Chris Dodd

American politiician, Democrat, a Senator from Connecticut. The son of Senator Thomas Dodd, one of the lead prosecutors in the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals, Christopher Dodd was elected to the Senate in 1980 and has served three terms since. The liberal senator is a graduate of Providence College. Following graduation, he spent two years in the Peace Corps relyiing on his Spanish fluency to work in a rural village in the Dominican Republic. Upon returning to the United States, Dodd enlisted in the Army and served in the reserves. In 1972, he earned a law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law. Returning to his home state, he practiced law in New London, but in 1974, he entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives, where he was re-elected twice again. Dodd is the fifth of six children. He is married with one child, daughter Grace, born on September 13, 2001. He staged a bid for the Democratic Party nomination for President in the 2008 race, announcing his intention on January 11, 2007. He dropped out after a poor showing in the Iowa caucus on January 3, 2008. His sister died on July 6, 2009; later that month, on the 31st he announced that he had received a diagnosis of prostate cancer and underwent surgery on August 11, 2009. It was a tough year for him. Since he was head of the banking committee of the Senate, the bank bailouts and plummeting economic situation reflected badly on his leadership of the committee. In addition allegations circulated that he had received preferential treatment for his own mortage. With poll numbers poor, he announced on January 6, 2010 that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in the subsquent November (2010) elections. Link to Wikipedia biography