Clemson University
Where was Jim DeMint educated in Dec 1976?
Jim DeMint James Warren DeMint ( born September 2 , 1951 ) is an American political advocate , businessman , author , and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from South Carolina and as president of the Heritage Foundation . DeMint is a member of the Republican Party and a leading figure in the Tea Party movement ; he is also the founder of the Senate Conservatives Fund . DeMint served as the United States Representative for from 1999 to 2005 . He was elected to the U.S . Senate from South Carolina in 2004 and reelected in 2010 . DeMint served in the Senate until January 1 , 2013 , when he stepped down to become president of The Heritage Foundation . On May 2 , 2017 , DeMint resigned his position at Heritage at the request of its board . He later became a senior advisor to Citizens for Self-Governance and the founding chairman of the Conservative Partnership Institute . Early life , education , family , and early career . DeMint was born in Greenville , South Carolina , one of four children . His parents , Betty W . ( née Rawlings ) and Thomas Eugene DeMint , divorced when he was five years old . Following the divorce , Betty DeMint operated a dance studio out of the familys home . DeMint was educated at Christ Church Episcopal School and Wade Hampton High School ( Greenville , South Carolina ) . DeMint played drums for a cover band called Salt & Pepper . He received a bachelors degree in 1973 from the University of Tennessee , where he was a part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity , and received an MBA in 1981 from Clemson University . DeMints wife , Debbie , is one of three children of the late Greenville advertising entrepreneur and South Carolina Republican figure James Marvin Henderson , Sr . DeMint joined his father-in-laws advertising firm in Greenville in 1981 , working in the field of market research . In 1983 , he founded The DeMint Group , a research firm with businesses , schools , colleges , and hospitals as clients . U.S . House of Representatives . Elections . DeMints first involvement in politics began in 1992 , when he was hired by Republican Representative Bob Inglis to work on his campaign for South Carolinas Fourth Congressional District . Inglis defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Liz J . Patterson , and DeMint performed message-testing and marketing for Inglis through two more successful elections . In 1998 , Inglis ran for the U.S . Senate instead of seeking re-election to the House of Representatives . DeMint left his firm to run for Inglis House seat . The district was considered the most Republican in the state , and it was understood that whoever won the primary would be heavily favored to be the districts next congressman . DeMint finished second in the Republican primary behind State Senator and fellow Greenville resident Michael Fair . In the runoff , DeMint narrowly defeated Fair 2,030 votes . He then defeated Democratic State Senator Glenn Reese with 57 percent of the vote to Reeses 40 percent . DeMint faced no major-party opposition in 2000 , and defeated an underfunded Democrat in 2002 . Tenure . DeMint was elected president of the freshman class of House Republicans . DeMint pledged to serve only three terms in the House . The Washington Post and The Christian Post have described DeMint as a staunch conservative , based on his actions during his time in the House . He broke rank with his party and powerful state interests several times : DeMint was one of 34 Republicans to oppose President Bushs No Child Left Behind program and one of 25 to oppose Medicare Part D . He sought to replace No Child Left Behind with a state-based block-grant program for schools . DeMint also worked to privatize Social Security by allowing the creation of individual investment accounts in the federal program . In 2003 , DeMint sponsored legislation to allow people under the age of 55 to set aside 3 percent to 8 percent of their Social Security withholding income in personal investment accounts . DeMint was also the only South Carolina House member to vote for normalizing trade relations with China , arguing in favor of free trade between the countries . He also provided a crucial swing vote on a free trade bill regarding Caribbean countries . His votes led South Carolinas influential textile industry to heavily oppose him in his subsequent House and Senate races . U.S . Senate . 2004 election . DeMint declared his candidacy for the Senate on December 12 , 2002 , after Sen . Ernest Hollings announced that he would retire after the 2004 elections . DeMint was the White Houses preferred candidate in the Republican primary . In the Republican primary on June 8 , 2004 , DeMint placed a distant second , 10.3% behind former governor David Beasley and just barely ahead of Thomas Ravenel . Ravenel endorsed DeMint in the following runoff . DeMint won the runoff handily , however . DeMint then faced Democratic state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum in the November general election . DeMint led Tenenbaum through much of the campaign and ultimately defeated her by 9.6 percentage points . DeMints win meant that South Carolina was represented by two Republican Senators for the first time since Reconstruction , when Thomas J . Robertson and John J . Patterson served together as Senators . DeMint stirred controversy during debates with Tenenbaum when he stated his belief that openly gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools . When questioned by reporters , DeMint also stated that single mothers who live with their boyfriends should similarly be excluded from being educators . He later apologized for making the remarks , saying they were distracting from the main issues of the debate . He also noted that these were opinions based on his personal values , not issues he would or could deal with as a member of Congress . 