Gephardt, Dick
Identification Prominent Democratic politician
Born January 31, 1941; St. Louis, Missouri
Gephardt served as a U.S. representative from Missouri for
twenty-eight years, was the minority leader in the House of
Representatives from 1995 to 2003, and twice ran for presi-
dent of the United States.
Starting out as a young child in a traditional work-
ing-class family, Richard Andrew “Dick” Gephardt
graduated from Northwestern University in 1962.
He then attended the University of Michigan Law
School, where he graduated in 1965 and was admit-
ted to the Missouri bar that same year. From 1965 to
1972, Gephardt served in the Missouri Air National
Guard. During this time, he received his start in Mis-
souri politics. Between 1968 and 1971, he served as
the Democratic committeeman for the Fourteenth
Ward in St. Louis. He became an alderman in 1971
and served in that position until 1976. On January 3,
1977, Gephardt replaced Leonor Sullivan as the rep-
resentative for Missouri’s third district.
In June, 1989, Gephardt became the majority
leader of the House of Representatives. When the
Democrats lost control of the House in 1994,
Gephardt became the minority leader, serving from
1995 to 2003. During this time, he advocated the ex-
pansion of national health care, supported progres-
sive taxation, arms control, and encouraged fair
trade practices by trying to penalize nations that
would restrict the importation of U.S.-made goods.
Although at the beginning of the decade Gephardt
was in favor of a pro-life amendment to the Constitu-
tion, by the end of the 1990’s and perhaps influ-
enced by his decision to run for president, he had
abandoned his support of such legislation.
In 1987-1988, Gephardt sought the Democratic
nomination for president. He started off strong with
victory in Iowa but dropped out due to lack of fi-
nances and a poor showing on Super Tuesday. He
was briefly considered as a vice presidential candi-
date when Al Gore won the party nomination in
2000, but Gore selected Joe Lieberman of Connecti-
cut instead. In 2004, Gephardt again ran for presi-
dent but was viewed as too old-fashioned, and he
slowly faded out of the political spotlight.
Impact Despite two failed bids for the presidency,
Gephardt served his district and his party well. A
strong Democratic partisan, he voted along party
lines 85 to 94 percent of the time between the 102nd
and 108th Congresses.
Further Reading
Gephardt, Richard, with Michael Wessel.An Even
Better Place: America in the Twenty-first Centur y. New
York: PublicAffairs, 1999.
Gottlieb, Alan M., and Dave Workman.Double Trou-
ble: Daschle and Gephardt, Capital Hill Bullies. Belle-
vue, Wash.: Merril Press, 2001.
Kathr yn A. CochranSee also Bush, George H. W.; Clinton, Bill; Gore,
Al; Health care reform; Liberalism in U.S. politics.The Nineties in America Gephardt, Dick 367
House minority leader Dick Gephardt.(AP/Wide World
Photos)