As new Majority leader in the U.S. Senate, Thomas A. Daschle is the highest elected official of the Democratic Party. He became Majority Leader when James Jeffords of Vermont switched his party affiliation from Republican to Independent. This changed the make-up of the US Senate to 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and one Independent.

He was born on December 9, 1947, in Aberdeen, SD, where he grew up the eldest of four brothers. Daschle earned a political science degree from South Dakota State University in 1969 and went on to serve three years as a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. Senator Daschle is married to Linda Hall Daschle. They live in Aberdeen with their three children: Kelly, Nathan, and Lindsay.

In 1978, following his five-year experience as aide to South Dakota senator James Abourezk, Daschle entered politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving four terms, including time in the Democratic leadership.

In 1987, after his first U.S. Senate victory in a contest against incumbent James Abdnor, Daschle was appointed to the Senate Finance Committee. In 1988 he was appointed as co-chair of the Democratic Policy Committee by then-Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

In 1992 and 1998, South Dakotans reelected Daschle to the Senate by overwhelming margins (62 percent of the vote in 1998), and in 1994, he was chosen by his colleagues to succeed the retiring senator, George Mitchell, as Democratic leader. Senator Daschle also serves as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and has served on the Veterans, Indian Affairs, Finance, and Ethics committees.