2010 election . DeMint easily won re-nomination in the Republican Party primary . Democratic Party opponent Alvin Greene won an upset primary victory over Vic Rawl . Greene received scrutiny from Democratic Party officials , with some calling for Greene to withdraw his candidacy or be replaced on the ballot . On November 2 , 2010 , DeMint defeated Greene by a margin of 63% to 28% , with Green Party candidate Tom Clements receiving 9% of the vote . Tenure . In his first term , DeMint was appointed to the Commerce , Science and Transportation Committee , the Environment and Public Works Committee , the Joint Economic Committee , and the Special Committee on Aging . In 2006 , DeMint began leading the Senate Steering Committee . DeMint also served as a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Commerce , Science , and Transportation . As a member of the 111th United States Congress , DeMint joined the United States Senate Committee on Banking , Housing , and Urban Affairs . In 2009 , DeMint was one of two Senators who voted against Hillary Clintons appointment to Secretary of State , and the next year he introduced legislation to completely repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , commonly referred to as Obamacare . Later in 2010 , he introduced another piece of legislation titled the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny , which aimed to require congressional approval of any major regulation change made by a federal agency . At the end of his first term , DeMint was appointed to the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee regarding the impeachment of federal judge Thomas Porteous . After being re-elected in 2010 , DeMint became the highest-ranking elected official associated with the Tea Party . During the first year of his second term , DeMint released a letter signed by over 30 other Senate Republicans asking the supercommittee tasked with balancing the federal budget to do so within the next ten years , and without creating any net tax increases . In 2012 , DeMint announced his resignation from the Senate effective January 2 , 2013 ; he departed to take a job as president of the Heritage Foundation . On December 17 , 2012 , South Carolina governor Nikki Haley announced that she would name Congressman Tim Scott to fill DeMints vacated seat . Political positions . DeMint is a member of the Republican Party and is aligned with the Tea Party movement . In 2011 , DeMint was identified by Salon as one of the most conservative members of the Senate . Economy and budget . Throughout his political career , DeMint has favored a type of tax reform that would replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax and , in addition , abolish the Internal Revenue Service . He has supported many changes to federal spending , such as prioritizing a balanced budget amendment instead of increasing the national debt limit . As a senator , DeMint proposed a two-year earmark ban to prevent members of Congress from spending federal money on projects in their home states . In 2008 , presidential candidates John McCain , Hillary Clinton , and Barack Obama co-sponsored DeMints earmark reform proposal , although it ultimately failed to pass in the Senate . In March 2010 , DeMints earmark reform plans were again defeated . In November of the same year , DeMint , along with nine other senators including Rand Paul and Marco Rubio , proposed another moratorium on earmarks which was adopted by Senate Republicans . DeMint has also been a proponent of free trade agreements , advocated for the privatization of Social Security benefits , and in 2009 authored the Health Care Freedom Plan , which proposed giving tax credits to those who are unable to afford health insurance . DeMint opposed President Barack Obamas health care reform efforts , saying of the Affordable Care Act , If were able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo . It will break him . DeMint was opposed to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the bailouts during the automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010 . He also led a group of Senators in opposing government loans to corporations . He supports a high level of government accountability through the auditing of federal agencies . Foreign policy . In 1999 , DeMint voted against the NATO intervention during the Kosovo war . DeMint voted to authorize military force in Iraq in 2002 . In 2011 , DeMint voted in favor of Rand Pauls resolution opposing military involvement in Libya . He favored preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons over a policy of containment after their development . DeMint has also expressed concern about various United Nations treaties , such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Law of the Sea Treaty . DeMint favors legal immigration and opposes granting amnesty to illegal immigrants . He has expressed opposition to the Border Security , Economic Opportunity , and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 on the basis that granting amnesty to illegal immigrants may cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars . In a May 15 , 2020 , editorial in Newsweek , DeMint stated that while he continued