Baucus, Max, 1941-

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BAUCUS, MAX SIEBEN, a Senator and a Representative from Montana; born in Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Mont., December 11, 1941; attended the public schools of Missoula and Helena, Mont.; attended Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. 1959-1960; graduated, Stanford (Calif.) University 1964 and Stanford University Law School 1967; admitted to the Montana Bar in 1969 and commenced practice in Washington, D.C. with various federal agencies; returned to Montana and practiced law in Missoula; served in the Montana house of representatives 1973-1974; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth Congress in 1974; reelected to the Ninety-fifth Congress and served from January 3, 1975, until his resignation December 14, 1978; was not a candidate in 1978 for reelection to the House of Representatives, but was elected as a Democrat on November 7, 1978 to the United States Senate for the term commencing January 3, 1979; subsequently appointed by the Governor on December 15, 1978 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Paul Hatfield for the term ending January 3, 1979; reelected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, and served from December 15, 1978, until his resignation on February 6, 2014, to serve as Ambassador to China; chair, Committee on Environment and Public Works (One Hundred Third Congress), Committee on Finance (One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 3-20, 2001; June 6, 2001-January 3, 2003], One Hundred Tenth to One Hundred Thirteenth Congresses [January 3, 2007-February 6, 2014]), Joint Committee on Taxation (One Hundred Twelfth Congress); vice chair, Joint Committee on Taxation (One Hundred Seventh Congress, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress [January 3, 2013-February 6, 2014]); U.S. Ambassador to China, 2014-2017.</p>

<p>In 2014 U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Max Sieben Baucus to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Peoples Republic of China. He served as Ambassador from February 21, 2014 until January 19, 2017. Ambassador Baucus formerly served as the senior United States Senator from Montana. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2014 and was Montana’s longest serving U.S. Senator as well as the third longest tenure among those serving in the U.S. Senate.</p>

<p>While in the Senate, Ambassador Baucus was Chairman and Ranking Member of the powerful Senate Committee on Finance. While Chairman, he was the chief architect of the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) which was signed by President Barack Obama into law March 23, 2009.</p>

<p>Ambassador Baucus has extensive experience in international trade. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, he led the passage and enactment of the Free Trade Agreements with 11 countries: Australia, Bahrain, Jordan, Chile, Colombia, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore and South Korea. He also was deeply involved in orchestrating the congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000 and in facilitating China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001.</p>

<p>Ambassador Baucus also served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Taxation and as a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry where he led in the reauthorization of numerous Farm Bills. He was additionally selected as a member of the Senate Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee) following the financial crisis of 2008. Ambassador Baucus was also a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and chaired its Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure where he managed numerous infrastructure legislative acts and Highway Bills.</p>

<p>Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Ambassador Baucus represented Montana in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978 and represented Missoula, Montana in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974.</p>

<p>Ambassador Baucus earned a bachelor’s and law degree from Stanford University.</p>

<p>Ambassador Baucus currently lives in Bozeman, Montana, where he and his wife, Melodee Hanes, have formed a consulting firm, Baucus Group LLC. Ambassador Baucus provides consulting services to American and Chinese businesses and serves on the Board of Directors of Ingram Micro and the Board of Advisors to Alibaba Group. He additionally serves on the External Advisory Board to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.</p>

<p>Maxwell Sieben Baucus (né Enke; born December 11, 1941) is a retired American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. Senator for nearly 36 years, making him the longest-serving Senator in Montana history. President Barack Obama appointed Baucus to replace Gary Locke as the 11th U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, a position that he held from 2014 until 2017.</p>

<p>As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Baucus played an influential role in the debate over health care reform in the United States. He was also chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and was chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Before his election to the Senate, Baucus was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978, representing Montana's 1st congressional district. He previously served in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974.</p>

<p>Max Baucus was born on December 11, 1941 in Helena, Montana, to Jean Sheriff (who was from a wealthy ranching family), and Stephen Enke, a professor. His father, born in British Columbia, Canada, was of German and Scottish descent, and his mother had English and German ancestry. Baucus lived in California until he was two, when his mother left his father and returned to Helena. She later married John J. Baucus, and she and her son, Max, took his surname. Baucus graduated from Helena High School in 1959.</p>

<p>After attending local public schools in his hometown of Helena, he attended Carleton College in Minnesota for a year before transferring to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1964, and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating, he attended Stanford Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1967. After finishing law school, Baucus spent three years as a lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. He moved back to his native Montana in 1971 to serve as the executive director of the state's Constitutional Convention, opening a law office in Missoula, Montana. In November 1972, Baucus was elected to the Montana House of Representatives as a state representative from Missoula. In November 1974 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1976.</p>