Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm (born
July 8,
1942, in
Fort Benning,
Georgia) served as a
Democratic Congressman (1978-1983), a
Republican Congressman (1983-1985) and a Republican
Senator from
Texas (1985-2002).
University career
In 1967, he received a
Ph.D. in
economics from the
University of Georgia. After earning his Ph.D., Gramm taught
economics for 12 years at
Texas A&M University (1967-1978). In addition to teaching, Gramm served as a partner in the economic consulting firm Gramm & Associates (1971-1978). Gramm often noted in his political campaigns that he had repeated three grades in school but had overcome his academic deficiencies by hard work.
Democratic politician
In 1976, Gramm unsuccessfully challenged Texas Democratic Senator
Lloyd M. Bentsen, in the party's senatorial primary. Nine years later, Gramm and Bentsen would begin what became an 8-year relationship as senatorial colleagues from Texas. During their Senate tenures, both attempted to run for President, but neither made a serious showing.
In 1978, Gramm successfully ran as a Democrat for Representative from
Texas's Sixth Congressional District. He continued his service in the House, being reelected as a Democrat in 1980.
Republican politician
In 1981, Gramm attended Democratic Caucus budget meetings and then secretly shared their strategy with Republicans to help pass newly
inaugurated President Ronald Reagan's
budget. In response, the House Democratic leadership stripped him of his seat on the committee. Following this action, Gramm resigned his House seat, forcing a mid-term special election. Gramm ran in that election to fill the vacancy that he had created, but as a
Republican. Winning, he became the first Republican to represent the district since its creation. He won re-election to the seat again in 1982, and after he left the House, the seat remained in Republican hands (first under
Joe Barton and later
John Carter).
In 1984, Gramm was elected as a Republican to represent Texas in the
U.S. Senate. He easily defeated liberal Democrat
Lloyd Doggett of
Austin, later a member of the House from an Austin and an Austin-McAllen apportioned district, for the right to succeed retiring Republican Senator
John G. Tower. Gramm polled 3,116,348 votes (58.5 percent) to Doggett's 2,207,557 (41.5 percent) Gramm served on the
Senate Budget Committee from 1989 until leaving office in 2003. Gramm and Senators
Fritz Hollings and
Warren Rudman devised a means of cutting the budget through indiscriminate, across-the-board spending cuts if
deficit-reduction targets were not met. They were successful in making the
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act law, but portions were ruled
unconstitutional and other sections have largely been superseded by other budget-controlling mechanisms. Later in his Senate career, Gramm spearheaded efforts to pass
banking reform laws, including the landmark
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, which tore down Depression-era laws separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities. Between 1995 and 2000 Gramm, who was the chairman of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, received $1,000,914 from the Securities & Investment industry[
1]
In 1990, Gramm won his second term with an easy victory over Democratic State Senator Hugh Parmer of Fort Worth, even as fellow Republican
Clayton Williams was narrowly losing the governorship to
Ann Richards.
As a senator, Gramm often called for reductions in taxes and government spending. He employed his "Dickie Flatt Test" to determine if federal programs were worthwhile. Dickie Flatt was a printer in
Mexia, Texas, and a Gramm supporter. In Gramm's eyes, Flatt embodied the travails that a typical Texas independent businessman faced in the realm of taxation and government spending.
Gramm ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Party nomination in the
1996 presidential election. Although he began the race with a full warchest, it is generally agreed that Gramm ran a poor campaign in the Republican primary. He writhdrew from the contest on the Sunday before the
New Hampshire primary to support senatorial colleague
Robert J. Dole of Kansas. Gramm, a proponent of
free trade, also lashed out at temporary Republican frontrunner
Patrick J. Buchanan, whom he mocked in derision as a "
protectionist."
After exiting the presidential race, Gramm defeated school teacher
Victor Morales of
Dallas to win his third and final term in the Senate. Morales ran a low-budget campaign in an effort to make contact with the Democratic grass roots. Gramm left his Senate seat a few weeks before the expiration of his term in December 2002 so that his successor, fellow Republican
John Cornyn, could gain seniority over other newly-elected senators.
Post-Senate career
Although there were rumors that Gramm was being considered to be
Treasury Secretary in
George W. Bush's second term, he was not offered the position. He was also thought to have been in the running for the presidency of
Texas A&M University, but the position went to former
CIA Director
Robert Gates instead. Gramm is a vice-chairman of
UBS Investment Bank.
Personal
Phil Gramm is married to Dr.
Wendy Lee Gramm, a native of
Hawaii, who is associated with
George Mason University's
Mercatus Center in Virginia. They are the parents of two grown sons, one of whom, Marshall, is a professor of economics at
Rhodes College.
"Most people don't have the luxury of living to be 80 years old, so it's hard for me to feel sorry for them." [
2] '' -- In response to a claim that a
Social Security proposal would hurt people over 80.
"Has anyone ever noticed that we live in the only country in the world where all the poor people are fat?" --During his first Senate Campaign against Democrat Lloyd Doggett. [
3]
"We're going to keep on building the party (the Texas
GOP)
until we're hunting Democrats with dogs." - As quoted in
Mother Jones, August 1995
"If you are willing to tackle the tough issues, you don't need to worry about stepping on anyone's toes; they will stand aside and shove you to the front." - As quoted by former Gramm staffer Wayne A. Abernathy[
4] September 12, 2002, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.[
5]''
"I have more guns than I need, and fewer guns than I want." - often part of his stump speech in the mid 1990s [
6]''
