect of the $400 billion Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act.
24.
John Breaux was a founder of the bipartisan Senate Centrist Coalition and served as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.
25.
That same year, John Breaux was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.
26.
John Breaux announced that he would not run for re-election in 2004; by most accounts he was so popular that it was believed he would have easily won a fourth term had he chosen to run again.
27.
John Breaux was succeeded in the Senate by Republican David Vitter of suburban New Orleans.
28.
John Breaux endorsed Democrat Chris John, the US representative from the seventh district, which Breaux had once represented.
29.
However, John Breaux came second in the jungle primary to Republican David Vitter.
30.
In February 2005, John Breaux took a position as Distinguished Professor in the Douglas Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
31.
Since 2005, John Breaux has been a lobbyist for Washington, DC, firm Squire Patton Boggs, specializing in issues of health care and energy law.
32.
John Breaux has hosted multiple events with prominent members of both parties to establish a dialogue that will lead to real healthcare reform.
33.
John Breaux developed the campaign alongside American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.
34.
On March 29,2007, John Breaux made his first Louisiana public appearance since speculation began concerning his potential candidacy.
35.
John Breaux said that he intended to run, and would announce his candidacy as soon as Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, a Democrat, gave a formal legal opinion on whether John Breaux was eligible to run.
36.
Attorney-General Foti had declined to issue an opinion on John Breaux's eligibility, stating it was an issue for the courts to decide.
37.
John Breaux serves on the board of directors for CSX Transportation.
38.
In 2021, John Breaux was involved in efforts to lobby against taxation of large inheritances.