Lamar Alexander already is the only Tennessean who was popularly elected governor and senator of the Volunteer State. And by the time he retires in 2021, he will have spent the majority of five decades in public service for the citizens of his native state.
Others have spent as long in public service but none in as high positions as the Maryville Republican. And what always has been clear about him is a desire not to be an esteemed seat filler but to accomplish what is possible through a thorough knowledge of the subject, the vision of a potential solution and a willingness to work with others.
To us, Alexander often was the adult in the room, especially during this and the previous presidential administration, when partisanship was pulling parties and politicians far into their respective corners. Firm in his conservative beliefs, he nevertheless put politics aside to work with the ranking member on the other side of the aisle to pass legislation – in his position as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – in a variety of areas critical to citizens of his state and the country.
One of those bills, during the Obama administration, was the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” which updated and improved the George W. Bush-era “No Child Left Behind Act” and which, importantly, removed significant control over education from the federal level and moved it closer to the student.
Also during the previous administration, Alexander was able to shepherd to passage the “21st Century Cures Act,” which eased the way for medical product development, helped bring other medical advances online faster and more efficiently, and provided broad funding for the National Institutes of Health.