Dick Gephardt

In 1976, Gephardt was elected to Congress from the St. Louis-based 3rd District, succeeding 24-year incumbent Leonor Sullivan. He was elected 13 more times, opting not to run for reelection in 2004. For most of his Congressional career, Gephardt's National Political Director was St. Louis-based political consultant Joyce Aboussie. Gephardt voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday in August 1983 but did not vote on the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (or the vote to override President Reagan's veto in March 1988).[7][8][9]

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Gephardt was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1988 presidential election. Gephardt formally announced his candidacy in February 1987—one of the first to do so—and campaigned hard in Iowa, ultimately spending over 100 days in the state. He was stuck in low double digits in polls, but began moving ahead in Iowa in late December 1987 after running an ad that criticized trade barriers by Korea and Japan as unfair- known as the "Hyundai Ad." Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses and South Dakota primary in February while finishing a strong second in New Hampshire, making him a serious contender for the nomination.[10]

Gephardt's early victories did not translate into support in other states, though, and he was not able to raise adequate funds to compete in the Southern primaries. His campaign ran out of money after losing badly in the March "Super Tuesday" primaries, when he won only the Missouri primary. An ad aired by Governor Michael Dukakis's campaign focused on Gephardt's "flip-flopping" voting record and showed a Gephardt look-alike doing forward and backward flips for the camera. Many felt the ad killed any chance Gephardt had of winning the nomination. Gephardt dropped out after winning only 13% in Michigan, despite support from the United Auto Workers. Dukakis considered selecting Gephardt as his vice presidential running mate but instead chose Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Portrait of Gephardt from the 1997 Congressional Pictorial Directory

In part due to the visibility gained from his 1988 presidential bid, Gephardt was elected majority leader by his House colleagues in June 1989, making him the second-ranking Democrat in the House, behind then-Speaker Tom Foley. Gephardt served in that position until January 1995.

After Foley was unseated in the Republican landslide of 1994 that gave the Republicans a 52-seat majority, Gephardt became the leader of the House Democrats, as minority leader, initially opposite Newt Gingrich and then, from 1999 onward, Dennis Hastert. When Gingrich faced a coup within his own party in 1997, Gephardt could have become Speaker if there had been a floor vote and he gained the support of Republican members dissatisfied with Gingrich, but Gingrich refused to resign and no vote occurred. In the 1996, 1998, and 2000 elections, Gephardt led the Democrats to gains in the House,[11] although they did not retake the majority until 2006, after Gephardt had left Congress.

Gephardt became a prolific financial supporter of Democrats around the country in the early 1990s, assembling a team of top fundraising staff who helped him support hundreds of candidates for local and federal office. Although Gephardt worked hard for many of President Bill Clinton's programs, he and his union supporters strongly opposed NAFTA and other "free trade" programs, so Clinton relied on Republican support to pass those initiatives. During the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton, Gephardt led a walkout in the House after a censure motion was ruled irrelevant to the impeachment debate.[12]

Gephardt speaking at a vigil for Matthew Shepard in 1998

In 2000, Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore named Gephardt to his short list of possible vice presidential candidates. The other names on the short list were Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, and New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen.[13] Gore eventually selected Lieberman.

In the 2002 Congressional midterm elections, Gephardt campaigned on the economy and Social Security, but the continuing resonance of the September 11 attacks, the momentum for military action against Iraq, and President George W. Bush's popularity lead to Republican gains, with the Democrats losing four House seats. Harold Ford of Tennessee called the results an "absolute blowout" and called upon Gephardt to step down, saying that it was time for "new ideas and new faces". Due to his previous success, it has been said that Gephardt would have been easily returned as Minority Leader if he had decided to stay on.[11][14][15] However, Gephardt, who was planning to run for president in 2004, did not run for reelection as House Minority Leader, stepping down in January 2003. His leadership position was contested by the centrist Martin Frost, the outgoing Democratic Caucus Chair, and the liberal Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Whip, who was elected as Gephardt's successor. No longer having Congressional leadership duties freed Gephardt up to concentrate on a 2004 presidential bid.[16]

Gephardt announced his second run for president on January 5, 2003. His successor as Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed him. His campaign was notable for the high-profile coming out of his daughter Chrissy in People magazine, while she was helping him on the campaign trail,[17][18] a subject they also discussed in interviews for the 2007 documentary film For the Bible Tells Me So;[19] he has continued to be an outspoken advocate for gay rights since the campaign.[20]

Although Republicans considered him a formidable candidate, Gephardt was seen by many as too old-fashioned and unelectable.[21] His fundraising efforts were behind those of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Senators John Kerry and John Edwards, and tied with Joe Lieberman. Gephardt's support of the Iraq War resolution hurt him among liberal activists. He promoted a form of universal health care, and was backed by 21 labor unions, but did not have enough support to receive the AFL-CIO's endorsement.[21]

Supporters of Gephardt's campaign in 2003

Throughout early 2003, Gephardt was ahead in polling for the Iowa caucus, but by August Dean had taken the lead, his campaign fueled by antiwar activists. The Gephardt campaign was embarrassed by an early August St Louis Post-Dispatch article that revealed that 11 of the 33 "Gephardt team leaders" listed on his Iowa campaign's website actually supported other candidates or were neutral.

The race between Gephardt and Dean became negative, and took an ugly turn in October when a Gephardt staffer reportedly pushed a Dean staffer out of a meeting while calling him a "faggot".[22] Many press at the event claimed the Dean staffer was picking a fight and that the Gephardt staffer did not make the hurtful comment. Dean chairman Joe Trippi (who worked for Gephardt in 1988) and Gephardt chairman Steve Murphy became involved in a war of words over the incident, as well as Murphy's allegation that the Dean campaign was bringing in out-of-state non-residents to participate in the caucus. In the final days of the Iowa campaign, both Dean and Gephardt faded, and they finished third and fourth, respectively. Gephardt ended his presidential campaign after that disappointing result.[23]

After he dropped out of the presidential race, Gephardt was mentioned as a possible running mate for John Kerry. On March 7, 2004, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, also seen as a strong contender for the position, endorsed Gephardt for Vice President. "I think he's the best candidate," Richardson said of Gephardt in an interview with the Associated Press. "There's a good regional balance with Kerry and Gephardt." Kerry announced on July 6, 2004, that he had chosen John Edwards as his running mate. On the same day, the New York Post published a headline stating that Gephardt had become Kerry's running mate. The headline was compared to the 1948 "Dewey defeats Truman" headline in the Chicago Tribune that incorrectly reported the presidential election results that year. In 2007, it was revealed in Kerry campaign adviser Bob Shrum's book No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner that Kerry wanted to choose Gephardt but was convinced by Shrum and others to choose Edwards.