Jim DeMint facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jim DeMint
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DeMint in 2005
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| President of the Heritage Foundation | |
| In office April 4, 2013 – May 2, 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Edwin Feulner |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Feulner |
| United States Senator from South Carolina |
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| In office January 3, 2005 – January 2, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Fritz Hollings |
| Succeeded by | Tim Scott |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th district |
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| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Bob Inglis |
| Succeeded by | Bob Inglis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Warren DeMint
September 2, 1951 Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Debbie Henderson
(m. 1973) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Tennessee (BA) Clemson University (MBA) |
James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) is an American businessman, author, and retired politician. He served as a U.S. Senator for South Carolina. He also led The Heritage Foundation, a research group. DeMint was a key figure in the Tea Party movement. He is a member of the Republican Party. He also started the Senate Conservatives Fund.
DeMint was a U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 4th district from 1999 to 2005. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again in 2010. He left the Senate in 2013 to become president of The Heritage Foundation. In 2017, he resigned from Heritage. Later, he became an advisor for Citizens for Self-Governance. He also founded the Conservative Partnership Institute.
Contents
Early Life and Education
DeMint was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on September 2, 1951. He was one of four children. His parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, his mother ran a dance studio from their home.
DeMint went to Christ Church Episcopal School and Wade Hampton High School. He played drums in a band called Salt & Pepper. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1973 from the University of Tennessee. He was part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity there. Later, he received an MBA in 1981 from Clemson University.
Early Career
In 1981, DeMint joined his father-in-law's advertising company in Greenville. He worked in market research, which involves studying what people want to buy. In 1983, he started his own research company, The DeMint Group. His clients included businesses, schools, and hospitals.
U.S. House of Representatives
Becoming a Representative
DeMint first got involved in politics in 1992. He worked for Republican Representative Bob Inglis during his campaign. Inglis won, and DeMint helped with his next two successful elections.
In 1998, Inglis decided to run for the U.S. Senate instead of seeking re-election. DeMint then ran for Inglis's House seat. This district was very Republican. DeMint won the Republican primary runoff by a small number of votes. He then won the general election against Democrat Glenn G. Reese. DeMint faced little opposition in his re-election campaigns in 2000 and 2002.
Time in the House
DeMint was chosen as president of the new House Republicans. He promised to serve only three terms in the House.
He was known as a strong conservative. He sometimes disagreed with his own party. For example, he opposed President Bush's No Child Left Behind education program. He also voted against Medicare Part D. DeMint wanted to replace No Child Left Behind with a state-based program. He also worked to change Social Security. He wanted to let people put some of their Social Security money into personal investment accounts. DeMint also supported free trade with China. His votes on trade led to strong opposition from South Carolina's textile industry.
U.S. Senate
2004 Election
DeMint announced he would run for Senate in 2002. This was after Senator Ernest Hollings said he would retire. DeMint was the White House's preferred candidate.
In the Republican primary, DeMint came in second. He then won the runoff election. In the general election, DeMint faced Democrat Inez Tenenbaum. DeMint won by a good margin. His victory meant South Carolina had two Republican senators for the first time since the Reconstruction period.
During debates, DeMint made comments about who should teach in public schools. He later apologized for these remarks. He said they were distracting from the main issues. He also noted these were his personal opinions, not things he would handle as a member of Congress.
2010 Election
DeMint easily won his Republican primary. He then defeated Democratic opponent Alvin Greene in the general election. DeMint won with 63% of the vote.
Time in the Senate
In his first term, DeMint joined several important committees. These included the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee. In 2006, he began leading the Senate Steering Committee. He also served on the Foreign Relations Committee.
In 2009, DeMint was one of two senators who voted against Hillary Clinton becoming Secretary of State. The next year, he proposed a law to completely cancel the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He also introduced a bill to require Congress to approve major changes made by federal agencies.
After being re-elected in 2010, DeMint became a top elected official linked to the Tea Party. In 2012, DeMint announced he would leave the Senate. He resigned on January 2, 2013, to become president of The Heritage Foundation. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley chose Congressman Tim Scott to fill DeMint's Senate seat.
Political Views
DeMint is a member of the Republican Party. He is connected with the Tea Party movement. In 2011, he was seen as one of the most conservative members of the Senate.
