Jeff Sessions

American politician and lawyer (born 1946)

Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American conservative politician. He was the 84th United States Attorney General serving from February 9, 2017 to November 7, 2018.

Jeff Sessions
84th United States Attorney General
In office
February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyRod J. Rosenstein
Preceded byLoretta Lynch
Succeeded byWilliam P. Barr
United States Senator
from Alabama
In office
January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017
Preceded byHowell Heflin
Succeeded byLuther Strange
44th Attorney General of Alabama
In office
January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997
GovernorFob James
Preceded byJimmy Evans
Succeeded byBill Pryor
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
In office
1981–1993
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Preceded byWilliam Kimbrough, Jr.
Succeeded byDon Foster
Personal details
Born
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III

(1946-12-24) December 24, 1946 (age 77)
Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Mary Blackshear
Children3
Alma materHuntingdon College (BA)
University of Alabama (JD)
Signature
WebsiteSenate website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1973–1977
Rank Captain
Unit1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit
United States Army Reserve

Before being Attorney General, he was the junior United States Senator from Alabama. He is a member of the Republican Party. At the time of his senate career, he ranked 15th in seniority in the United States Senate. He was the most senior junior Senator upon the retirement of Barbara Boxer in January 2017 to February 2017.

In November 2019, Sessions announced that he would run for his old Senate seat in 2020. He lost the Republican nomination to Tommy Tuberville.

Early life

change

Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama on December 24, 1946.[1] He was the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr., and the former Abbie Powe.[2] He was raised in Camden, Alabama. Sessions earned B.A. Degree from Huntingdon College and a J.D. Degree from the University of Alabama.

Early career

change

From 1981 to 1993, he was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1994.

United States senator (1997–2017)

change

Sessions was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Sessions was considered one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.

As a senator, he is known for being against illegal immigration and for reducing legal immigration. He supported the major legislative efforts of the George W. Bush administration, including the 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages, the Iraq War, and a proposed national amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

He opposed the establishment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the 2009 stimulus bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he opposed all three of President Barack Obama's nominees for the Supreme Court.

An early supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sessions was considered as a possible Vice Presidential nominee, but Trump finally chose Indiana governor Mike Pence.

Sessions resigned from the senate to become the United States Attorney General on February 8, 2017.[3]

United States Attorney General (2017–2018)

change

On November 18, 2016, it was announced that President-elect Donald Trump planned to nominate Sessions for United States Attorney General.

On January 10, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination began.[4] The committee approved his nomination February 1 on a straight party-line vote, 11 to 9.[5] The senate narrowly confirmed his nomination on February 8, 2017. He was sworn-in by Vice President Mike Pence on February 9. On May 7, 2018 he announced a new morally questionable policy that separated children from their mothers at the border.

As U.S. Attorney General, Sessions overturned a memo delivered by Eric Holder to reduce mass incarceration by avoiding mandatory sentencing,[6] and ordered federal prosecutors to begin seeking the maximum criminal charges possible. Sessions allowed law enforcement to seize the property of those suspected but not charged with crimes.[7][8] A critic of illegal immigration, Sessions adopted a hard-line on so-called sanctuary cities and told reporters that cities that did not follow federal immigration policy would lose federal funding, but failed.[9] As Attorney General, Sessions supported allowing the Department of Justice to prosecute providers of medical marijuana.[10]

On November 7, 2018, President Trump fired Sessions as Attorney General in a tweet.[11]

2020 United States Senate race

change

In October 2019, Sessions began exploring a potential candidacy for his old Senate seat in the 2020 election.[12] He announced his Senate run on November 7, 2019.[13]

Sessions lost the Alabama Senate Primary to Tommy Tuberville on July 14, 2020.[14] A Washington Post headline read, "Sessions loses runoff in Alabama as Trump helps end career of key supporter he came to despise."[15]

Personal life

change

Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and six grandchildren.[16] The family is United Methodist. He teaches at Sunday School to children in Mobile, Alabama.[17]

References

change
  1. "SESSIONS, Jefferson Beauregard III (Jeff) – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  2. Battle, Robert. "Ancestry of Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III". Rootsweb. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  3. Barrett, Ted; LoBianco, Tom (February 6, 2017). "DeVos, Sessions expected to be confirmed in tight votes". CNN. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  4. Rafferty, Andrew (January 10, 2017). "Jeff Sessions, Trump's Pick for Attorney General, Testifies at Senate Confirmation Hearing". NBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. Kim, Seung Min (February 1, 2017). "Sessions clears committee on party-line 11-9 vote". Politico. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (May 10, 2017). "Sessions to Toughen Rules on Prosecuting Drug Crimes". The New York Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  7. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (July 20, 2017). "Justice Dept. Revives Criticized Policy Allowing Assets to Be Seized". The New York Times. p. A18. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  8. "Press Release Number 17-795: Attorney General Sessions Issues Policy and Guidelines on Federal Adoptions of Assets Seized by State or Local Law Enforcement". www.justice.gov (Press release). July 19, 2017. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  9. "Sessions takes aim at 'dangerous' sanctuary cities, warns on funding". Fox News. March 27, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017.
  10. Christopher Ingraham (June 13, 2017). "Jeff Sessions personally asked Congress to let him prosecute medical-marijuana providers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017..
  11. Donald J. Trump on Twitter
  12. "AP sources: Jeff Sessions exploring possible Ala. Senate run". News Channel. October 29, 2019.
  13. "Former AG Jeff Sessions announces comeback bid for Alabama Senate seat". ABC News.
  14. Chandler, Kim (July 14, 2020). "Tuberville beats Sessions, wins Alabama Senate GOP primary". AP News. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  15. "Sessions loses runoff in Alabama as Trump helps end career of key supporter he came to despise". The Washington Post. 2020.
  16. De La Cuetara, Ines (July 18, 2016). "Jeff Sessions: Everything You Need to Know". ABC News.
  17. Lucas, Fred (November 21, 2016). "Who Is the New Attorney General Pick, Jeff Sessions?". Newsweek. Retrieved November 24, 2016. Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile and has been a delegate to the annual Alabama Methodist Conference.

Other websites

change