to support free trade , he was wrong about liberalizing trade with China . Obama administration . In October 2009 , after the Honduran Army , on orders from the Honduran Supreme Court , removed Manuel Zelaya as President , DeMint visited the country to gather information . The trip was approved by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell but opposed by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry . DeMint supported the new government , while the Obama administration favored Zelayas return to the presidency . In late 2009 , DeMint criticized Barack Obama for waiting eight months into his first term as president before nominating a new head of the Transportation Security Administration . After the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 in December 2009 , DeMint stated that President Obama had not put enough focus on terrorism while in office . DeMint blamed Obama for racism in the United States . He said that Obama took race back to the ’60s , as far as I’m concerned . He made everything a race issue , or at least saw it through a racial lens . The country had moved toward bending over backward to create equality . But then suddenly , with Obama , he just lit the fires . I thought when he was elected that was the big victory , that we had put racism behind us . Social issues . DeMint identifies as pro-life , opposing abortion except when the mothers life is in danger and opposing research from stem cells derived from human embryos . DeMint voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , also known as Obamacare , in December 2009 , and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 . He voted in favor of declaring English the official language of the US government . DeMint is firmly opposed to same-sex marriage . In his book Now or Never : Saving America from Economic Collapse , DeMint states : DeMint also argues that same-sex marriage infringes upon religious liberty : DeMint has repeatedly voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage . He has also voted to ban same-sex adoption in Washington , D.C . DeMint drew considerable criticism by saying that openly gay teachers should be banned from teaching in public schools . In a 2008 interview , DeMint said that while government does not have the right to restrict homosexuality , it also should not encourage it through legalizing same-sex marriage , due to the costly secondhand consequences to society from the prevalence of certain diseases among homosexuals . On October 1 , 2010 , DeMint , in comments that echoed what he had said in 2004 , told a rally of his supporters that openly homosexual and unmarried sexually active people should not be teachers . In response , the National Organization for Women , the National Education Association , the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign , GOProud ( a GOP group ) , and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force asked for DeMint’s apology . Senate Conservatives Fund . In 2008 , DeMint formed the Senate Conservatives Fund ( SCF ) , a political action committee with the intention of supporting conservative candidates that may have otherwise been overlooked by the national party . The SCF is associated with the Tea Party movement . It supports conservative Republican politicians in primary challenges and general elections . SCF states that it raised $9.1 million toward the 2010 U.S . Senate elections and which endorsed successful first-time Senate candidates Pat Toomey , Rand Paul , Mike Lee , Ron Johnson , Marco Rubio . DeMint left SCF in 2012 . Post-Senate career . The Heritage Foundation . On April 4 , 2013 , DeMint started his first full day as president of the Heritage Foundation . The Washington Post reported that DeMints predecessor at the Heritage Foundation , Ed Feulner , was paid a base salary of $477,097 in 2010 ( compared to a senators salary of $174,000 ) and that year DeMint was one of the poorest members of the Senate , with an estimated wealth of $40,501 . On May 2 , 2017 , DeMint resigned from the Heritage Foundation at the unanimous request of its board . Citizens for Self-Governance . In June 2017 , DeMint became a senior advisor to Citizens for Self-Governance , a group which is seeking to call a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution in order to reduce federal government spending and power . According to DeMint , The Tea Party needs a new mission . They realize that all the work they did in 2010 has not resulted in all the things they hoped for . Many of them are turning to Article V . The proposed constitutional convention would impose fiscal restraint on Washington D.C. , reduce the federal governments authority over states , and impose term limits on federal officials . Conservative Partnership Institute . In 2017 , DeMint founded the Conservative Partnership Institute , of which he serves as chairman . The stated purpose of the CPI is the professional development of conservative staffers and elected officials . 2020 Election Results . As part of the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election , DeMint signed a December 10 , 2020 letter from the Conservative Action Project asking state legislatures in the battleground states of Pennsylvania , Arizona , Georgia , Wisconsin , Nevada , and Michigan to disregard the popular vote outcomes in each of those states and appoint slates of electors to the Electoral College in support of President Trump . Works by DeMint . - Why We Whisper : Restoring Our Right to Say Its 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 .