Lott, C. Trent (Chester Trent), 1941-

<p>Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is a former American politician and author. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He entered Congress as one of the first of a wave of Republicans winning seats in Southern states that had been solidly Democratic. Later in his career, he became Senate Majority Leader, and, alternately, Senate Minority Leader. In 2003, he stepped down from the position after controversy due to his praising of senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential bid. His praise of the segregationist campaign was perceived by critics to be racially insensitive.</p>

<p>From 1968 to 1972, Lott was an administrative assistant to Representative William M. Colmer of Mississippi, who was also the chairman of the House Rules Committee. Upon Colmer's retirement, Lott won Colmer's former seat in the House of Representatives. In 1988, Lott ran successfully for the U.S. Senate to replace another retiree, John C. Stennis. After Republicans took the majority in the Senate, Lott became Senate Majority Whip in 1995 and then Senate Majority Leader in 1996, upon the resignation of presidential nominee Bob Dole of Kansas.</p>

<p>On December 20, 2002, after significant controversy following comments regarding Strom Thurmond's presidential candidacy, Lott resigned as Senate Minority Leader. He resigned from the Senate in 2007 and fellow Republican Roger Wicker won the 2008 special election to replace him. Lott became a lobbyist, co-founding the Breaux–Lott Leadership Group. The firm was later acquired by law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs. Lott serves as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), where he focuses on issues related to energy, national security, transportation and congressional reforms. Lott is also a co-chair of BPC's Energy Project.</p>

<p>Senator Trent Lott, co-chair of our Public Policy Practice, provides strategic advice, consulting and lobbying to clients on a wide range of public policy matters, including defense and homeland security, tax and financial services, energy, transportation and communications. A former Senate Majority Leader, Senate Republican Whip and House Republican Whip, Senator Lott brings keen leadership skills and an inside understanding of complex congressional policies to his practice.</p>

<p>Senator Lott represented the people of Mississippi in Congress for 35 years and is one of a handful of officials to have held elected leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and Senate. During his 16 years in the House and 19 years in the Senate, he worked closely with seven presidential administrations and was regarded as a savvy coalition builder and dealmaker.</p>

<p>Senator Lott joined the House in 1973, representing Mississippi’s Fifth Congressional District. From 1981 to 1989, he served as House Minority Whip, the second-ranking Republican in the House. In that position, he forged the bipartisan alliance that enacted Ronald Reagan’s economic recovery program and national security initiatives. He also founded the House’s first modern Whip organization with a focus on regular member-to-member contacts and extensive outreach to sympathetic Democrats to secure passage of major legislation.</p>

<p>In 1988, Senator Lott was elected to the Senate where he was a member of a group of pro-growth stalwarts who opposed the tax increase forced on President Bush in 1990. He became the Senate’s 16th Majority Leader in 1996 and, along with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, was instrumental in the passing of the historic welfare reform bill of 1996. The next year, Senator Lott worked with Gingrich and congressional Budget Committee chairmen John Kasich and Pete Domenici to produce a landmark budget and tax cut agreement that limited some federal spending while, more importantly, stimulating the economic growth that brought the federal budget into balance for the first time since 1968.</p>

<p>As the Republican leader in the Senate during the first two years of President George W. Bush’s administration, Senator Lott led the fight for passage of the President’s tax cut package, the President’s historic education reform bill, the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War, the most significant trade legislation in a decade, and the resolution supporting the President of military action in Iraq. Senator Lott later helped to reach the compromises leading to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.</p>

<p>In 2006, Senator Lott was elected Senate Republican Whip, giving him the distinction of being the only person to hold that position in both the House and Senate.</p>

<p>Before joining the firm, Senator Lott and fellow former Senator John Breaux founded the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a bipartisan public policy firm that quickly became one of the 20 largest government relations firms in Washington DC.</p>

<p>LOTT, CHESTER TRENT, a Representative and a Senator from Mississippi; born in Grenada, Grenada County, Miss., October 9, 1941; graduated from Pascagoula public schools; B.P.A., University of Mississippi 1963; J.D., same university 1967; served as field representative for the University of Mississippi 1963-1965; admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1967 and commenced practice in Pascagoula; administrative assistant to United States Representative William M. Colmer 1968-1972; elected as a Republican to the Ninety-third and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1973-January 3, 1989); minority whip (1981-1989); elected to the United States Senate in 1988 and reelected in 1994, 2000, and again in 2006 and served from January 3, 1989, until his resignation on December 18, 2007; Republican party whip (1995-1996, 2007); majority leader (1996-January 3, 2001, January 20-June 6, 2001); minority leader (January 3-20, 2001; June 6, 2001-January 6, 2003); chair, Committee on Rules and Administration (One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congresses).</p>