Phil Gramm

William Philip "Phil" Gramm
United States Senator from Texas
In office January 3, 1985 – November 30, 2002
Preceded by	John Tower
Succeeded by	John Cornyn
United States Representative for Texas' 6th district
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Olin "Tiger" Teague
Succeeded by	Joe Barton
Born	July 8, 1942 Fort Benning, Georgia, USA
Political party	Democrat-turned-Republican (1983)
Spouse(s)	Wendy Lee Gramm
Children	Marshall Gramm Jeff Gramm
Occupation	Economics professor Economics consultant
Religion	Episcopalian

William Philip Gramm, known as Phil Gramm (born July 8, 1942), is an American politician from San Antonio, [Texas]]. Though born in Georgia and a three-degree graduate of the University of Georgia at Athens, Gramm was elected in 1978 as a Democrat to the Ninety-sixth Congress for the district including Bryan and College Station, at which he was a member of the economics faculty at Texas A&M University. He resigned from his post on January 5, 1983 to run for election to the Ninety-eighth Congress as a Republican. He was reelected as a Republican by special election on February 12, 1983. He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1984; reelected in 1990 and again in 1996 and served from January 3, 1985, to November 30, 2002, when he resigned. He held the seat filled by Republican John Tower from 1961 to 1985.

He was campaign co-chair and a senior economic adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign from the summer of 2007 until July 18, 2008. He stepped down after he publicly stated that "We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline." McCain's opponent, then Senator Barack H. Obama, stated, "America already has one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one when it comes to the economy. ... This economic downturn is not in your head."