Bill Frist
| Bill Frist | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| U.S. Senator from Tennessee From: January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007 | |||
| Predecessor | Jim Sasser | ||
| Successor | Robert Corker | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Karyn Frist | ||
| Religion | Presbyterian | ||
William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is a physician and former United States Senator from Tennessee. He was elected to the Senate in 1994, during the Republican Revolution and stated from the beginning that he was only going to serve two terms. Frist brecame Majority Leader in 2003. Frist had previously served as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2002 election cycle, in which the Republican maintained their majorities in the Upper and Lower Houses of Congress. He served in this capacity until his retirement from the U.S. Senate following the 2006 election cycle. He was succeeded by Republican Bob Corker.
Medical Career
Frist was born in Nashville, Tennessee on February 22, 1952. He graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy and later Princeton University in 1974. In 1978 he received a Doctor of Medicine degree with honors from Harvard Medical School. He worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and later Southampton General Hospital. Frist is currently a licensed physician who has performed over 150 heart transplants and lung transplants.
Political Career
Bill Frist was elected to the United States Senate in 1994 after defeating Democratic incumbent Jim Sasser by thirteen percentage points. He easily won his 2000 reelection with sixty-six percent of the vote. After Senator Trent Lott resigned his position as Senate Majority Leader in 2003, Frist was chosen unanimously by Senate Republicans as his replacement. In the Senate, Frist pushed for President George W. Bush's tax cuts and legislation that was against Partial-birth abortion, though he has broke with the Bush administration and Republicans with his support for federally funded embryonic stem cell research. [1]
