10 Things You Didn't Know About Chris Dodd

1. He was born May 27, 1944, in Willmantic, Conn., the fifth of six children.

2. His father, Thomas Dodd, was one of the lead prosecutors during the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals and was later elected to the U.S. Senate. He and his dad were the first Connecticut father-and-son team to have been elected senators.

3. Chris Dodd is fluent in Spanish and served in the Peace Corps in a rural village in the Dominican Republic from 1966 to 1968.

4. He graduated from Providence College and in 1972 earned a law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law. He served in the Army Reserve from 1969 to 1975.

5. He was elected to the House of Representatives at age 30 and served three terms.

6. In 1980 at age 36 he became the youngest person ever elected to the Senate from Connecticut.

7. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994.

8. He has long championed issues aimed at improving the lives of children. He was one of the chief sponsors of the Family and Medical Leave Act signed by President Clinton in 1993. He introduced legislation to improve and reform the No Child Left Behind law. He was honored as a national Head Start "Senator of the Decade."

9. In 1999 he received the Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service Award for his work on foreign affairs. He has played a strong role in Latin American issues.

10. In April 2006, when asked about the possibility of a presidential bid, Dodd replied, "It's an itch. Could grow. Could disappear." He did run for president in 2008 but received little support and dropped out in January on the night of the Iowa caucuses.

Sources:

• Almanac of American Politics
• Associated Press
• http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php