John Danforth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Danforth
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| 24th United States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
| In office July 23, 2004 – January 20, 2005 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John Negroponte |
| Succeeded by | John Bolton |
| Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice | |
| In office September 9, 1999 – c. July 23, 2000 |
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| Appointed by | Janet Reno |
| Deputy | Edward L. Dowd Jr. |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position not in use |
| Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Bob Packwood |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Hollings |
| United States Senator from Missouri |
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| In office December 27, 1976 – January 3, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Stuart Symington |
| Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
| 37th Attorney General of Missouri | |
| In office January 13, 1969 – December 27, 1976 |
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| Governor | Warren E. Hearnes Kit Bond |
| Preceded by | Norman Anderson |
| Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Claggett Danforth
September 5, 1936 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Sally Dobson (m. 1957) |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | William Danforth (brother) William H. Danforth (grandfather) |
| Education | Princeton University (AB) Yale University (JD, MDiv) |
John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney and diplomat who began his career in 1968 as the Attorney General of Missouri and served three terms as United States Senator from Missouri. George W. Bush considered selecting him as a vice-presidential running mate in 2000.
Contents
Early life and education
Danforth was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dorothy (Claggett) and Donald Danforth. He is the grandson of William H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina. Danforth's brother, William Henry Danforth, was former chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.
Danforth attended St. Louis Country Day School and Princeton University, where he graduated with an A.B. in religion in 1958 after completing a 111-page senior thesis titled "Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology." He received degrees from Yale Law School and Yale Divinity School in 1963.
Career
Danforth practiced law at the New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1964 to 1966. He was a partner at the law firm of Bryan, Cave, McPheeters and McRoberts in St. Louis from 1966 to 1968.
Before Danforth entered Republican politics, Missouri was a reliably Democratic state with its U.S. senators and governors usually being Democrats. Danforth's seat in the Senate was previously held by Democrats Thomas Hart Benton, Harry S. Truman, and Stuart Symington.
Missouri Attorney General
In 1968 Danforth was elected Missouri Attorney General, the first Republican elected to the office in 40 years, and the first from his party elected to statewide office in 22 years. On his staff of assistant attorneys general were future Missouri Governor and U.S. Senator Kit Bond, future Missouri Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and future federal judge D. Brook Bartlett. Danforth was reelected in 1972.
United States Senate
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Danforth served three terms as United States Senator. He is a longtime opponent of capital punishment, as he made clear on the Senate floor in 1994.
UN Ambassador
On July 1, 2004, Danforth was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding John Negroponte, who left the post after becoming the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq in June. He is best remembered for attempts to bring peace to the Sudan but stayed at the UN for just six months. Danforth was mentioned as a successor to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Six days after the announcement that Condoleezza Rice was going to take the position, Danforth submitted his resignation on November 22, 2004, effective January 20, 2005. His resignation letter said, "Forty-seven years ago, I married the girl of my dreams, and, at this point in my life, what is most important to me is to spend more time with her."
Post-Senate career
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Political activity
In 1999, Democratic U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Danforth to lead an investigation into the FBI's role in the 1993 Waco Siege. Danforth appointed Democratic U.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. for the Eastern District of Missouri as his deputy special counsel. He also hired Bryan Cave partner Thomas A. Schweich as his chief of staff. Assistant U.S. Attorney James G. Martin served as Danforth's director of investigative operations for what became known as the "Waco Investigation" and its resulting "Danforth Report".
In September 2001, president Bush appointed Danforth a special envoy to Sudan. He brokered a peace deal that officially ended the civil war in the South between Sudan's Islamic government and the U.S.-backed Christian rebels, but elements of that conflict still remain unresolved (as has the separate Darfur conflict). Known as the Second Sudanese Civil War, the conflict ended in January 2005 with the signing of a peace agreement.
Private sector
In 1995, following his departure from the Senate, Danforth again became a partner at the Bryan Cave law firm. As of 2021 Danforth is a partner at Dowd Bennett, a Clayton law firm just outside Saint Louis.
In May 2012, a group led by Danforth's son-in-law and Summitt Distributing CEO Tom Stillman, in which Danforth is a minority investor, took controlling ownership of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League. The group acquired full ownership of the team in June 2019. Danforth has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. He is an honorary board member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope.
Personal life
Danforth married the former Sally Dobson in 1957. They have five children and 15 grandchildren.
Author
- Resurrection: The Confirmation of Clarence Thomas, Viking, 1994
- Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together, Viking Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0670037872
- The Relevance of Religion: How Faithful People Can Change Politics. Random House, 2015. ISBN: 978-0812997903
See also
In Spanish: John Danforth para niños
- George H. W. Bush Supreme Court candidates
- List of attorneys general of Missouri
