Mary Landrieu
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| Office: | Senior Senator, Louisiana |
| Political party: | Democratic |
| Term of office: | January 1997–Present |
| Preceded by: | J. Bennett Johnston |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2009) |
| Date of birth: | November 23, 1955 |
| Place of birth: | Arlington, Virginia |
| Spouse: | Frank Snellings |
tend to be more conservative than the national average.
Mary Landrieu was born in Arlington, Virginia and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1977. She was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, from 1980 to 1988. She then served as Louisiana state treasurer from 1988 to 1996. Landrieu was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1995 gubernatorial race in Louisiana; she finished third in the open primary and thus failed to make the run-off. Mike Foster won the run-off.
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Senate career
Landrieu was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, defeating Woody Jenkins, and narrowly won reelection in 2002, defeating Suzanne Haik Terrell. Some experts and pundits considered Landrieu to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election before Senator Kerry's selection of John Edwards. With the departure of John Breaux from the Senate in December 2004, his seat being taken by David Vitter, Landrieu has become Louisiana's senior Senator.
Gang of 14
On May 23, 2005, Landrieu was among the Gang of 14, the group of moderate senators who forged a compromise on the use of the judicial filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called nuclear option over the organized filibustering by Senate Democrats of judicial nominees in the US Senate. Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina destroyed Sen. Landrieu's lakeside New Orleans home. The senator has become a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane and has complained of "the staggering incompetence of the national government." In an interview with Chris Wallace, Landrieu called the evacuation of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina "the best evacuation" and responded to a question about the local government's failure to utilize hundreds of schoolbuses to evacuate the city prior to the storm by saying "Those buses were underwater." She also commented that "Most mayors in this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day."
Overall Senate appeal
According to Mary L. Landrieu's official website [1],
- Mary L. Landrieu has been referred to as "one of the Senate's foremost leaders on education" by her colleagues in the Senate. One Louisiana publication dubbed her "Military Mary" for her dedication to our armed services and her knowledge of defense issues. She has become a national voice on the importance of strengthening families through foster care and adoption. She is the state's senior senator, and a fiscal leader for the nation as a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. She is a working mother, each day balancing the joys of family life with the responsibilities of being a U.S. Senator.
Threatening the President
On September 4, 2005, Landrieu threatened President Bush with physical violence. Saying that if he (or any other government official) were to criticize New Orleans police for failing to keep civil order in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she "might likely have to punch him - literally." On September 16, Landrieu refused to apologize for the statement, and specifically re-affirmed it, saying, "I do not take it back, I don't apologize for it. I said I would punch anybody, including the President."
Although it is a criminal offense to threaten the president with physical violence, the White House brushed off the comment, and the Secret Service took the statement as a joke. No charges have been filed.
External links
- Official website
- Congressional biography
- Video of interview on Fox News Sunday
- About.com Profile of US Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
| Preceded by: J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. |
U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana 1997– |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
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Louisiana Congressional Delegation serving in the 109th United States Congress |
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| Senators | Mary Landrieu (D), David Vitter (R) |
| Representative(s) | Bobby Jindal (R), William J. Jefferson (D), Charles Melancon (D), Jim McCrery (R), Rodney Alexander (R), Richard H. Baker (R), Charles Boustany (R) |
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Current Delegations by State: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY | AS DC GU PR VI |
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Categories: 1955 births | Delta Gamma sisters | Landrieu family | Louisiana politicians | Female U.S. Senators | Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives | New Orleanians | People from Louisiana | People from Virginia | Roman Catholic politicians | Roman Catholics | U.S. politicians | United States Senators from Louisiana
