Saxby Chambliss

Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senator from Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 2003.

During his House tenure, Chambliss chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security. This subcommittee oversaw investigations of the intelligence community following the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Chambliss was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating Democratic incumbent Max Cleland. As a senator, he chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry during the 109th Congress (2005–2007). During the 112th Congress (2011–2012), he was the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. In December 2011, the ''Washington Post'' named Chambliss as one of the Best Leaders of 2011 for his attempts to craft a bipartisan deficit reduction package. Chambliss was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, but did not seek reelection in 2014.

Early life and education

Chambliss was born in Warrenton, North Carolina, the son of Emma Baker (née Anderson) and Alfred Parker Chambliss, Jr., an Episcopal priest."R. Saxby Chambliss." Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. He graduated from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1961. He attended Louisiana Tech University from 1961 to 1962 and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business in 1966, working his way through college at a bakery in Athens. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1968. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

During the Vietnam War, Chambliss received student deferments and was also given a medical deferment (1-Y) for bad knees due to a football injury.

U.S. House of Representatives

Chambliss was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as one of the new conservative Republican congressmen whose elections caused the party to gain a majority in both houses of Congress. A long-time Congressman and fellow Georgian, Newt Gingrich, was the leader of the movement, and Chambliss and the other Republicans elected that year are known as the Class of '94.

Chambliss was elected from the Macon-based 8th District, after six-term incumbent J. Roy Rowland retired. He was elected with 63% of the vote—an unexpectedly large margin since the 8th had never elected a Republican. He faced a tough re-election fight in 1996 against Macon attorney Jim Wiggins, but breezed to reelection in 1998 and 2000. In the latter contest, he faced a reasonably well-financed challenger in former Macon mayor Jim Marshall, but turned back this challenge fairly easily with almost 59 percent of the vote.

During his four terms in the House, Chambliss served on the United States House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Less than a month after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which Chambliss chaired, investigated intelligence issues related to the attacks. The committee's investigation resulted in the first comprehensive report detailing critical shortfalls within the United States intelligence community's performance and technological capabilities.

Chambliss was criticized for remarks he made during a November 19, 2001 meeting with first responders in Valdosta, Georgia, where he said that homeland security would be improved by turning the sheriff loose to "arrest every Muslim that crosses the state line." Chambliss apologized for the remarks.

In 2006, Chambliss was among several congressional Republicans and Democrats who returned campaign donations from Jack Abramoff.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2002 race

Upon urging from Karl Rove and the Bush administration who viewed the Democratic party of Georgia as vulnerable, Chambliss ran for the Senate in 2002, facing freshman Democratic incumbent Max Cleland. During the campaign, Chambliss ran an advertisement against Cleland, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who lost three limbs during the war, in which Cleland was described as weak on defense and homeland security.Politico
Cleland ad causes trouble for Chambliss.
November 12, 2008. Chambliss received criticism from Democrats and Republicans for this advertisement. Republican Sens. John McCain and Chuck Hagel

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