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Evan Bayh

Evan Bayh

Evan Bayh is a United States Senator from Indiana. He assumed office on January 3, 1999 and serves with Richard Lugar and succeeded Daniel Ray Coats. Evan Bayh was 46th Governor of Indiana from January 9, 1989 – January 13, 1997. He also served as the 56th Secretary of State of Indiana under Robert D. Orr from December 1, 1986 – January 9, 1989.

About Evan Bayh

Evan Bayh was born Birch Evans Bayh III in Shirkieville, Indiana on December 26, 1955 to Birch Bayh and Marvella Belle Hern. Evan Bayh attended the prestigious St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. and is an honors graduate from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 1978. He has an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in California and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981. Evan Bayh clerked for a federal judge before entering private practice in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Bayh was elected to the Secretary of State of Indiana under Robert Orr in 1986 and served his term from 1987 to 1989. He ran for governor of Indiana in 1988 and was elected after defeating John Mutz in the general election. He served two terms and had received the highest percentage of the vote in modern Indiana history.

Evan Bayh’s administration was considered successful but cautious by both the Republicans and the Democrats. However, his moderate position created a large budget surplus and allowed tax cuts to be passed. Known for fiscal responsibility, job creation, lower taxes and lean government, Bayh’s tenure as governor was eight years without a tax increase, the largest budget surplus and largest single tax cut in Indiana history.

He also increased annual school funding, strengthened law enforcement, improved environmental quality, raised school standards and created new college opportunities. In 1992 he signed the 21st Century Scholars Act legislating that every child in Indiana who is eligible for a free lunch program in a public school graduates from high school and signs a pledge not to experiment with illegal drugs would be eligible to a full tuition scholarship to an Indiana public university of their choice. In spite of his vocal support of capital punishment he had an approval rating of almost 80 percent.

In 1997 his second term was completed and Evan Bayh accepted a lecturing position at his alma mater, the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, and started campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat. In 1998 he was also hired as a partner at the law firm Baker and Daniels.
Evan Bayh was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998 with 64 percent of the vote, the largest victory margin by a Democrat in Indiana, defeating Paul Helmke. He received 62 percent of the vote when he defeated Marvin Scott for his second term. Evan Bayh announced on February 15, 2010 that he would not seek a third term in the U.S. Senate citing family first reasons.

Evan Bayh served on five Senate Committees: Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, on which he is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He was also a member of the Senate Centrist Coalition, helped establish the New Democrat Coalition, and founded the Moderate Dems Working Group. Bayh also served on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Evan Bayh voted against confirming United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Bayh supported the presidency policies on Iraq and was in the Rose Garden with President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain on October 2, 2002 announcing a joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War. In 2004 Evan Bayh asked for the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign for his mistakes in the war. Evan Bayh voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act in 2006.

In 2003 Evan Bayh released an autobiography titled From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye.’

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Evan Bayh