Economy and Budget
DeMint has always supported tax reform. He wanted to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. He also wanted to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service. He supported changes to federal spending. He wanted a balanced budget amendment instead of increasing the national debt limit. As a senator, DeMint suggested a two-year ban on earmarks. Earmarks are federal money spent on projects in a politician's home state.
DeMint also supported free trade agreements. He wanted to privatize Social Security benefits. In 2009, he wrote the "Health Care Freedom Plan." This plan suggested tax credits for people who could not afford health insurance. DeMint was against President Barack Obama's health care reform. He believed stopping the Affordable Care Act would be a major defeat for Obama.
DeMint was the only senator to vote against the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. He also opposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the bailouts for the auto industry. He supported auditing federal agencies to ensure government accountability.
Foreign Policy
In 1999, DeMint voted against the NATO action during the Kosovo war. In 2002, he voted to allow military force in Iraq. In 2011, DeMint voted for a resolution against military involvement in Libya. He wanted to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
DeMint was also concerned about some United Nations treaties. These included the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Law of the Sea Treaty. DeMint supports legal immigration. He is against giving amnesty to people who are in the country illegally. He believed that giving amnesty could cost taxpayers a lot of money.
In 2020, DeMint wrote that he was wrong about liberalizing trade with China.
Obama Administration
In 2009, DeMint visited Honduras to learn about a political situation there. He supported the new government. The Obama administration wanted the former president to return.
DeMint criticized President Obama for not quickly naming a new head of the Transportation Security Administration. After an attempted bombing in 2009, DeMint said Obama had not focused enough on terrorism.
DeMint also said that Obama made race a central issue. He felt this set back progress on racial equality.
Social Issues
..... He also opposes research using stem cells from human embryos.
He voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in 2009 and 2010. He voted to make English the official language of the U.S. government.
DeMint is strongly against same-sex marriage. He believed that government should not redefine marriage. He argued that people should be free to live by their faith and values. He also believed that redefining marriage could affect religious freedom.
DeMint voted many times for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He also voted to ban same-sex adoption in Washington, D.C. In 2010, DeMint said that people who are openly in same-sex relationships or unmarried and sexually active should not be teachers. This caused criticism from several groups.
Later Career
Senate Conservatives Fund
In 2008, DeMint started the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF). This group helps conservative candidates get elected. The SCF is linked to the Tea Party movement. It supports conservative Republican politicians in elections. The SCF helped several new senators win their elections in 2010. DeMint left the SCF in 2012.
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The Heritage Foundation
On April 4, 2013, DeMint began his first full day as president of The Heritage Foundation. This is a well-known conservative research organization. In 2010, the previous president of Heritage earned a much higher salary than a senator. DeMint was one of the less wealthy members of the Senate at that time.
On May 2, 2017, DeMint resigned from the Heritage Foundation. The board asked him to leave because they felt he was no longer the right person to lead the organization.
Citizens for Self-Governance
In June 2017, DeMint became a senior advisor to Citizens for Self-Governance. This group wants to call a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution. Their goal is to reduce federal government spending and power. DeMint said that the Tea Party movement needed a new goal. He believed many members were now interested in changing the Constitution. The proposed changes would limit government spending, give more power to states, and set term limits for federal officials.
Conservative Partnership Institute
In 2017, DeMint founded the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI). He serves as its chairman. The CPI aims to help conservative staff and elected officials develop their skills. Mark Meadows joined as a senior partner in 2021. The Save America PAC donated $1 million to the CPI.
2020 Election Results
DeMint was involved in efforts to challenge the 2020 United States presidential election results. On December 10, 2020, he signed a letter from the Conservative Action Project. This letter asked state legislatures to ignore the popular vote results in some states. It asked them to appoint electors who supported President Donald Trump.
Personal Life
DeMint's wife, Debbie, is one of three children of James Marvin Henderson Sr.. He was a Greenville advertising entrepreneur and a Republican figure in South Carolina.
Works
- Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right to Say It's Wrong, with J. David Woodard. Rowman & Littlefield. 2007.
- Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse. Center Street, 2012.
- Falling in Love With America Again Center Street, 2014.
See also
In Spanish: Jim DeMint para niños
